Ever met anyone who can’t sit still?  The leg-jigglers, the shifters, the gum-chewers, the pen-tappers, the pacers, the over-zealous-gesturers?

They are more metabolically active than you (unless you number among them).

Intentional movement of any kind takes energy.  The people who can’t sit still are, often times, in metabolic overdrive.  They move, sometimes because they can’t help it, because pent up energy needs to be leaked out.

Well, in order to avoid becoming a “tweaker,” try this to help yourself burn a few extra calories.  Why just a few?  Because little lifestyle changes add up!

Let me put it into perspective: a cookie, we’ll say, has 50 calories in it.  Eating an extra  cookie every day for one year translates into 5.21 extra lbs of fat.  Whoa!  That’s one teeny little cookie, too! 50 calories hides in everything, from a few gulps of juice or soda, to half a slice of bread, to half a (conventional-sized) apple.

So let’s try this: burn 50 extra calories a day, and lose 5.21 lbs over a year, without thinking about it.

Here are three rules to make and never break to help you do so:

1) Always, always, always take the stairs instead of the escalator, no matter what you are carrying.  If you are below the fifth floor, you can skip elevators, too.

2) Park your car at the far end of the parking lot every time (or far down the block–don’t be afraid to walk).

3) When you clean your house, do it like you’re trying to get a workout, and not like you are being punished.

Easy.  Depending on how many flights of stairs, trips to the grocery store, or kids/buddies you have trashing your house, these rules can and do add up to more than 50 extra calories a day.  One hour of walking burns about 300 calories… so just 15 minutes of movement will definitely get you that 50!