In the spirit of honoring (not hollering) the woman who gave you life or who made you a mother, here’s how to spend your special day in healthy, happy ways that may even crank off some calories.
1. A few good hours of gardening. If Mother’s Day weekend happens to bring wonderful weather to your neighborhood, why not plan to be outside with one of the ladies you love most? Offer to take care of the weeding or other lawn chores that your mom hasn’t gotten to yet this season, or bring her a big basket of flowers, herbs, or veggies to plant.
And let’s be honest — gardening can be a great activity if things get tense in your mother-daughter relationship, especially if you have room to breathe in the outdoor space, and if you can view the planting, lugging, and raking as therapeutic outlets for the other digs you may feel.
Calorie-burn bonus: Gardening can be more than just an enjoyable day outdoors, depending on the activity.Planting seedlings and trimming shrubs and 0perating a power mower for an hour each burn 306 calories and digging, spading, or filling compost burns 340 calories per hour and watering while walking or standing burns 102 calories per hour. (based on a 150-pound person).