How many calories?

I thought it would be a good time to talk about calories and exercise. I am aware that there is a big holiday coming up next week so I thought why not. What I plan to do is take you through some Christmassy calories and exercise. I will also tell you how you can be sensible but still have fun. In my book it is quite simple at the end of the day.

Calories

I read a BBC news article a few weeks back that stated it would take you around four hours of walking to burn one pizza off again. Wow! A full four hours of walking just to walk off one pizza. Yes I agree the article has a point of making packaging more informative but at the end of the day how many pizzas do you eat in a month? In the month of December I think I have had 3 (this isn’t my point!) but then the months of September, October and November there were none. So that is my point usually my pizza intake is non existent and I am a pizza lover.

Some more calories

FoodWalkingRunning
5 pigs in blankets (70 kcal)12 minutes6 minutes
450g Christmas pudding (1280 kcal)210 minutes110 minutes
100g brussel sprouts (35 kcal)6 minutes3 minutes
Mince pie (245 kcal)20 minutes40 minutes
Small glass sparkling wine (105 kcal)17 minutes9 minutes
Chocolate bar (229 kcal)42 minutes22 minutes
Leftover turkey sandwich (445 kcal)82 minutes43 minutes

The verdict

The verdict from the above table. Well, if you are a fan of the brussel sprout then you are good to go and eat as many as your wish. However, if you are a fan of the Christmas pudding then perhaps take it in moderation. According to Google the average calorie intake for the whole of Christmas Day is around 6000 calories. I’m not even going to calculate the walking and running times for that. It is one day a year that we all eat too many calories. On Boxing Day most of us are seen outside with our latest presents taking a walk.

Everything in moderation

As I mentioned above how many pizzas do you have in one month? The same goes for how many Christmas Dinners do you have in one month? I bet the answer is one and it is usually the 25th of December. This is my point: everything in moderation. Many people come January will be hitting a detox programme and getting a new gym membership and this is all well and good. It is good to let the body detox after such a feast. I myself have been eating a lot more mince pies and Lebkuchen (German cookie) during the month of December but as they say “it is the season”. I am also aware that come January that I will go back to eating a Rich Tea biscuit if that.

Exercise

Now here is where we can get our own back on the calories. The most important news is that exercise can be whatever you need it to be.

ExerciseCalories burnt (1 hour)
Sleeping60
Slow walking180
Yoga280
Light cycling500
Swimming620
Boxing800

The verdict

I am aware that sleeping isn’t quite a workout but seeing as most of us will be doing it after that Christmas meal I thought I would add it in. So you can see from the chart in one hour your can burn a lot of calories depending on what you are doing. Take a two hour walk and suddenly you have close to four hundred calories burnt (and that is at a slow pace). My personal favourite is boxing. Take out the stresses of Christmas Day on the boxing bag.

The point

Christmas comes round once a year so eat in moderation, drink in moderation, have a good nap on the day and most importantly have fun and don’t worry about it. I know I’m not going to worry and I also know that I am going to enjoy my walks.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas for next week from 2 Spuds in a Pod.

-Helen

Ps. There will be no blog on Wednesday, 25 December for obvious reasons. 2 Spuds will be taking a well deserved break.