Denise's Daily Dozen (4 page)

11.
Lift and lengthen your legs while you cook. I stretch my legs like a ballerina using my kitchen countertops. Just lift your leg, place your heel on the counter, and, with your abs in, fold over your leg and reach for your toes. Do this and other stretches often enough and you will be able to touch them one day.

12.
After food shopping and loading your car with your groceries, walk your shopping cart back to the store instead of leaving it in the store’s parking lot.

Twelve Favorite Fidget-cisers

W
hile I aim for thirty minutes of official exercise a day, I never miss an opportunity to move. Your muscles don’t know if you’re in a fancy gym or the kitchen. This means that you can tone the 640 muscles of the body anytime, anywhere. You can turn idle time into toning time and do exercises and stretches while dinner is simmering on the stove or you’re chatting on the phone. I call these one-minute exercises fidget-cisers, and I truly rely on them to help keep me trim and toned. Research has shown that little bursts of exercise throughout the day can increase your calorie burn up to a startling five hundred calories or more per day! Yes, five hundred calories! Here are twelve of my favorite anywhere-around-the-house fidget-cisers:

1. Sink ’n’ Squat

Shape your butt in the comfort of your own kitchen!

Stand about an arm-length away from the sink with your feet shoulder-width apart. Squat down and hold for 5 seconds.

2. Leg and Butt Lift

You’ll tone up and look fabulous from behind!

While standing at the sink washing dishes or scrubbing veggies, lift your right leg up behind you and pulse it up and down. Switch legs and repeat.

3. Saddlebag Slimmers

Target this trouble spot in minutes.

Stand with your left side to the counter and place your hand on it. Lift your right leg out to the side about a foot off the ground and pulse. Turn so that your right side faces the counter, then switch legs and repeat.

4. Inner-Thigh Toner

Lift the jiggle away.

Stand with your left side to the counter and place your hand on it. Lift your right leg off the floor and bring it across the front of your body toward the left side. Pulse. Switch sides and repeat.

5. Telephone Thigh Trimmer

Get lean while you gab!

While on the phone, stand about an arm-length away from a countertop. Place your right hand on the counter, hold the phone in your left, and bring your feet together. Squeeze your legs together as you squat down.

6. Countertop Push-Aways

I do these while waiting for my toast to pop up.

Place your hands on the counter a little wider than shoulder-width and step a few feet away with your legs.

Bend your elbows, bringing your chest toward the countertop, then push back up to the start position.