Have you ever really thought about the food you’re putting into your body? You always hear people counting calories to lose weight, but they tend to forget about physical activity. Energy in is energy out.
A recent study done in chain restaurants had three different menus available: one with no nutrition labels, one listing the total calories in each item and one with the number of minutes of brisk walking it would take the average person to burn off that food item. The results? The people who used the menu with the exercise equivalents ate, on average, 100 less calories than the people who chose off the menu with no nutritional information.
Read on to see how much exercise it would take to burn off some of America’s favorite foods.
1. A 20-ounce bottle of regular soda will take you five miles of walking or running to burn off.
Photo by Christin Urso
2. One order of large French fries takes 524 burpees. That’s a lot of burpees.
Photo by Alia Wilhelm
3. One delicious doughnut gets you in the pool swimming for 35 minutes.
Photo by Annie Madole
4. Starbucks’ grande mocha latte will take 40 minutes of moderate biking.
Photo by Sool Lee
5. Two Oreos requires 45 minutes of fast-walking to burn off. Just two.
Photo by Natalie Choy
6. A Chipotle chicken burrito bowl (brown rice, lettuce, cheese, guacamole, black beans) will have you running up the stairs for 70 minutes.
Photo by Heather Harris
7. An 8-ounce bag of plain potato chips gets you running for 110 minutes at 6 mph.
Photo by Laura Lim
8. One slice of medium-sized pizza requires 41 minutes of playing tennis.
Photo by Kellyn Simpkins
9. Four slices of bacon will take you 30 minutes of weightlifting.
Photo by Leigh Needham
10. And this one is just for some perspective. One cup of raw broccoli can be burned off in just one minute of jogging. Maybe vegetables aren’t so bad?
Photo by Joanna Wicks
So if you’re now freaking out now that you can never have a bag of chips again without hitting the treadmill right after, don’t. You can still indulge and you don’t have to cut out your favorite foods to be healthy. Instead, just think about what you are putting into your body. And on the days where you really want that cheeseburger and fries, try to do some extra exercise to balance it out.
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