Burn 'Em Up: Active Lifestyles Burn More Calories than Exercise Alone

by Gay Riley, MS, RD, CCN
NetNutritionist.com

Recent studies show that the exercise habits of Americans still remain less than adequate. About 27 percent exercise at least three times a week, 25 percent exercise occasionally, and about 48 percent don’t exercise at all. Translated into real terms, this mean that overall, Americans are quite sedentary. Basically, many of us have turned into couch potatoes because of all the modern conveniences that make our lives comfortable and time-efficient.

Even those of us who consider ourselves active or athletic are victims of laziness. Elevators, escalators, remote controls, dishwashers, automatic garage door openers, drive-through windows and electric pencil sharpeners are just a few of these modern miracles. These make-life-easier inventions have contributed to the decline in American’s energy expenditures.

While visiting a family in Germany this summer, I noticed that even the most affluent German households are not equipped with the appliances found in the average American home. The European lifestyle is slower paced, too. Stores close at 6 p.m. and don’t open on Sunday. People don’t use their cars as often as we do. They take a bus or train most of the time. They’re also used to using walking and bicycling as forms of transportation (not just exercise). It’s common to take a two-mile walk to the store for errands, or to the train station several times a day. As a result, Germans are not as overweight as Americans. And while they consume less fast food than Americans do, the typical German diet is very high fat, high caloric.

During our vacation, we walked an average of seven miles a day in addition to our regular workouts. Over a 14-day period, that amounted to another 9,800 calories burned.

Even the most sedentary person can become more active in his daily life. The chart below compares how daily activities can add up to a significant increase in calorie expenditure. If you can live as an active exerciser three times a week, just two weeks a month, over a year’s time, you’ll utilize an extra 43,680 calories. Get the picture? Apply this principle during the upcoming holiday season and you may save yourself the average 12-pound holiday weight gain.

The following table compares the differences in daily expenditure between a person who is sedentary and works out and a person who is active and works out:

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