March, April, May: ahh… the months of spring. The time of year when flowers bloom, birds sing, bees buzz, and little animals become twitterpated. It’s also the time of year when many people choose to burrow out from under the winter clutter they have created and do a little spring cleaning.
While scrubbing areas that haven’t seen the light of day in months or weeding through stacks of old magazines, newspapers and odds and ends might not sound like the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon, spring cleaning does offer health benefits that many people don’t always consider.
How Housework Equals Happiness
Most people are already well aware of the fact that exercise brings with it many rewards. However, according to a 2008 article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, as little as 20 minutes of any physical activity per week (and that includes housework) could chase the blues away, or so indicates the approximately 3200 respondents who suffered from anxiety or depression.
In fact, while sports worked best in improving mental health – reducing risk of depression by one third or more – even a 20-minute session of housework helped to reduce the risk of depression by as much as 20 percent. In general, the experts recommended that any type of physical activity was better than nothing.
Lose Weight by Cleaning House
However, spring cleaning goes beyond just perking up someone’s mental outlook. It’s a known fact that housework can lower stress and burn calories. In fact, the American Heart Association (AHA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) both categorize housework along with yard work, gardening and walking for enjoyment as “moderate-intensity activities.” Just how many calories can someone burn while doing housework?
A bit of research at about a dozen different exercise and health-related sites, including the AHA and CDC, revealed that everyone has a different opinion of how many calories a person can actually burn per hour. There are a variety of websites that will calculate specific personalized information that is usually based on the individual’s age and weight.
That being said, there is no denying that everything from vacuuming and making beds to washing windows and dusting provide at least some calorie-burning benefit. And overall it appears that a half hour of any type of housework usually burns nearly 100 calories or more.
Keep Up the Good Work
Even though spring will eventually give way to summer, experts caution against returning to old disorganized ways and lazy attitudes. Keeping mentally and physically strong comes from eliminating clutter as well as maintaining good, healthy lifestyle habits. Plus staying on top of chores reduces stress and can eliminate the “disorganization domino effect.”
This means that disorganization tends to create a ripple effect which impacts not only the individual, but those around him or her as well creating a tension-filled environment which can extend to family, friends and coworkers. And while organization isn’t necessarily a guarantee of happiness, it definitely can’t hurt.
So with spring in bloom now is the time to clean up, throw out and lose weight. And do it with a smile.