Sadly, many of us cannot have Chinese New Year without gaining a few pounds. It’s like receiving an ang pow with no money inside. But to save you from kissing goodbye to your much-loved CNY goodies (yes, bak kwa), there are in fact some simple ways to make sure you’re in the best possible shape so you don’t put on weight before the festive period. Read on to find out how!
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Shake It Off Like Taylor
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We are not asking you to sing it like Swift, but to adopt her attitude when it comes to shaking off any lasting dirt and grime leftover from 2017 (yes, spring clean). Though it's not exactly a fun thing to do, and might even be a sentimental one for some, but hey it's certainly a great way to expend some energy. You can make your spring cleaning more effective as a workout by picking up the pace a little. Such as putting on the Taytay's playlist, and dance to her songs while mopping the floor or wiping the windows. This way, you will not only make it a more effective workout, but you get more work done too.
2 and a half piece of pineapple tarts add up to 248 calories which will be burned off after 1 hour of spring cleaning (vigorous effort).
Shop Till You Drop
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Work your muscles as you work your credit card too! We love the comfort of online shopping, but trust us you could burn more calories by hitting the physical stores. The wonderful thing is you'll be having so much fun browsing the array of CNY ornaments and goodies, that you won't even realise you're burning calories! Here some ways to burn more calories while you shop:
Ditch the lift, and use the escalator-But don't stand still on the escalator, expend some calories by climbing up or running up on it.
Circle the perimeter of the store before you examine a single item- See something that you like? Before going straight and picking that item up, walk around the shop. You'll rack up all the extra steps, particularly in larger stores.
Burn as you queue- There's not much cardio you can do while queuing. Yet, you can stand on tip-toes and train your calves. Raise your heels as high as you can while balancing on your toes. You will feel the stretch in your muscles if you're doing it right.
An hour of grocery shopping (shopping without a cart and carrying shopping bags) burns around 144 calories and could help you 6 mini fried shrimp rolls.
Deck The Halls
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Credit: Twgreatdaily
You may think decorating your house to welcome the spring is nothing strenuous, but hey it does burn the nasty calories! Climbing up and down the ladder till you think the adorable "doggie" couplets are perfectly hanged at the right angle definitely plays its part in torching the calories. Not to mention lugging the tangerine tree or the big pot of cherry blossom bonsai into your house all the way from the nearby pasar malem or Chinatown.
Climbing up and down the ladder while hanging the deco burns 260 calories, burn 4 and a half piece of love letters.