8 Ways to Burn Calories Without Noticing

1. Take the escalator -- but climb the stairs while you ride. You'll get there faster and use your muscles while you're at it. Just 5 minutes of stair climbing burns 144 calories.

2. Instead of piling items on the stairs so you can take them upstairs at once, take them one at a time.

3. When cooling your heels while waiting in a doctor's office, drugstore, or airport, stay on your feet -- standing burns 36 more calories per hour than sitting.

4. Rake leaves instead of using a leaf blower: You'll burn 50 more calories every half hour.

5. Scrub your floors more often. Putting some elbow grease into cleaning floors is more intense than vacuuming -- and it makes your floors look better to boot.

6. Chew sugarless gum. Research has found that the action of jaw muscles alone burns about 11 calories an hour.

7. Wash your car by hand instead of taking it through the automatic carwash. You'll burn an extra 280 calories in an hour.

8. Play with kids: Impromptu games of basketball, touch football, or tag -- or just jumping rope or throwing a ball -- will help you use energy and set a good example of active play for the children. Calories burned: 80 to 137 every 10 minutes.