The secret to losing weight? Burn off more calories than you eat. It’s that simple. Try our no-gym tips for an uber-hot body, no crunches necessary.

No matter what size you are, reading this has already increased the number of calories you will burn doing exactly the same exercises. Why? Because studies have shown that simply realising that your normal daily activities and hobbies count as exercising, actually improves your chances of losing weight. (Read more: Mind-Set Shifts Matter)

The number of calories you burn varies according to who you are. For example, men burn more calories than women, and women who weigh a bit more than average burn more calories than skinny minxes do. The following figures are based on the amount of calories a woman with an average-sized booty would burn.

Ban dieting with these calorie-burning tricks

Be a couch potato

But make sure your TV is tuned to Comedy Central. A 15-minute fit of hysterical giggling can burn up to 40 calories – if you did it every day, that’s enough to shed up to 4 pounds a year. And, having a fit of the giggles could even protect your heart and make you feel less pain. (Read More: Laughter 'Makes Us More Generous').

Get some retail therapy

Park your car away from the maddening crowd and spend Saturday morning shopping. You’ll be so busy hunting for the perfect item it definitely won’t seem like work, and you’ll burn 100 calories for every hour it takes you to find them. (By the way girls, once you find those perfect stacked heels, wear them with pride – they’ll tone your calves and increase the number of calories you burn just standing still, let alone trying to walk in them.)

Go green

Green tea’s antioxidants fight cancer, but it also boosts your metabolism. So you’ll burn up to 60 extra calories a day just standing still. (Read More: Go Green).

Shun the lift

You can burn over 100 calories in 20 minutes by taking the stairs, and you don’t need to do it all in one go – rather split your climbing time up over the day for the same calorie count and minimum sweat.

Unleash your inner housework hero

Make peace with housework. You have to do it anyway, so it’s nice to know it’s helping you beat the bulge. Half an hour of vacuuming, ironing, washing the dishes by hand or waxing your car burns over 100 calories. Do it to music to forget the ‘work’ factor and add in some sexy dance moves. Studies also show that women could even be protecting themselves against breast cancer by doing housework. (Read More: Housework Reduces Breast Cancer Risk).

Be a disco dude or diva

Hit the dance-floor with mates for a sneaky fat-burning night on the town. Dancing at a moderate pace will burn 100 calories every 20 minutes. Two things though – make sure you have a lie-in the morning after (you need sleep to keep your insulin levels down and burn carbs effectively) and keep drinking to a minimum – alcohol piles on the pounds.

Channel Jamie Oliver

Rustle up something tasty in the kitchen. Not only will you be sure that it contains a lot less trans fat and salt than your average microwave meal, but you’ll burn 54 calories ever half an hour you’re in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Unless you nibble while you cook that is!!

Got milk?

Eating three servings of low-fat dairy a day helps you burn up to 70 per cent more calories. Calcium prompts your body to burn excess fat faster. It might also be a good idea to eat more fatty fish – not only a brain food and high in omega 3, fish lowers your leptin levels – a hormone that slows metabolism.

Spring clean

Spring has sprung, prompting change and rebirth. Rearrange your bedroom – lugging heavy furniture burns 300 calories in just half an hour.

Channel Cindy Crawford

Pop in a workout video and embrace your inner cheeseball. Just ten minutes of lunging, kicking, lifting and generally following instructions burns 100 calories.

Get it on

Get hot and steamy between the sheets (or in the car, on your desk, in the M&S changing-room…) for a calorie-burning romp. It doesn’t even have to involve acrobatics to be effective. Just kissing for 15 minutes burns about 30 calories. You’ll also get rid of 30 calories with half an hour of foreplay, and 60 calories for 20 minutes of sex. Now imagine what you could do if you did introduce the acrobatics.

Get funky

So you think you can dance? Pole dancing is so last season – too many nasty burns and bruises. Try a hip hop funk class instead. You’ll learn the high-energy tricks of the music video trade and burn up to 400 calories in an hour-long class – more than most other dance classes. The tricky moves will take the focus away from the fat-burning aspect. Plus you won’t be the loser left standing in a corner if you haven’t brought a partner.

Join the breakfast club

Eating breakfast is vital for losing weight and keeping it that way. It increases your metabolism and stops unhealthy binge snacking later. Try including a banana with your cereal – they’re full of metabolism-boosting potassium and balance your body’s water retention. Also, eating whole-grain breakfast cereals on a daily basis will also lower your risk of heart failure, according to a recent study. (Read more: Breakfast Cereals Reduce Heart Failure Risk).

Be yourself

When it comes to fitness, the benefits of doing exercise you actually enjoy are endless (Read more: Taking Fitness Personally).
If you’re into 70s chic, find an open space and go for a roller-skate. You’ll burn off a fabulous 476 calories in just an hour, and get fabulously toned legs. Or if martial arts are more your scene, try tae-kwan-do – you’ll only need to do it for 21 minutes to burn off 300 calories. Adrenaline junkies should try kayaking, at 352 calories per hour.

Make like Shakira

Think furious hip swivelling is for only for lap dancers and Elvis impersonators? Think again. Hula hooping tones your mid-section, releases your inner child and burns a fabulous 125 calories in just half an hour.

Hang from a Cliff

If you can handle the whole adrenaline pumping hanging-from-a-rock-face-by-your-fingertips thing, try rock climbing. It burns up to a massive 774 calories in an hour, and it’s also a mental puzzle, so you’ll be thinking about finding the next crevice to claw at instead of the burn.