Anything you do burns calories. Most people do sports or go to the gym to burn extra calories and stay fit. Yet, there are easier ways to keep fit: by mindfully doing household chores.

Considering that one can easily get out of breath doing housework, we better consider household work to be some sort of fitness regime. When you take your pulse while doing housework, your heart easily beats 100 times per minute. That’s like exercising.

Gardening, too!

This can make life easier in many ways: knowing that you’re actually exercising when laboring at home. Not only does such “ordinary work” take on meaning. We also don’t have to spend extra time going for a run, traveling to the gym or attending health sessions.

Doesn’t mean that housework is a jack of all trades exercise. Just means there are so many ways to find purpose in each and every moment of the day – even if we think some chores are of lesser value or a nuisance.

Same, by the way, goes for gardening. Even weeding and mowing the lawn can burn as many calories as regular exercise. Great ways to be outdoors and stay fit. Above all: stay mindful. A smile melts even arduous work into something pleasant.