Volunteer to Lose Weight
Welcome back once again to another of my Top 100 weight loss tips. The series is coming along in leaps and bounds and this post is article number 13 in the series. It provides another great and useful tip to help you lose weight.
This post looks at what you can do outside your normal day to get yourself out of the house and into the fresh air in ways you may not have thought of. That is if you have plenty of free time that is usually frittered away in front of the TV, of course.
Lose Weight by Volunteering for Stuff
If you are trying to lose some weight but are one of these people that are resistant to exercising for whatever reason, there are alternatives that can be very fulfilling as well as a lot of fun. How about considering volunteer labor?
One of the really great things to do is to walk dogs that live at your local animal shelter. (You can find a local animal shelter at Petfiinder.com or check with your local library or local press). This is excellent as it makes you walk at an elevated pace which is even better if you have three or four dogs to walk at once.
They can give you a free workout while you go! Animal charities are always in need of helpers to look after the animals they care for so you would be doing your bit for a side of the community that far too many people ignore.
If you live near the coast, why not volunteer to do beach cleanups. This is great for getting plenty of fresh sea air and gets you active and doing something worthwhile as you get a daily workout without even feeling like you're exercising.
There is something quite relaxing and satisfying about walking along a stretch of beach picking up litter that unthinking people throw away. Just think, the next piece of broken glass you pick up could save a child from having a serious accident.
If you don't live near the coast, try the same thing for riverside or lake shore clean-ups with a local environmental group. People are forever leaving their junk in local beauty spots and there is always a need for volunteers to clean it up to keep the place from becoming a junkyard.
Charity Projects
Another great volunteer idea is on local building and repair projects for charities or community projects such as restoring public buildings, renovating public parks or other open air public spaces. There are loads of ways you can help that will also get you working up a sweat and boosting your metabolism for your own benefit as well as benefiting the project you are working on.
You could volunteer to help out with handicapped children such as getting involved with organizations that take them out on trips. You can help with getting wheelchairs in and out of mobility vehicles, supervising the kids while they are outdoors etc.
If none of that appeals to you, then what about volunteering for local environmental groups to plant trees and shrubs in places that have been scrubbed clean and are in need of some regeneration? You'll be doing your bit for the environment while getting plenty of fresh air to lose weight and improve your health and fitness levels.
So rather than squandering your spare time slumped in front of the TV getting zero exercise and setting yourself up for an unhealthy, shortened and obese life, there are plenty of ways in which you can use that time. You can use it to help out those that are in need and help yourself at the same time by giving yourself some reason for doing stuff that you might not otherwise have even considered.
100 Weight Loss Tips number 12 follows in the next post!
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Posted on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 in Top 100 Weight Loss Tips | 2 Comments
2 thoughts on "Volunteer to Lose Weight"
Ilias says:
Thanks for a great post on volunteering in order to shed some weight by getting out and exercising while helping others that may be less fortunate than yourself!
Will says:
Amazing... It feels good to find someone who has concern for things that are usually overlooked. “No matter how pleasant something would appear, there will always be a room for improvement” and you have clearly brought it out in this post. So all those seeking to lose weight or better diets and healthy life style must find it interesting too.