I've often made the mistake of substituting an hour at the gym with an hour of working on the house, and this holiday season I....got lots done on the house. It seems obvious that remodeling is really not equivalent to a good cardio workout, but somehow this fact didn't hit home (pardon the Pun) to me until the scales at Ballard Health Club greeted my return with news of the additional 5.5 pounds that hadn't been attached to my person at the end of November.
I'm sure, of course, that this was the result of my inactivity, because it couldn't possibly be due to holiday parties, chocolate bourbon pecan pie, chocolate peppermintinis, creamy mashed potatoes to die for, prime rib with horseradish cream, the See's candies sent by Martin's cousin (I WILL get even), or Frangos.
After a quick Google search, I was most happy to find an activity calculator at caloriesperhour.com, where I can plug in my weight and activity duration and see how many calories I burn "remodeling". I can even be more specific, as they have categories for laying tile, hanging drywall, gardening, painting, electrical work, carpentry, and building fences, among other things.
Some surprising findings:
- painting the outside of the house burns 67% more calories per hour than painting the inside of the house
- hanging drywall, carpentry, electrical work, and interior painting all burn the SAME calories per hour
- 'professional' electricians and carpenters burn 17% more calories per hour than amateurs
- an hour of interior painting burns only 1/3 the calories of an hour on the elliptical trainer.
So it's either 1 hr at the gym or 3 hrs at my to-do list. Hmm. Not an easy choice.
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