Harvard psychologist Professor Ellen Langer conducted a study on 84 hotel housekeepers to examine their health. Although these workers were physically active due to their jobs, many still had high body fat percentages and elevated blood pressure.
For the study, Professor Langer divided them into two groups. One group was told how many calories they burned while doing their regular cleaning tasks. For example, changing bed sheets for 15 minutes burns about 40 calories, and vacuuming for 15 minutes burns about 50 calories. She explained that their daily cleaning added up to 2.5 hours of physical activity, far exceeding the recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise.
A month later, the group that received this information showed notable improvements in their health: lower body weight, reduced body fat, and better blood pressure. Amazingly, their bodies changed just because they started thinking differently about their work. The other group, who hadn’t been told about the exercise benefits, showed no change.
Professor Langer concluded:
“If you see cleaning as exhausting labor, your body produces more harmful toxins. But if you see it as healthy exercise, your body burns fat instead.”