How to Burn Calories Without Exercise

To lose weight, a person must burn more calories than he or she consumes, but this isn't done only through exercise. Calories are burned while doing housework, reading and even sleeping, and the amount of calories burned during everyday activities can be increased if you know how.

1. Go to bed hungry. Instead of eating a late dinner or having a snack before bed, retire on an empty stomach. Your body has to burn some calories even while you're sleeping, and if there isn't any food in your stomach when you go to sleep, you'll wake up a little less fat than when you went to bed.

2. Drink ice water. You'll have to burn some calories to heat the cold water to body temperature. If you drink 8 glasses of ice water a day, you'll burn about 70 calories.

3. Fidget. Tapping your toes, drumming your fingers, doodling and even chewing gum all burn some calories. Ignore the advice of your parents and teachers, who wanted you to learn to sit still.

4. Laugh. You'll burn 20 percent more calories watching a funny movie than you would if you watched a drama. You can also watch comedies on TV, see comics perform live and read funny stories.

5. Eat spicy foods. Spices like cayenne pepper, cumin and curry have been shown to increase your metabolism for a few minutes after eating them, burning a few more calories than after eating bland foods.

6. Add protein, especially dairy foods, to your diet. This will keep your body from breaking down your muscles for the protein it needs, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn.