Ever wonder just how much work you’re actually doing at the gym? According to BBC Future and a study done by Harvard Medical School, folks are finding it difficult to estimate just how much good they are actually doing in the gym versus the calories they are eating. It seems that most of us are overestimating the amount of calories burned and undershooting the number of calories eaten. Studies have also shown that those who go to the gym, but continue to eat calorie-rich foods are only getting hungrier. A faster metabolism from working out means the body will only want to take in more calories. The greatest amount of weight loss seems to come from a combination of exercise and diet change. Without diet change, taking a swim or going to the gym (even being a regular patron) leads to less of those pound-shedding results that they are looking for.
Take a look at the back of a can of Coke. 138 calories. Okay, so what’s the big deal? What does that mean as far as how much physical activity is needed to burn off that one can? Well, think of it this way. It would take about a half hour of gymnastics, volleyball, or curling just to get rid of that sugary drink.
If you weren’t aware, everything we do burns calories. Even sitting at a desk burns a small amount of calories. With that being said, you might be surprised to find out that some exercises and general activities burn many more calories than others. A workout like swimming not only provides a full body workout, but gets the heart pumping too and in turn, burns quite a lot of calories. However, everyday activities like reading, sitting at the computer, and just spacing out chewing some gum don’t even scratch the surface of that candy bar or two with lunch. Lets take a deeper look into which foods are shockingly full of calories and which activities are the best at helping us forget we ever had them.
See what I mean? Just one hour of swimming laps destroys any soda that might be trying to sneak its way onto your scale, about 759 calories to be exact. Let’s plan a pool day, shall we?
That means these doughnuts are about 864 calories total…yikes. I promise I will never make fun of that person that eats only half a doughnut again.
Yep that’s right. Chewing gum only burns about 10 calories per hour, which means 1 serving of Pringles (about 15 chips) equals 150 calories.
It’s no surprise that Bag Macs aren’t the healthiest of options, but would you be shocked to know this means you’ve consumed about 880 calories?
Dancing, for the average person, burns about 224 calories per hour. Which unfortunately, doesn’t even put a dent into some of these other foods.
How many calories are in one Snickers bar you ask? About 215. See above, that one whole hour of dancing would only get rid of one of these bad boys.
Reading surprisingly burns about 84 calories per hour. Just another reason to grab your favorite book and break a mental sweat. Of course, it would take quite a while to burn off that Big Mac, but it’s a start.
Get ready for it. Just 1.2 ounces of cheese contains 137 calories, which is just as much as a can of Coke. I’ll leave the cheese off of my burger next time.
Are you as surprised at the findings as we are? Don’t be too hard on yourself. This should be jarring for most of us. If you are actually looking to lose a few pounds, just keep in mind that diet change and exercise are the only proven methods of consistent weight loss. Even if this eye opening information encourages some slight changes in your life, it’s probably for the best (I know it is for me). Check out the full Harvard study that shows about how many calories are burned in 30 minutes from a multitude of activities.
Body photos credited to BBC Future.
Featured photo credit: Soda Pop Confusion/Vox Efx via flickr.com
