you can buy a pedometer and record Options

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Shop Til You Drop

Every year, our friends wish us a happy, healthy, holiday season, but the healthy part isn't so easy to achieve. Celebratory meals complete with booze! are part of the problem, along with hectic schedules that cut into workout time. Well, no matter Cheap nfl jerseys what, you have to go gift shopping, right? So here's a way to outsmart the holiday calorie trap take that "mall crawl" of yours and use it to get the blood pumping.

By making a game of it, you can truly get some meaningful exercise out of shopping for gifts. But it's going to require planning. To strategize your shopping for maximum walking distance, start by parking as far from the mall entrance as possible. Stride smartly to the store locator and use it to plan out your route. Note the stores you want to visit and create a sequence that sends you on repeated long hikes between them. This may seem like the opposite of the path traveled by the efficient shopper and it is only you're doing it on purpose. For example, assuming you'll shop at the big "anchor" stores located on the far ends, shop in one, then go all the way to the opposite store, then double back again.

If you keep track of distance and speed, you can use the activity PointsPlus calculator to determine how many activity PointsPlus values you earn during your mall walks. Cruising at 2.5 miles per hour won't get you pulled over by Paul Blart, Mall Cop, but if your weight is 180 pounds, it will, according to the calculator, burn 24 calories in just five minutes the amount of time it takes to cover about two tenths of a mile at 2.5 miles per hour. A new chin up bar or a pair of ankle weights will have you striding past the mall Santa daring to whisper, "Ho ho ho, big fella." At the very least, 5 pound ankle weights will add 10 pounds to total body weight, which incrementally increases your calorie burn (use the calculator to check how much). Just be sure you can make your normal walking gait with those weights strapped on. Before you leave, feel free to do a few curls with the display dumbbells just don't go overboard and get punked by the you curl 'em you buy 'em rule.

All these laps along the storefronts will of course bring you past the food court. Nan Windmueller, a state certified nutritionist in Albany, New York, advises hydrating as you shop with water instead of soft drinks or even smoothies. "You can take care of a hunger pang with something from the Chinese takeout place or even a pizza stand, if you choose correctly," says Windmueller. "A small order of beef with broccoli plus a cup of steamed rice is only about 8 PointsPlus values, and one slice of thin crust cheese pizza will be around 4 PointsPlus values." Fruit smoothies contain good nutrition, she says, but the calories add up fast because it takes so many normal daily servings of fruit to make them. "You could be consuming several days' worth of recommended fruit servings, and that means 200 plus calories Cheap air max shoes in one smoothie," Windmueller points out.

David Mullen, PhD, a psychologist in Sarasota, FL, likes the mall shopping workout idea because it "gets the endorphins flowing and contributes to an upbeat mood, which is especially important for your well being at the holiday time of year." In addition, says Mullen, this sort of improvised workout keeps you from falling into a rut. "If you feel like you're breaking the annual routine and beating the system, your attitude will be more positive and healthy," he says.

Tips for making the program work

Try to shop at less busy times so your walking lanes are open and you can keep up a brisk pace.

It's hard to find stairs to climb in the newer malls. But if your mall has stairs, climb them as often as you can. If they only have escalators, wait for an open space and walk don't stand and ride.

At least once or twice during your mall visit, get back in the fresh air. "A couple of times, make that long walk back to where you parked and put the gifts you've purchased in NFL jerseys cheap your trunk," advises Carla Barkey, a personal trainer with Elite Physiques in central Ohio. Barkey likes the enforced mall hike concept not only for the workout itself, but because it will promote a good health mentality that you can carry over to the many holiday feasts and open bar events you find yourself at. "This can help you stay disciplined rather than overindulgent about what you eat and drink at parties and get togethers," says Barkey.

Mall walking clubs are common these days, so you should Web search your local malls to find info on walking. In Schaumburg, Illinois, Woodfield Mall has mile markers posted at regular intervals and feet/mileage measurements for five different sections of the building. Eastland Center in Harper Woods, Michigan, is so pedestrian friendly, walkers who hit certain mileage totals get free T shirts. Any mall with a walking club will be able to supply distance data, which is your primary need in this endeavor.

Short of that, you can buy a pedometer and record how much you schlep while you shop. If your cell phone or PDA can handle applications, download a program like My Tracks, which will enable you to view and record the stats on how much ground you've covered. Some of these apps provide not just the number of steps but a conversion to yards or miles. You may even find a screen that lets you enter your average stride length in feet and your body mass in pounds. Based on that data, the software can calculate in real time the distance traveled, your pace and the energy expended in calories. According to The Walker's Warehouse, the average length of the male stride is 2.5 feet. If Store A to Store B requires 1,000 steps, that's a nice little half mile walk, according to the site's calculator