Burn It Off: How Much Hopping to Undo a Chocolate Bunny?

By , SparkPeople Blogger
Earlier this week, I was reading about the 10 Easter treats I could enjoy for 100 calories or less. I won't lie: I really, really wanted to eat some (OK, all) of that candy. I've previously shared that I have a major sweet tooth, so anything sugary sweet is always a temptation for me. But I try to eat healthy most of the time and keep my portions of sweets and treats small.

One thing that does keep me from overdoing it on "extras" like Easter candy is to think about how much exercise it would really take to work off those calories. So, going with our Easter theme today, the exercise of choice is hopping (aka jumping). Whether you're jumping rope, performing box jumps or following my Jump Start Cardio workout, hopping around is hard work. It's intense and it burns a lot of calories, but it's far from easy.

So how much bunny hopping (in the form of a jumping jack) would it take to undo a standard milk chocolate bunny?

One small (1.5 oz) milk chocolate bunny contains about 240 calories and 13 grams of fat. That's not too bad, but remember that this is a pretty small bunny. They can range in size up to several ounces and several hundred more calories. One Nestle's Crunch Solid Chocolate Easter Bunny contains nearly 700 calories, for example.

According to SparkPeople.com's Fitness Tracker, a 150-pound woman would need to perform vigorous jumping jacks for 27 minutes to burn 240 calories. At a rate of, say, one jack per second, that equals 1,620 jumping jacks to undo just one little chocolate bunny.

Next time a little chocolate bunny is catching my eye, I'm going to remember that stat and decide whether the little splurge is really worth it. Since I'm not much of a chocolate person, I'd probably skip this one (and choose jelly beans instead haha).

How about you? Is a tiny chocolate bunny worth 1,620 jumping jacks to you? What Easter treat is worth the extra calories?