Fun Weekend Activities

By Dietitian, Juliette Kellow BSc RD

As well as keeping an eye on what you eat at the weekend, it’s also a good idea to keep your activity levels up. Better still, why not use your weekends to actually be more active than you are during the week?

If you burn more calories, you can afford to indulge in a few more, so rather than having a lie in, think about doing an exercise class, going for a walk or hitting the gym.

Try some of these fun and social ways to fit fitness into your weekend.

1. Take up photography as a hobby – you’ll walk for miles as you practice getting the perfect shot.
2. Feed your mind and take the whole family on a trip to a local museum or art gallery – you’ll burn more calories walking around the exhibits than you would sitting in front of the TV.
3. On rainy days, dig out the dance mat and have a family dance off. Or turn off the TV and have a game of Twister.
4. Have a potter around your local market, car boot sale or Farmer’s market – you don’t have to buy anything but you’ll have fun and walk further than you think.
5. Book a couple of hours at the local bowling alley – all that crouching and bowling will help to tone your leg muscles.
6. Join a club that’s based on being more active such as The Ramblers Association www.ramblers.org.uk Many of the activities are planned for weekends.
7. Walk or cycle rather than drive to your local pub for drinks or a pub lunch.
8. On windy days, find an open space and fly a kite – you’ll be surprised at just how far you end up walking or running and you’ll use the muscles in your arms and back.
9. Become a volunteer dog walker – organisations such as the RSPCA are always looking for people to walk dogs for free. Visit www.rspca.org.uk to find out what opportunities exist near you. Or simply contact your local kennels.
10. Get the family together and go for swim – make it competitive by having swim-offs amongst family members.
11. Get out in the garden and spend a day weeding, digging and mowing – it will burn loads of calories and give you a real sense of satisfaction.
12. Have a round of mini or crazy golf if there’s one near you.
13. Get some retail therapy – even if you don’t buy anything, you’ll probably walk miles without realising, and all that struggling in and out of clothes will help to burn stacks of calories.