What's it take to work off a piece of pie?
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- Created on Sunday, 28 November 2010 23:22
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
Participants in the weekly Jack Quinn's running club cross a downtown street earlier this year. Kirk Speer, Gazette file photo
BY R. SCOTT RAPPOLD, THE GAZETTE
Thanksgiving is a celebration of gluttony, American-style.
No other event on the calendar is so centered around food. The average Turkey Day dinner contains a whopping 3,000 calories, a full day’s worth in one orgy of turkey, starches and gravy.
The toll for the whole day can be twice that when you factor in seconds (and thirds?), snacks, desserts and adult beverages.
And then for days afterward there are leftovers, tempting you to indulge again and again and again.
But Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be the launching point of the holiday march to weight gain, with the inevitable Jan. 1 guilt that drives hordes to Pikes Peak region gyms.
“I believe it begins with Halloween, because of the mindless eating, and the fact people are still digging into their candy bowls,” said personal trainer Joe Ramirez, owner of Women’s Boot Camp Fitness in Colorado Springs.
“Because of the colder weather, because of the inactivity and the days getting shorter and socializing with family and friends, people tend to put their fitness on the back burner until Jan. 1.”
According to the American Council on Exercise, a 160-pound person would have to run at a moderate pace for four hours, swim for five hours or walk 30 miles to burn off the typical Thanksgiving dinner.
Doesn’t leave much time for bad Detroit Lions football.
Ramirez recommends starting the day with rigorous exercise such as resistance training or calisthenics — at least 60 minutes’ worth — that can have an “afterburn effect,” keeping the body burning calories long after the workout is done.
Once at a party or holiday gathering, pace yourself, eating several smaller meals, suggests personal trainer Daniel Ross, of Body Symmetry in Colorado Springs.
Don’t worry about exercise after the meal — stuffed full of turkey, it’s liable to make you sick — but the next day and the rest of the holiday season try to get in extra cardiovascular exercise, 20 to 30 minutes three to five times a week, Ross said.
A lot of people try to “bounce back” in January, Ross said. “That’s where our business gets really busy.”
(Need tips on where to run or ride? Go to the top of the OutThereColorado.com home page and click on our "Trail Finder.")
Here’s a look at the typical calorie amounts for popular Thanksgiving foods, compiled from various fitness and nutrition websites, and what it would take a 160-pound person to burn it off:
• Glass of wine: 120 calories; 10 minutes of jogging
• 6 ounces of turkey covered with gravy: 490 calories; 40 minutes of uphill hiking
• Half a cup of mashed potatoes with gravy: 300 calories; 60 minutes of raking leaves
• Dinner roll: 110 calories; 10 minutes of vigorous downhill skiing
• Half a cup of cranberry sauce: 190 calories; 20 minutes of snowshoeing
• Slice of pumpkin pie: 180 calories; 20 minutes of snow shoveling
• Half a cup of green bean casserole: 225 calories; 20 minutes of bicycling 12-14 mph
• Half a cup of stuffing: 190 calories; 20 minutes of touch football
Calculate your own calorie loss at one of many websites, including www.fatburn.com and internetfitness.com.
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