We all enjoy the comforts of junk food as an occasional ‘treat’. These ready-made snacks are quick and convenient to grab when we’re on the go.
Unfortunately, many of your favourite snacks can easily add calories, often beyond your daily requirement. This can lead to weight gain, particularly if you’re not getting some level of physical activity.
Speaking of physical activity…
“I exercised hard this morning, so I totally deserve this burger”, is something we here far too often. Too many people assume that if they get a little sweat on from their workout, then they’ll be able to justify cramming in thousands of calories as a ‘post workout meal’.
However, unless you’re Usain Bolt or Anthony Joshua, it’s doubtful that you’re managed to exercise long or hard enough to account for the same number of calories in that burger.
Here we will look at some of the calories in popular snacks and the time it would take to ‘undo’ that treat.
A moment on the lips doesn’t necessarily mean a lifetime on the hips… just hard work and sweat.
McDonalds Big Mac – 490 calories
It won’t surprise you to know that a Big Mac contains a hefty amount of calories (lots of them from fat). But did you realise it’s nearly 500 calories (and that’s without fries or a drink)? To burn that off, you’d need either:
- 50 minutes of sweaty cardio like running
- 1 hour of hard cycling out
- 75 minutes of intense weight training
Margherita Pizza – 650 calories
Even if you think you’re going health by ordering the classic cheese and tomato – this can still be around 650 calories of carbs and fat. To burn that off you can take your pick of:
- 75-90 minutes of jogging, cross trainer, or stepper machine at moderate pace
- Two back-to-back gym classes
3 KFC Chicken Pieces – 726 calories
These three amigos contain around 42g of fat, not to mention the added fries for company (see below). To burn that off you’d be looking at:
- 2 hour of dancing like it’s the year 1999
- 75 mins of getting on your bike at a moderate pace
Chocolate bar – 250 calories
Most chocolate bars like Dairy Milk, Mars, Snickers, Galaxy which are around 250 calories at a moment to enjoy, but you’d be looking at around:
- 30 minutes of cardio like jogging, aerobics, or intense bike riding
Coated Peanuts – 300 calories
That bag of nuts you get with your pint at the pub aren’t as healthy as you may think. Roasted, salted, or coated are much more calorific than plain, raw nuts. To burn off a 50g portion (probably finished before the next round), you’d need to:
- Do a 4-mile run (preferably not drunk)
- Do an intense circuit style gym class.
Muffin – 350 calories
If you can’t resist having a sweet pastry or muffin with that indulgent cafe mocha bocha choco latte, then you should think twice. That innocent chocolate muffin calling you from behind the counter contains 350+ calories. Which would take you a good 5 mile run, or an hour’s gym class to burn off.
Two Jaffa Cakes – 92 calories
Just two Jaffa cakes contain almost 100 calories. Now honestly speaking, who ever stops at just two? But for the purpose of this article let’s stick at two. You would need to run for 10 minutes or if you prefer a leisurely pace, 20 minutes of walking. You can now multiply that by the number of jaffa cakes you really have.
