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