Think Before You Eat

Before you pop that cookie in your mouth, take a moment to consider how long it will take to burn off those extra calories.
If you eat two cookies, about 150 calories, and you weigh about 140 pounds, you’ll have to walk more than an hour at a pace of 2 miles an hour to burn off those cookies. Speed up the walk to 3.5 mph, and you still have to walk 45 minutes. (Eating the cookies probably took less than a minute.) What if you ate a peach, with about 40 calories, instead? It would take just 10 minutes of brisk walking to work it off.

The November issue of Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource shows just how long it takes to burn off calories doing common physical activities: walking, biking, bowling, golfing, gardening and others.

If you are physically active, an occasional cookie is OK. But being aware of what you’re eating and how hard you’ll have to work to get rid of those extra calories can help you make better snack choices and keep from creeping up.

Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource is published monthly to help women enjoy healthier, more productive lives. Revenue from subscriptions is used to support medical research at Mayo Clinic. To subscribe, please call 800-876-8633, extension 9PK1.