Greedy diners have been warned they will need 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.
In order to wave goodbye to these 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.
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 |
| 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 |
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