I'm happy to announce that the Burn It Off series is back by popular demand! Have you been to your county or state fair this summer? How about a baseball game or even the movie theater? These spots are notorious for their oversized (and overpriced) food, and when you're trying to eat healthy or watch your calories, it's hard to know what to pick without totally blowing your diet. After all, there are no nutrition labels—let alone healthy food choices—in sight! Your willpower is strong and you bypass the sweet smelling cotton candy, deep-fried Twinkies, hot dogs and nachos and decide on a soft pretzel to hold you over until you can get home. It has to be one of the better choices, right? How much damage could one soft pretzel really do? Find out how many minutes of biking it takes to undo that oversized pretzel. According to SparkPeople's Nutrition Tracker one large soft pretzel, like you'd get at the fair or the movies, contains 483 calories (who knew?) and 4.4 grams of fat (not bad compared to a lot of the fried fair foods). And that's the plain one without any toppings, dipping sauces or cheese! It also boasts nearly a day's worth of sodium at 2,008 grams of sodium. Surprisingly, a soft pretzel is not among the lowest-calorie options at the fair (click here to see a calorie breakdown of common fair foods, courtesy of FitSugar.com.), ballpark or theater. According to SparkPeople.com's Fitness Tracker, a 150-pound woman bikes at a 10 mph pace will burn 6 calories per minute. To burn off the pretzel, you'd have to bike at this moderate pace for 81 minutes, which is just over 13 miles! When you think of food "extras" in this light, it can make it easier to stick with your healthy eating plan. Maybe next time, you'll pack your own healthy snack or eat before your event of choice so that these foods won't tempt you. Personally, I have to admit that when I'm in these sorts of places, I usually choose a soft pretzel, thinking it's a lesser evil compared to the other options, but now I'll think twice! How about you? Are there any ballpark, theater or carnival treats that are worth the calories to you? |
More From SparkPeople
|
.jpg)
