How do you choose your snacks? Are you a planner or a grabber? I tend to look at snacks as fuel to keep me going through the long stretches between meals. I try to keep healthy options handy so I don’t have to over-think it or stress over finding something at the last minute.
While I can’t say I ever think about how far I’d have to walk to burn off, say a yogurt, I’m always amused (and vaguely horrified) by lists that detail how hard you’d have to work to balance out the calories in various high-cal snacks. In this month’s Nutrition Action Healthletter, the folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest gave us a glimpse into how much physical activity it would take to burn off some popular snack foods.
Five Guys Fries : 620 calories (Regular size – 9 oz.) = Bicycling for 1 hr. 35 min. (9 mph)
Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte w/ Whipped Cream :: 410 calories (Venti – 20 oz.) = Jogging for 50 min.
AMC Popcorn, no added “butter” :: 410 calories (small – 6 cups)= Low-impact aerobics for 1 hr. 15 min.
Panera Chocolate Chipper Cookie :: 440 calories (1 cookie – 3 oz.) = Brisk Walking for 1 hr. 30 min. (3.5 mph)
Crumbs Bake Shop Red Velvet Cupcake :: 500 calories
(1 cupcake – 5 oz.) = Strength Training for 2 hrs. 5 min. (8-15 reps per exercise)
Starbucks Banana Nut Loaf :: 490 calories
(1 piece – 4 oz.) = Swimming Laps for 1 hr. 15 min (not vigorously)
Smoothie King Slim-N-Trim Strawberry :: 560 calories (Medium – 32 oz.) = Doubles Tennis for 1 hr. 50 min.
Pinkberry Original Frozen Yogurt :: 370 calories (Large – 2 cups)= Elliptical Trainer for 1 hr. 5 min. (moderate effort)
From Nutrition Action Healthletter March 2012
*Arizona State University Healthy Lifestyles Research Center
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It’s crazy how much you need to do, to burn off all these extra calories;( That is exactly why I stay away from these kinds of products. Great post and I look forward to sharing more with you:)
It would be nice to have an extra few hours in the day to go biking and swimming, but few people have that kind of time!
I really like this post…. I tend to choose snacks in a similar fashion as you do…. My snack drawer at work is out on control right now (I love having my choice of healthy snack options)!
It’s really interesting to equate snacks with physical activity…. what kills me is the more seemingly “healthy options” (like the Slim N Trim smoothie). You could think you are making a good choice but are really comsuming almost 600 calories! It’s crazy!
So true! Slim N Trim sure doesn’t sound like 600-calories!