In week five of our fitness plan, A New You!, personal trainer James Menage reveals that housework can fight fat...

Diet

Once you've got the exercise sorted, don't miss dietician Geraldine Georgeou's latest meal plan


Our mums got it right. Making those beds (yes, with the hospital corners!), mopping the floor and cleaning the silver not only make us feel more "polished", but can also make for a longer and thinner life.

A recent study of more than 200,000 women in nine countries found that doing regular household chores could be more cancer protective than playing sport.

In the Cancer Research UK-funded study, women spent an average 16 to 17 hours a week on cooking, cleaning and washing. Some of the women undertook physical activities like cycling, walking and sports.

Out of all the activities, housework cut the breast cancer risk the most: by 30 per cent in pre-menopausal women and 20 per cent in women past menopause.

Researchers speculated the reason why may be that regular moderate activity such as housework is more beneficial than less frequent but more intense physical activity.

And it seems housework is a mighty fat burner, too.

A University of Exeter study shows that vacuuming for 30 minutes a week burns up 28,000kJ a year, while doing the laundry for one hour and 10 minutes a week burns up a whopping 39,623kJ a year.

Get to it!

Here's how to make the housework more fun and athletic for the whole family.

• Clean all those places that you normally leave "till next time", eg, under the sofa, behind the fridge.
• Carry the vacuum cleaner rather than pull it.
• Set an alarm to go off every five minutes while you're cleaning, and complete five sets of stair climbs and a set of 15 squats.
• Dust and polish with a backpack on to work your arms and back.
• Scrub and wash the floor with two wet towels on your feet while listening to your favourite music. Dance the day away.
• Put a pair of old athletic socks on your hands and/or feet. Spray them with cleaning solution and away you go. Clean the bathroom, windows and floors in half the time while having double the amount of fun.
• Fill a water pistol/spray bottle with a window cleaning solution and pretend you are one of Charlie's Angels, keeping law and order among the windows. It's also a fun way to get the kids involved.

Clean up the kilojoules

Next time you tackle those grubby floors, remember you're not just cleaning your home, but getting a workout as well.

According to a UK study, doing laundry burns 10.9kJ per minute, vacuuming 16.4kJ per minute, changing the beds 12kJ per minute, dusting 15.4 kJ per minute, ironing 10.9kJ per minute and scrubbing floors is the top fat burner at 18.8kJ per minute.

Here's how much floor cleaning* you'll need to do to burn off these popular snacks.

40g original Snickers bar 803kJ, 10.2g fat
43 mins

2 Paradise Vive lites, Choc chip 370kJ, 1.8g fat
20 mins

100g piece of fruit cake 1415kJ, 11.5g fat
75 mins

Small mixed fruit salad 418kJ, 0g fat
22 mins

Krispy Kreme Chocolate Filled donut 1470kJ, 20g fat
78 mins

Chocolate Paddle Pop 480kJ, 2.4g fat
25 mins

*based on scrubbing and washing the floors which burns off 18.8kJ per minute (Source: Geraldine Georgeou, Dietitian).

Egg-citing stuff

For a breakfast to keep you powering through the housework, you can't go past eggs as a cracking way to start your day.

"Eggs are the slimmer's best friend as studies show that compared to other breakfasts, such as a bagel, they leave you feeling fuller for longer," says dietician Geraldine Georgeou.

Diet

Now you've got the exercises sorted, don't miss dietician Geraldine Georgeou's latest meal plan


See www.precisionhealthandfitness.wordpress.com for more advice from James Menage.

Do you have a weight loss story to share with us? We'd love to hear about it. Email: womansday@acpmagazines.com.au

Go back to A New You! index