Our bodies need calories. However too many or too few calories can be harmful to our body.

If we consume more than our body needs, we are at risk of becoming overweight, increases our risk of having cardiovascular diseases, cancer,
and other diseases.

On the other hand, restricting our body to get enough calories might cause various health problems such as weakness, weaker bones, nutrient deficiencies, fatigue, and even anemia. Calorie deficiency might even negatively affect fertility and may lower your immune system.

But if you've been consuming too many sweets and high-calorie food lately — especially upon realizing you gain much weight — then it's about time to burn calories. And the good thing is that you don't need to hit the gym or go outside to lose weight. You can kickstart your weight loss journey even at home.

But it's best to consult your physician to be sure you don't have any underlying diseases.

Here are ways you can simply do to burn calories while taking care of your kids or working at home.

1. Meditate and do some stretching

How do you start your day? If you're a fan of self-help books, you might have been influenced to begin your day with a little meditation to boost your mental health. But little did you know that meditation in any form can also help you lose weight.

Studies have shown the connection between mindfulness and losing weight. However, this should be followed by stretching, exercise, diet, and having a good lifestyle.

While stretching alone isn't enough to burn your desired amount of calories, you can still start your day with stretching to warm up your body. Through that, it can help your entire body to effectively reduce weight.

2. Walk during breaks

If you're a busy mom, juggling childrearing and work at home, doing some kind of high-intensity workout in the gym can be very challenging.

But don't fret, instead of an intense workout, you can always try to go back to the basics of exercise — walking.

Walking is the easiest, most convenient, and cheapest way to burn the extra calories in your body.

Instead of just simply walking, you can also try brisk walking to help you lose weight.

3. Stand up, sit less

You've probably heard tons of negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. And this fact might already sound cliché, but again, standing has been shown to help you burn more calories than just sitting at your desk or couch.

Some research and test have shown that if you stand on your feet for six hours daily instead of just sitting, then you can actually burn more than 50 calories.

So, maybe it's time to invest in some standing desk? Why not.

Another tip : Try to stand on one foot

Feel bored just standing or doing brisk walking during your breaks? Why not try to stand on one foot?

This is how you do it. simply lift your right or left foot an inch off the ground. Then test to see how long you can stand on your foot. Change feet after a few seconds or minutes depending on how long you can take that position.

This is a good way to improve your balance and help strengthen your core and leg muscles.

4. Gardening

Aside from the positive effect of gardening on our mental health, some research has shown that gardening can help you burn at least 300 calories each hour.

Simply pulling weeds, watering the plants, or any kind of yard work can burn daily calories. Not to mention the spark of happiness you'll experience upon seeing the fruit of your labor. However, be very careful with soil. As much as possible, use gloves to protect your hands to avoid tetanus when planting.

5. Do more household chores

Too many household chores to do? It might be physically exhausting to do daily, but just look at how many calories you're burning every time you do it.

Doing household chores take so much energy and it requires muscle strength which results in burning more calories than you ever think of. Just making and changing the beds for half an hour burns more than 180 calories for those who weigh 125 pounds and you can lose 300 calories if you weigh more than 180 pounds.

Playing with your children, walking your dog, and even washing the dishes helps you burn the desired calories.

6. Sit straight

When you do something that requires more muscle strength, you're actually giving your body a good chance to burn more calories.

So, instead of slouching which requires very little muscle strength, try sitting straight. With that, you'll be able to burn a few more calories. Not to mention the many benefits of maintaining a good posture does to your body.

7.Laugh

Laughter has multiple good benefits to our health — it can boost mental health, may lower blood pressure, strengthen the immune system, decrease pain, may help lower blood pressure, and even burn more calories. There's no doubt that laughter is good for you.

Based on some research, a deep and huge belly laugh can actually help you burn calories and it's just about the same as walking beyond half a mile. Researchers even found that at least 15 minutes of laughter daily can already help you burn at least 10 to 40 calories. This depends on the weight of the person and the intensity of laughter. So, go ahead and watch funny videos.

8. Eat fruits and veggies

Keep in mind that whatever we do, whether we eat or talk helps us burn calories. But while burning calories to lose weight, we don't want to lose our efforts by consuming high-calorie food.

Don't put your effort to waste, eat fruits and vegetables which contain a low amount of calories and a high amount of fiber — making you feel less hungry and healthy.

9. Avoid sweets

You sure don't want to put all your efforts go in vain by eating sweets after a tiring day of a highly tiring day.

If you're really serious about burning calories to lose weight, then steer clear of sweets. Surely once you got used to eating healthy food, you would have less and less desire to eat unhealthy food again.

10. Get a good night's sleep

Sleeping well is crucial for weight loss. In fact, you also burn calories as you sleep, not just when you're awake.

However, the amount of calories each person burns depends on body weight. If you weigh bigger, chances are you burn more calories whenever you get a good night's sleep.

So, go ahead and get a restful sleep starting tonight.

Love + miracles,