College means food. With over thirty cafés, restaurants, and food trucks around campus, not to mention all the events with free food, there’s no doubt that stress eating is easier than ever. If you’re like most girls right now, you’re swamped with studying, classwork, and everything else. If you have absolutely no time to hit the gym (but you still want that peppermint mocha you’ve been craving all day), have no fear! There are still ways to burn calories without having to run on a treadmill.
1. Take the stairs when you can.
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Everyone knows the feeling of wanting to collapse in your room after a long day. But isntead of taking the elevator, hold off on that moment for a few more minutes and take the stairs! You’ll feel that much better when you get to your bed, and bonus- when you reach the top, you’ll have burnt a bunch of calories! It’s hard when you’re lugging around a backpack that feels as heavy as three elephants, but climbing the stairs just a few times every day can allow you to have your coffee date with no guilt (and your calves’ll look great!).
2. Take a stand while studying.
With dead week dangerously close, it’s easy to spend hours studying in a row, cramped up in a desk chair. Instead of losing all feeling in your legs, try standing while you study! Standing has been proven to burn allmost 2x the calories that sitting does, and you’ll get better blood flow, which means better studying! Of course, it’s never good to stand in one place for too long- after a while, take a quick walk to process what you’ve learned and also to stretch your legs. Your brain and body will thank you.
3. Drink cold water.
Drinking your water ice-cold can increase your metabolism by more than 20 calories a glass! If you hydrate yourself properly with eight classes of cold water a day, that’s nearly 200 calories- enough for a slice of guilt-free pizza…
4. Walk to class!
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UW is a huge campus, which is why we have buses that run from one end of campus to another. But if you have the time to spare, walk it instead! Walking burns calories almost as quickly as running does, and walking for an hour a day can burn up to 250 calories! The next time you find yourself having to get from one end of campus to the other, think of your walk as a blessing in disguise- now you’ll get your exercise without going to the gym! And if you’ve got a bike, break that out too- an hour of biking can burn up to 400 calories, which is definitely worth it!
5. Sing in the shower.
There are two kinds of people in the world- people that sing in the shower, and liars. It might be embarassing, sharing a bathroom with twelve other girls, but it’s time to unleash your inner Beyonce in the shower! Because now you know the added benefit of singing- it burns up to 150 calories an hour! Time to unleash your inner Beyonce!
6. Laugh with friends.
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Easily the most fun form of exercise, laughter burns a lot of calories and is just overall beneficial! So grab a few friends, turn on your favorite funny TV show, and laugh away!
7. Clean your room.
It’s easy to leave your bed unmade, your clothes on the ground, and the shower filled with shampoo bottles. But doing laundry and other chores can actually burn a lot- especially when you heft that heavy bag of clothes all the way to the laundry room! And you have the added bonus of clean clothes, which sounds like a pretty good deal!
Working out doesn’t necessarily mean hitting the gym in Nikes and a towel around your neck. It can mean laughing with friends, or biking to your next class, or even belting out Irreplaceable in the shower. Whatever works for you, if you enjoy it, you’ll stick with it and be able to enjoy that coffee date guilt free :)