How much running do you have to do to work off all your favorite holiday treats
Over the years, health experts have claimed that most people gain up to 10 pounds around the holiday season. Recent research has disproved this theory, indicating that the average eater only puts on around 1.3 pounds each holiday season. A pound might not seem like a problem, but that’s not the end of the new findings. Researchers have also discovered that very few of the folks affected by holiday weight gain drop the pounds as soon as the New Year hits. In fact, most of them never drop them at all.
Think of this in the long-term. True, you might only put on one pound this year—although, keep in mind this is only an average. It’s possible for you to gain more, depending on your holiday eating habits. But even if you give yourself the benefit of the doubt and put on a single pound, over the course of the next 10 years, that’s 10 pounds. In 20 years, you’re looking at 20 extra pounds. All as the result of one too many glasses of eggnog.
So how do you avoid the pitfall of this extra holiday poundage without skipping the dessert table altogether? The answer is really two-fold. First, know how many calories you’re consuming. While some holiday desserts are relatively light—like the perennial favorite, the gingersnap— others inundate your bloodstream with sugar and overload your body with extra calories (we’re looking at you, cheesecake). So it’s important to know how much a dessert is going to set you back before you decide to indulge.
Secondly, make sure that you’re balancing your holiday treat intake with regular exercise. Physical exertion doesn’t work like an eraser that removes your body’s memory of a sugar rush. However, it will help to stave off excess weight gain as long as you’re munching on some fruits and veggies on a regular basis, not just sugar cookies.
Are you wondering how much time at the gym it’ll take to work off the calories of your favorite holiday dessert? Wonder no more. The following list encompasses a wide variety of seasonal treats, from candy canes to glasses of eggnog, and unveils exactly how many minutes or miles you’d have to run on the treadmill in order to work them off.
The numbers are based on someone who weighs 156 pounds and therefore burns 11.25 calories per minute or 112.5 calories per mile. Keep this in mind, since anyone who weighs less will burn calories slower and those who weigh more will burn calories faster.
| Food | Calories | Running Time | Running Distance |
| Candy Cane | 55 calories | 5 minutes | 0.5 miles |
| Sugar Cookie | 147 calories | 13 minutes | 1.3 miles |
| Gingerbread Cookie | 134 calories | 12 minutes | 1.2 miles |
| Fruitcake | 366 calories | 33 minutes | 3.3 miles |
| Fudge | 70 calories | 6 minutes | 0.6 miles |
| Gingersnap | 29 calories | 3 minutes | 0.3 miles |
| Cheesecake | 401 calories | 37 minutes | 3.6 miles |
| Brownie | 233 calories | 21 minutes | 2 miles |
| Hot Chocolate | 151 calories | 13 minutes | 1.3 miles |
| Eggnog | 224 calories | 20 minutes | 2 miles |
Food Database [Nutritionix]
Running v. Walking: How Many Calories Will You Burn? [Runner’s World]
Worried About Holiday Weight Gain? No Need to Stress With My Five Holiday Eating Tips [Huffington Post]