How To Burn Off Your Christmas Day Calories


Brits will have to spend up to 13 hours doing rigorous exercise to burn off their Christmas Day calories alone, according to a leading health and fitness website. Research by the team at online health and fitness site Vivotion.com has revealed that food consumed on the average Christmas Day – complete with breakfast, lunch, dessert, snacks and drinks – tots up to a massive 5,350 calories, which could take up to 13 hours of intense exercise to burn off.

Christmas is the time for splurging and enjoying a variety of tasty treats, and many of us forget – or choose to ignore – the number of calories we’re putting into our bodies over the festive period. By taking into account each food type usually found on our plates over the course of Christmas Day, the team have calculated that the average Brit will consume over 5,000 calories on this one day alone, which is double the recommend daily calorie intake for a grown man.

Festive chocolate cake

In order to wave goodbye to those extra, unwanted calories, the average person will have to spend between six and 13 hours completing rigorous exercise. You would need to tackle a 13-hour uphill walk, get in the boxing ring for over seven hours, or spend almost eight hours skipping with a rope. An hour of aerobic dance will be needed to burn off the roast potatoes alone, and an hour’s spin class will counteract just two pigs in blankets and a serving of honey roasted parsnips from the annual Christmas Day lunch.

Traditional British Christmas dinner  turkey mashed potatoes, sprouts, battened carrots, roast potatoes,ham,stuffing and cocktail sausages with gravy being added

Pic: iStockphoto

A spokesperson from Vivotion.com commented: “Christmas is the one time of the year that everyone tends to really let their hair down and eat and drink anything and everything they want.

“It’s this behaviour that contributes to festive weight gain, and it’s no surprise considering the annual Christmas Day lunch alone is bursting with almost 2,000 calories.

“By taking into account the exercise we’d all need to be doing to ultimately burn off those calories, we hope that people will be more mindful and perhaps re-assess their decision to go back for second helpings. We have put together handy tables of calories consumed and burned via various Christmas foods and exercises respectively illustrate this.”

CHRISTMAS FOOD TYPE CALORIES (approx.)
BREAKFAST:  
2 sausages 360 kcal
2 bacon 100 kcal
2 eggs 180 kcal
2 slices toast 100 kcal
1 croissant 297 kcal
250ml orange juice 105 kcal
Flat white coffee 130 kcal
   
CHRISTMAS DINNER:  
2 slices of turkey breast 44 kcal
1 homemade Yorkshire puddings 125 kcal
2 sage and onion stuffing balls 126 kcal
Turkey gravy 30 kcal
2 pigs in blankets 162 kcal
150g roast potatoes in duck fat 430 kcal
50g honey roasted parsnips 245 kcal
Brussel sprouts 20 kcal
Carrots 15 kcal
1 table spoon cranberry sauce 25 kcal
1 slice Christmas Pudding 151 kcal
2 glasses red wine 428 kcal
   
ADDITIONAL SNACKS AND DRINKS:  
Chocolates 250 kcal
Mixed nuts 210 kcal
Mince pies 360 kcal
Variety of cheeses 529 kcal
Crackers 130 kcal
Chocolate liquers 114 kcal
250ml glass mulled wine 454 kcal
120ml glass champagne 89 kcal
330ml glass coke 150 kcal
   
Total: 5,359 kcal

 

 

Happy women working out together in fitness exercise class

Pic: iStockphoto

 

 

EXERCISE CALORIES BURNT PER HOUR (approx.)
Indoor cycling class 483 kcal
Aerobic dance 443 kcal
Rock climbing 454 kcal
Skipping rope 670 kcal
Rowing 682 kcal
Boxing 727 kcal
Jogging 744 kcal
Uphill walk 415 kcal
Swimming (breast stroke) 744 kcal
Swimming (butterfly) 818 kcal

 

 

 couple of female swimmers swimming with a swim board doing leg exercises in an indoor swimming pool - focus on the right woman face

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moira Chisholm

I'm the Health Editor on My Weekly and am always interested to hear what's new in this fascinating field. I also deal with the gardening, shopping pages, general features, our website content and the Ask Helen problem page. I have a special interest in Christmas content because I'm on the team for Your Best Ever Christmas Magazine, too!