To lose five pounds in a single short shopping trip to Target, first you must have a preschooler and a toddler. You decide that the impending fourth birthday of said preschooler means that it is high time to ensure that the child learn to follow, sit, stay, and generally behave without the use of a restraining device. You put the baby in the cart seat, safely secured.
You must choose an item, say a printer cord, in a safe package that will not be harmed by repeated drops. Hand this to the baby. You are now playing a game I like to call "mommy fetch" the baby will find it very amusing to watch you pick the item up over and over as your shopping trip progresses. You will get twice as much exercise if you husband enjoys video games, as the electronics section is directly across from the aisles full of blinking, beeping, shrieking childrens' toys. Now that your attention is quite literally divided, you will double your calorie burn because the preschooler has escaped. You are still playing mommy fetch at this point. It should take about an hour to escape Lego Purgatory.
The rest of the store should be a breeze, until the checkout aisle is reached. Leave the unleashed preschooler to her own devices as you relay race to put all of your purchases on the conveyor, while doing your best to return all items which have been randomly thrown into the cart or on the conveyor by the older child in their places without allowing any of them to reach the cashier. This qualifies as the cardio portion of the workout.
For the cool down, forget what your rental car looks like and traverse the parking lot for about twenty minutes.
