With summer right around the corner, people are going far lengths to burn those extra calories and get “swim suit ready.” What if it was much easier than paying hundreds of dollars on a gym membership and “healthy” diet food from a box? According to various health and nutrition websites such as sheknows.com, WebMD, and care2.com, your daily chores and routine can burn hundreds of calories.

Cleaning:

Sweeping- 118 calories
Mopping- 129 calories
Grocery shopping- 82 calories
Mowing the lawn- 197 calories
Gardening- 143 calories
Raking the leaves- 154 calories
Making your bed- 72 calories
Shoveling snow- 400-600 calories per hour
Heavy yard work- 400-600 calories per hour

Exercise (because it is still necessary to effectively lose the pounds):

30 minutes of jogging in place- 251 calories
30 minutes of walking up hills- 251 calories
30 minutes of standing- 72 calories
30 minutes of playing Frisbee- 107 calories

Research also proves that child care burns about 300-600 calories per hour. Other helpful hints to work into your everyday routine are walking the dog when you wake up in the morning, take the stairs everywhere you go- no elevators or escalators, park far away and walk as much as possible, limit television time and replace that time with gardening or chores or any outside activity.

Along with these activities, incorporate a serving of fruits and veggies in every meal. Have some berries with your oatmeal at breakfast, a salad at lunch, and a side of broccoli instead of French fries at dinner. Taking the small steps with consistency will ensure a healthier lifestyle and a bikini body to brag about this summer.

June is Men’s Health Month which raises awareness for men’s health issues. The official goal of the awareness campaign as stated by Men’sHealthMonth.org, is to encourage early detection and treatment of diseases in men and boys. Throughout the month of June, there will be health screenings, health fairs, media appearances, and health education opportunities for men and their families in communities nationwide.

Most of these targeted issues are preventable and can be taken care of with a simple health screening. According to the men’s health department at NYU, 63 percent of men do not go to the doctor unless they are bleeding or are in serious pain. In addition, one- third of men claim that they are motivated by their wife or significant other to visit the doctor. Heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, kidney, and liver disease are all among the top causes of death for Americans; which men are more likely to die faster from than women. Today, on average, women outlive men by five years. Also, “the biggest problem that men have is not so much a specific disease…but the diseases are the result of lack of health care monitoring earlier in life,” WebMD says.

A common health problem in men is low testosterone. This is related to being overweight, having high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression. The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine’s BHRT symposium in Boston this September will feature discussions on Andropause- testosterone monitoring and treatment, hormone therapies, and hormones and the brain.

Tobacco kills over six million people every year worldwide, according to World Health Organization (WHO). 600,000 of those six million people are non-smokers poisoned by second-hand smoke. For 26 years, WHO has been celebrating World No Tobacco Day on May 31^st. This day serves the purpose of bringing attention to the many negative effects that tobacco use can have on the body. WHO is encouraging people all over the world to abstain from all tobacco consumption for this 24 hour period. The theme of 2013’s World No Tobacco Day is “ban tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.” World Tobacco Day awareness includes public marches and demonstrations, ad campaigns, and educational programs.

Any form of tobacco can be harmful to the body. Cigarettes and cigars, hand-rolling tobacco, pipes, chewing tobacco and snuff are all common types of tobacco used every day, worldwide. The most well- known and most critical effects of smoking are lung cancer and heart disease.

According to the CDC, smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease by 2-4 times, the chance of stroke by 2-4 times, men increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 23 times, women increase their chance of lung cancer by 13 times, and the risk of dying from chronic bronchitis and emphysema increases by 12-13 times.

Quitting smoking or other tobacco use can help save your life. Seeking counseling, drug treatment such as nicotine patches or gum, and slowly reducing the amount of smoking can all assist with ridding someone’s life of tobacco products, making them and those closest to them healthier.