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Counting calories? No thanks! – This is how I stay fit

Whether hearty home-style cooking like dumplings, fresh seafood or exquisite gourmet cuisine – You know that I really like to eat.. I'm regularly asked how I manage to stay slim. First off: No, I'm unfortunately not one of those lucky supermodels who owe their slender figure to "good genes"—rather, my schedule is filled with "EXERCISE" written in bold letters before or after meals. Because, quite honestly, counting calories would take the joy out of eating. Since life is so much more enjoyable with good food, I've been looking for a way to burn calories instead of avoiding them.

And voilà, I found it: With my smartwatch, I can track my fitness and see exactly how many calories I've burned. Besides the functions, the look of the watch is also important to me – it should match my style, and I also really like it when it's not immediately obvious that the smartwatch is a mini-computer on my wrist. On zalando.de You can check for yourselves which model suits you best.

Do you burn calories while watching TV?

I also always find it quite amusing to see how many calories you burn during everyday tasks. For example, I burn a whopping 180 calories during a brisk, 30-minute cleaning of the apartment. Of course, there are more fun ways to do it. After just a ten-minute shopping trip, I can already count 30 fewer calories burned, but honestly, as if a shopping trip of mine only lasts ten minutes! If you're a fan of horror movies, then you're in luck: watching horror movies burns calories! The classic... The Shining A full 184 calories melt away, Saw 133 and Paranormal Activity 111 – the complete top 10 list You can find it here.
Besides shopping sprees and horror movie marathons, I also fight calories with effective exercise. In winter, I'm more likely to be found in the gym than outdoors, and when I'm feeling really lazy, I prefer to stay in my own home, roll out my mat, and let trainers on YouTube work me up.

Burn calories instead of counting them.

Exercise from home

I particularly like the principle developed by the American Cassey Ho. You can find more information on her website. register to sign up for their free newsletter, The plan includes a new Pilates workout plan at the beginning of each month. The accompanying instructions are conveniently available as videos on YouTube, making it easy to follow along. You hardly need any equipment, and the plan itself is completely free. The app, however, costs 99 cents per month – but the free version is sufficient for me.

HIIT: Short and effective

As soon as the weather permits, I'll lace up my running shoes. Especially effective is a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), HIIT, where – surprise! – training is done in intervals. During the exertion phase (e.g., a 60-second sprint), the body is pushed to its performance limit, followed by a recovery phase with a light jog for 120 seconds. Depending on your fitness level, the number of intervals can vary between four and twelve. The great advantage of HIIT is the short training duration of 20 to 30 minutes, during which the body is still trained very effectively.

[This post was created in cooperation with Zalando. Thank you!]
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