If your goal is to lose weight, your first priority is learning how to burn calories. Weight loss only happens when you burn more calories than you take in. This is how you can burn calories throughout the day.

First of all, to burn calories you need to keep track of your heart rate because the higher your heart rate, the faster you burn calories. To calculate your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. Your target heart rate will be 60-85% of your maximum heart rate. A forty-five year old woman would take 220-45 and get the number 175. The highest target heart rate you should exercise at is 85% of 185, so take 0.85 x 175 = 148.75. 60% would be 0.60 x 175=105. So a 45-year-old woman should aim to exercise with a heart rate between 151 beats per minute and 148 beats per minute. Keep in mind that the higher your heart rate, the more calories will be burned during exercise. The best way to keep track of this is to buy a heart rate monitor that will track calories during any exercise.

Interval training is the next best way to burn calories. Before you despair at the thought of breaking a sweat on a treadmill, this can be a lot easier than you think. During interval training, in effect, high intensity exercises are alternated with lower intensity exercises. Take swimming as an example. You would swim 4 laps at 85% of your maximum heart rate and then swim 8 laps at 60% of your maximum heart rate. This way you tend to burn calories at a faster rate because your heart has to move between intense exercise and recovery. The good news is that you will burn more calories throughout the day because your body has had to work harder. Of course, having a heart monitor really helps, but it’s not essential because you’ll feel your heart pump faster and harder during the intense phase.

Most people make the mistake of sticking to the same exercise routine. You’ll burn more calories by changing your exercise routine every few weeks. When you do the same exercise for a long period of time, your body gets used to it. You learn the movement, your muscles become more efficient and therefore you tire less. Humans (and animals) are adaptable, and increased efficiency means that over time, you’ll start burning fewer calories doing the same amount of exercise. You can avoid this by participating in a variety of activities. There are so many options available to you, including walking, running, biking, swimming, aerobics, pilates, yoga, etc. You can also burn calories by doing routine activities like cleaning the house, gardening, walking the dog, washing the car, and whatever you can think of to get your body moving.