This is continued on from my first advice of the same name - link. This advice is based on the things you eat and what it takes to burn them off, and also how many calories you can burn off doing certain activities. I have found this to be

very interesting and it has helped me improve my health and fitness, therefore helping improve the health and fitness of my husband and our children. We really enjoy doing some of these activities together and it really doesn't feel like exercise!

First of all here are some simple ways to increase your fitness without making too much effort:

• Stand up instead of sitting down, it burns more calories - if you are on the phone stand or walk around, etc
• use some spare time to clean the garage or organise your cupboards instead of sitting down & veging out
• go window shopping - it's the exercise of a walk with the interest of looking at things!
• Go for a walk on your lunch hour - spend half of your break eating & the other half going for a walk
• if you are having a meeting at work organise a walking one instead of sitting around a table - you will find your brains work harder walking anyway!
• get out in the garden and rake the leaves, weed the garden or sweep your patio/verandah
• go for a short walk before breakfast and after dinner when you can - the kids will love having a walk after dinner and it will help you all to sleep better
• walk laps of the sporting oval while watching your kids play sport
• take the stairs and forget about the lift or excalator...if you do have to use the escalator though walk it!
• walk or bike to nearby places instead of getting in the car
• get off the train or bus a few blocks early and walk the rest of the way
• take the dog for a walk
• exercise while watching tv or a movie - you will be surprised how much you will do while you are watching something...I do this everyday!
• hide the remote control and get up to change channels
• walk up and down the stairs at work while on your break
• if you have a desk job make sure you take the time to get up, move around and stretch several times a day

Surprisingly regular exercise - or just making the effort do do some of the above things each day - can help fight off diseases and keep your brain working well. Exercise can help to regulate moods too - therefore it is extremely beneficial to children with ADHD etc. It is also a great way to help keep disease like Alzheimer's at bay.

The best way to help yourself and your family enjoy exercise is to make it fun, but also think of movement not as an inconvenience but and opportunity. Teach your children this from the start and they will grow to be healthy active adults.

Here are some examples of how many calories per hour you can burn by doing certain activities (based on a 70kg person):

• Stretching - 180
• Dancing - 330
• Golf (carrying clubs and walking) - 330r
• Riding your bike under 16km - 290
• Riding your bike 20-25km - 560
• Light gardening - 330
• Walking - 280
• Running - 900
• Jogging - 560
• Swimming laps - 510
• Aerobics - 480
• Basketball - 440

As you can see it doesn't take a lot to burn off a few calories, but of course the more you do the more you burn. Just doing simple things like going for a walk with your family can help keep you all happy and healthy. If you don't burn off what you eat then your body is going to store it as fat.

Here are some examples of what it takes to burn off certain foods:

• 1 chocolate Tim Tam - 30 minutes walking
• 1 chocolate bar - 30 minutes of singles tennis
• 30g packet of potato chips - 90 minutes of frisbee
• 1 slice of apple pie and cream - 30 minutes of skipping rope
• I cup of stuffing with 1/2 cup of gravy - 100 minutes of golf (carrying clubs and walking)
• 1 cup of macaroni and cheese - 45 minutes of stair climbing
• 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise - 22 minutes of brisk walking
• A burger and large fries - 2 hours of jogging
• 4 cups of microwave popcorn - 20 minutes on our bike

Surprising isn't it just how much it takes to burn off some of our favourite foods! It is ok for us to eat these things in moderation - we can't deprive ourselves of everything - but the best way to keep everyone healthy is to throw in some exercise.

Lastly I have some examples of how many calories are burnt doing ordinary everyday things that we tend to do less and less these days but are really so simple to do and so easy to teach our children to do instead of taking the "easy" option:

• Getting up to change the tv channel burns 3 calories as opposed to using the remote and burning less than 1
• cooking for 30 minutes burns around 25 calories as opposed to waiting 30 minutes for take out delivery burning 15
• walking over to work mates to tell them something, standing and talking for 3 minutes burns 6 - sending them an email burns 2-3
• shopping at the mall/shoppin centre for 1 hour burns 145-240 - shopping online for 2 hour burns 30
• washing, slicing and chopping your own vegies for 15 minutes burns 10-13 - buying pre-chopped burns 0
• ironing and vacuuming for 30 minutes burns 152 - hiring someone to do it burns 0
• raking your leaves for 30 minutes burns 150 - using a leaf blower for 10 mins burns 30
• stading while talking on the phone for 30 minutes burns 20 - sitting while doing it burns 4

It's so simple to change little things in your and your family's day to day lifestyle and they will make a world of difference. If we teach our children to do these things from the start they will lead happy and healthy lives for years to come, and so will you!