Shopping As Exercise? Please Say It’s So!

By Kelly Turner on January 21st, 2010

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Skinny Cow, the maker of low-fat and -calorie ice cream treats, conducted a study that revealed women burn an average of 48,000 calories a year just by shopping: walking, lifting, carrying–it’s apparently a real workout.

The study found that the average woman burns around 385 calories, the equivalent of about two large glasses of wine, wandering around stores each week. With women taking 132 shopping trips each year, which adds up to almost 160 hours of walking at a “fast pace.”

The study estimates women burn about 5 calories a minute while shopping at this “fast pace,” so a die hard shop-a-holic can burn around 47,700 calories over a 12 month period.

A Skinny Cow spokesperson said of the research findings:

“With the festive celebrations well and truly over, women across the country are now looking for the perfect fitness regime for the New Year. Women love to shop, so what better way to get into shape than to exercise at the January sales. If women planned to spend two hours at the shops, rather than the average one hour, they could double their calories burned each month to a staggering 8,000 – just through shopping.”

Are they seriously advocating shopping as a workout?

Here’s the thing: I don’t shop like this. I’ve worn a pedometer shopping, and even if my trip to the mall or downtown Seattle lasts over an hour, I never get many steps. I walk quickly from store to store, but when I’m in there, I meander. I poke. I shuffle. I don’t do laps around the store and work up a sweat and I’m pretty sure I don’t burn almost 400 calories–not extra calories, anyway. Remember, you burn calories every second of the day, even if you are laying on the couch staring at the ceiling.

And of course, there are a gazillion other factors to health than burning calories, like disease prevention, cardiovascular health, increased bone density, muscle tone, strength, coordination, balance, flexibility, a killer six-pack, etc… so don’t trade your gym membership for your Visa.

However, I’ve come to the conclusion my problem is that I am not shopping nearly enough. Aside from hitting the grocery store, I don’t shop every week. I don’t even really shop every month. I wish I could. Why doesn’t my checking account understand that I need funds for the good of my health?