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Shake & Bake or 6 Ways to Work Out While Cooking

By Staff | Apr 10, 2015

While we often think of the kitchen as a place where we cook up calories, it’s also possible to burn additional calories while cooking. There are several advantages to building some “workout” time into the time we spend preparing food.

1.Cooking is a time already reserved for an activity and is on our schedule.

2.You have to eat – so, it is less likely you’ll have a schedule conflict.

The following examples are some simple ways to burn more calories while you cook. These activities aren’t meant to replace regular physical activities such as walking, biking, weight-lifting, etc. However, while the individual amounts appear rather small – just by adding together a few activities, one can see how it is easy to burn 100 or more calories during a regular ongoing event such as food preparation. As an extra 100 calories daily could lead to a weight gain of 10 pounds a year, this amount of energy expenditure could be significant over a period of time.

Burn Calories by Cooking: Just by cooking, you’re burning more calories than eating out or picking up a take-out meal. Plus, you’re more likely to eat a healthier meal. Activity (time): Cooking or food preparation (20 minutes)

Approximate calories burned: 37

Workout While Waiting for Water to Boil: Just walking around, waving your arms in circles, raising your legs, etc. will burn calories. Activity (time): Calories burned from light calisthenics, home, light/moderate effort (5 minutes) Approximate calories burned: 20

March in Place While Stirring at the Stove: Many recipes say to “stir frequently.”

Use the time between stirs to add in some activity such as marching in place. Activity (time): Marching rapidly, military style (5 minutes) Approximate calories burned: 37

Dance While Dinner is in the Oven: Rather than sit and read the paper or have a cup of coffee while dinner is cooking, dance the time away. Have a couple of lively tunes at the ready and begin to boogie! Or, simply head outdoors and take a brisk walk while dinner is cooking. Activity (time): Dancing, general (10 minutes) Approximate calories burned: 51

Make Kitchen Items Less Convenient: Short on space in your cupboards? Perhaps there are some items you could store up- or down-stairs. Rather than an inconvenience, they become an opportunity to add a little extra activity into your day. Activity (time): Walking, upstairs (2 minutes)

Approximate calories burned: 18

Join the Clean Team: Thoroughly clean as you cook. Clean the stove-top, give your countertops a good scrubbing and wipe those spills from the floor. Your kitchen will look better for it and so may you! You might even do some squats as you load the dishwasher. The more vigorously you clean, the more calories you burn. Activity (time): Cleaning, light moderate effort (5 minutes) Approximate calories burned: 14

From: Alice Henneman, MS, RDN University of Nebraska Lincoln

EASY AND AWESOME SPINACH SALAD

4 slices bacon, or more to taste

1 (16 ounce) bag fresh spinach, stems removed

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

cup white sugar

1/3 cup ketchup

cup vegetable oil

cup vinegar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Place the bacon into a skillet over medium heat, and cook until browned and crisp, turning often, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to absorb excess grease. Crumble the bacon when cool. Place the spinach into a large salad bowl, and sprinkle with the bacon, hard-cooked eggs, and onion. Gently toss the salad. In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, ketchup, vegetable oil, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the dressing over the salad, and toss thoroughly to combine all ingredients.

From: Allrecipes.com