Can This Be Right???

In trying to determine how many calories my new dance routine will burn, and how long I must dance to burn off a bag of Cheetos (just kidding), I visited a website suggested by a friend of mine. It supposedly calculates the number of calories expended in a 30 minute time frame for any number of activities. After reading through the list, I really don't have to do much (according to this website). They list Cooking/Food Prep at using 108.8 cal. per 1/2 hr., Sleeping at 48.9 cal. per 1/2 hr., Watching TV is 54.4 cal. per 1/2 hr., and just standing in line comes in at a whopping 65.3 cal. per 1/2 hr. So, by my calculations, if I sleep 6 hrs. and watch TV 3 hrs, I've expended 456.6 calories without any effort whatsoever!!! CAN THIS BE RIGHT? I'm thinking not, but I love the concept. It reminds me of the old weight loss pills that burn fat while you sleep. Just too damned good to be true. DRATS!

The actual reason for my visit to this website was to calculate my dancing calories! They have three categories of dance to choose from....Fast, which would be dances like the twist and ballet; Moderate, which would include Disco, ballroom, square, line, Irish step, and polka; and, of course, Slow, which would be the Fox Trot, waltz, and tango. No mention of dancing with weights, so I'll figure that out later. Fast= 261.2 cal. per 1/2 hr., Moderate=249.9 cal. per 1/2 hr., and Slow=163.2 cal. per 1/2 hr. I'm not quite up to fast yet, but I'm doing better than slow, so I figure a nice round number of 225 cal. per 1/2 hr. Then add the weights for an extra calorie or two.

FYI, today's playlist consisted of 8 songs, 3 using the 8# weights. I began with "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" then on to "Hey, Baby", with weights in hand I danced, AND sang, to "Him or Me?", did the stroll to "Smokey Joe's Cafe", picked up the weights again for "Every Day With You, Girl", next "I Fought the Law", "Hey, hey, Paula" with weights again, and ended my routine 20 minutes later with "Oh how happy". I figure 20 min. was worth about 150 calories today, plus or minus a few for the weights. There was no mention of how many calories singing loudly might use. My burning question now is.... must I wear my pedometer when I do the stroll?

This is only my second full day of dancing, but I am really enjoying it. The fact that the sun is shining thru the window is a huge help, (the shades were drawn) but the old songs and the funky dances I'm making up to go along with exercise style movements has been very amusing. And, no, Cammy I'll not be making a Richard Simmons style video for everyone else's amusement. :) Besides, I look awful when bedazzled, and even worse in short shorts.