Planning outdoor activities with family and friends that burn calories

Switch up your summer social gatherings to include activities that burn calories. Add lawn games and other outdoor fun to add fitness to your family picnic.

Fun outdoor summer games and activities that burn calories and help you lose weight

As summer gets into full swing, so do barbecues and picnics. Often, we place most of the emphasis of these social gatherings on food and drinks. Why not focus on games and activities that can be fun and burn some calories while you’re at it! Don't discount the calories you can burn by playing fun and classic lawn games.

Sitting, relaxing, and talking for one hour burns approximately 125 calories (based on a 175-pound person). While visiting, let’s say you eat an ounce of potato chips, 15 almonds, and have a 12-ounce beer to total 408 calories. Why not step away from the food and get involved in the active fun?

Here's a list of games and approximate calories burned during one hour of play (based on a 175-pound person):

• Badminton: 376 calories
• Volleyball: 250 calories
• Croquet: 208 calories
• Shuffleboard: 250 calories
• Table tennis (Ping pong): 334 calories
• Frisbee: 250 calories
• Horseshoes: 250 calories
• Basketball: 500 calories
• Lawn darts: 208 calories
• Flag football: 668 calories

More fun outdoor activities that burn calories while you enjoy an hour outside with family and friends (based on a 175-pound person):

• Hiking: 500 calories
• Tennis: 584 calories
• Pickleball: 500 calories
• Golf, walking: 358 calories
• Golf, using cart: 292 calories
• Swimming: 500 calories
• Miniature golf: 250 calories
• Kayaking/canoeing: 417 calories
• Bicycling <10mph: 334 calories

Track your calorie-burning activities with MyNetDiary

You can track your exercise minutes with the MyNetDiary app, and it will show you the number of calories you burn with the activity. Also, with MyNetDiary Premium membership, you can sync with fitness trackers such as FitBit, Withings, and Garmin. It can be motivating to see the number of calories burned.

So, don’t make summer socializing just about the food and drink. Have fun, improve your fitness, and burn some calories with outdoor activities!

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Adapted from original content by Ryan Newhouse, health writer, MyNetDiary

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Exercise->Fun & Games Holidays / Parties->July 4th / Independence Day