Obesity is a major problem facing our modern society. When we talk of loosing weight, the first thing that comes to mind is going for workout or undergoing a strict diet regimen. However, these are the two major ways most people adopt when monitoring their waistline, but there are also other ways you can burn calories that seem effective as the conventional methods. Although these ways are somewhat unusual but to a larger extent they can help improve the amount of calories burned.
Expose Yourself to Cold
It is hard to believe that cold temperatures helps you burn fat. But this will actually make sense when you understand the types of fat tissues in our body and their function. There are literally two types of fats in your body, the white fats and the brown fats. The main function of the white fat is to store energy while the major function of the brown fat is to produce heat "by burning calories in a process called thermogenesis". It has been shown that cold temperatures help boost the activities of brown fats in the body, making you to burn enough calories. It has also been shown that cold can also help white fats to be converted into brown fats so that they can be burned effectively.
In one study, healthy young men with similar body compositions stayed in a 66°F (19°C) environment for 2 hours. It was shown that they all burnt a significant amount of calories within that period of two hours. But those with high brown fat activities burnt more calories than others.
Drink cold water
Drinking ice cold water has been shown to boost metabolism and calorie burning. When you drink ice cold water, your body works so hard warming up the water to body temperature and in the course of that process, you tend to burn lots of calories.
Chew gums
Don't let this come as a surprise because in a kind of way, chewing gums can actually make you burn some calories. Most of us like snacking a lot and as a result we tend to gain lot of calories. Study have shown that when we chew gums, we tend to have this sensation of fullness that will make us not crave much for snacks. Some study also claim that chewing gums help speed up metabolic rates.
Donate blood
When you think of the effects that comes with donating blood, burning calories shouldn't come as a surprise. When you donate blood, there lots of nutrients you are going to loose in the process and regaining these nutrients will actually cost you lots of calories. You are going to need new proteins, red blood cells, other blood components, all of which will require a significant amount of energy in order to replace.
Fidget more
That attitude you think is obnoxious may actually be helping in a kind of way without you realizing it. Fidgeting is actually a subtle form of non-exercise activity that boost your metabolic rate and make you burn calories. It involves moving your body parts in a restless manner -either continuously tapping your feet, constantly playing with your fingers or doing anything that keeps you busy while sitting or standing. It is often a attitude that either connotes anxiety or restlessness. Study have shown that these behaviors can increase the number of calories burnt in a day.
In one study, people who fidgeted while seated or standing were shown to burn five to six times more calories, on average, than when they sat or stood still. Another study found that people with the highest body weight experienced the greatest increase in metabolic rate in response to fidgeting and other types of non-exercise activity.
Watch Horror movies
Watching horror movies can make you burn calories. This actually make sense when you consider the actions of adrenaline and how they come into play. When you do anything that puts you in fight and flight mode, your body releases adrenaline, a hormone that helps you respond to anxiety. The presence of this hormone brings about lots of physiological changes to your body all of which consumes lots of energy for them to occur.
Study have shown that those who watched a 90-minute horror film were likely to burn up to 113 calories – the same amount you burn when you walk for 30 minutes. However, the amount of calories burnt while watching horror movies would depend on the type of movie and how much of the devil's scene it contains.