Work off your Christmas calories – One by one
Friday 14 December 2007
It’s just over one week until Christmas - which means that everyone will be eating, drinking and having a good time - but did you know that the average Brit apparently consumes a mega 7, 000 calories on Christmas Day alone. Imagine that, with all the eating and drinking that we also do before and after the big day too!
Closeronline.com has already told you about some amazingly good food swaps at Christmas, so next we thought we’d tell you about some great exercises that you can do to burn off all that you enjoy over the festive season.
With some of them, you won’t even realise you’re exercising at all!
Christmas Dinner
It’s one of the best parts of the day – tucking into a traditional turkey roast with all the trimmings, along with some Christmas pudding for dessert, of course!
Here’s what you’ll need to do to work off your Christmas roast:
Portion of Turkey (with stuffing) – 380kcal
Head down to the swimming pool and have and have a swim, if you do this for one hour the turkey calories will be gone in no time!
Portion of Roast Potatoes (2-3 potatoes) – 127kcal
Go to the park for some afternoon fun and throw a Frisbee around with some friends for half an hour.
Christmas pudding with custard and brandy butter – 587kcal
This is a highly calorific dessert, so if a portion of Christmas pudding is part of your festive tradition, you’ll need to put in some hard work to burn them all off. Maybe head to the gym and spend an hour on the cross trainer or if your brave enough to take the cold weather, go for a good run.
Portion of cheese and biscuits – 394kcal
If you’d rather opt for something other than the traditional, then cheese and biscuits should do it. It’s less in calories than the Christmas pudding, but still high enough! Spending two hours on the golf course should get rid of these extra calories.
Boxing Day Leftovers
The day after the big one – but we all know that we still eat and drink as much, as well as have just as much fun! To start off the day a quick brisk walk should help you feel ready for the day ahead.
Turkey sandwich with mayonnaise and cranberry sauce – 450kcal
A spinning class is one of the hardest work-outs around and if you do 45 minutes of it, it’ll be as though you had never eaten this leftover turkey sandwich.
A handful of crisps
We all like a bit of crunch with our sarnies, so if you’re planning a winter get-a-way break on the slopes, a chilled out six minutes ski should burn off the crisp calories.
Mince pie – 250kcal
Ice-skating! It’s the right season for it and fifty minutes of fun on the ice will burn off one mince pie.
Slice of Christmas cake – 249kcal
A fun game of tennis will sort out this calorie issue!
Party Snacks
Some lucky people get invites to parties before, during and even after Christmas. If you’re one of them, but are thinking of turning a few invites down because of all the party snacks there will be to eat – don’t! There are also plenty of fun exercises you can do to compensate; some you can even do at the party!
Cocktail sausage (Average) – 90kcal
Get out on that dance floor and shake it like you just don’t care! If you do this for 3 songs, that sausage will be worked off in no time!
Mini Spring Roll – 47kcal
Spring clean for a spring roll – even if it is winter! Scrubbing your kitchen floor on your hands and knees for ten minutes will help you to work this off.
Chicken and mushroom vol-au-vant – 98kcal (Other fillings vary, but this is the lowest one in calories)
Thinking of going Christmas shopping on Oxford Street? Instead of getting off bang in the middle at Oxford Circus, get off at marble Arch tube station and walk briskly for 15 minutes until you reach the big shops.
Handful of peanuts – 150kcal
Take the dog for a walk for up to 35 minutes. You’ll burn off extra calories if you jog or walk up hill – plus your dog will love it!
One Cadbury’s Celebration chocolate – 36kcal
Can one bite size chocolate really be that many calories? Yes you have read right! Those little bites of naughtiness really are naughty, but don’t worry. If you spend six minutes beating up the punch bag in the gym, you’ll have got rid of those extra calories – and may feel better too!
Party Drinks
We all love a party drink, but it’s easy to get carried away with all the flowing alcohol, which is also very high in calories.
Remember to drink sensibly and try to follow up every alcoholic drink with a glass of water.
Glass of Champagne – 138 kcal
If you only live around 20 minutes bus/ tube ride from work, hop on your bike and cycle to work instead, that will cancel out any extra bubbly you have over Xmas.
Glass of mulled wine – 245 kcal
It’s the season to be jolly – in and out of the bedroom! An hour and a half of some ‘personal’ time with your other half in the bedroom should kick these calories into touch. Don’t drink too much, though, or you won’t be able to keep up!
Cosmopolitan cocktail – 74kcal
The alcoholic drink with the least calories is a cocktail, but they still need burning off. Eight minutes of walking up stairs or escalators will do the trick, so if you work on the top floor and fancy a Cosmopolitan – take the stairs instead of the lift!
Glass of Bailey’s (35ml) – 129 kcal
For some strange reason, people seem to like drinking this creamy drink at Christmas, but it really could do some damage to your diet. Spending at least half an hour doing some DIY over the holiday will work this off.
There you have it – a bunch of Christmas food and drink favourites and some great exercise tips to work off the extra calories – meaning that you won’t have to really over-indulged at all!
Have a Merry Christmas!
Words: Joanna Harvey