By 
Ever wondered how many hours of cardio you'd need to do to burn off a night of pizza and beer? Yeah, me either ... (it's better not to know. Really). But thanks to this new activity chart that tells you exactly how much you need to exercise to eat your favorite foods, it might just be time to start thinking about it.
It's no secret that snacks pack major binge-potential, but the UK might finally have found the antidote. The chart is part of an effort to introduce 'activity equivalent' calorie labeling into food packaging, an idea designed to help consumers better understand the weight (literally) of their food choices. According to the Royal Society of Public Health (the brilliant minds behind the chart), over two-thirds of UK adults are overweight or obese. But RSPH thinks activity equivalent calorie labeling can help curb the trend.
Similar to the push for more accurate portion and daily suggested calorie representation on labels, and the growing effort to make required GMO labeling a thing in recent years, RSPH wants consumers to fully understand how things like fat and calories in popular foods affects their body weight and activity level. It's a result of a common trend for consumers to underestimate the number of calories in a given food, and overestimate the amount of calories they burn in a work out. Coupled together, this can be a dangerous combination for individuals with high blood pressure, folks on diets, and people aiming for a healthy, balanced lifestyle, in general.
And while gadgets like FitBit and apps like MyFitnessPal make it easier to understand the relationship between the food we eat and the amount of exercise we fit into a day, the numbers in the app are a guess, at best. Plus, the app doesn't do away with human error; when individuals are responsible for tracking the specifics of their meal, they're still more likely to underestimate the portion size of what they ate.
And while having a chart to help you make healthy choices is all well and good, the info is … well, a little devastating. Especially for those of us who literally have no problem eating like trash humans (hello, my name is Megan, and I'm addicted to nachos). For example, grabbing a quick street dinner of NYC Style pizza might be wallet-friendly, but it's gonna cost you in the exercise department. We're talking about an hour and half of walking, or nearly 45 minutes of running … for pizza! Just two slices of it! What has this world come to?
But the hurt doesn't stop there. The data also ruthlessly suggests that you might be better off bypassing a meal altogether and eating a candy bar instead (wut?). According to the chart, a chicken-bacon sandwich will cost you about 40 minutes of running. But for a chocolate bar, you can eek by with just 20 minutes, instead.
The chart does offer some nice perspective though, and for those of us looking to make better choices more consistently, activity equivalent' calorie labeling on processed foods might be just the jump-start we need. No word on whether or not the US is interested in the idea, but if recent trends are any indication, we may want to give it some thought. Until then, enjoy your pizza guiltlessly; you might not be able to for much longer.
PIN IT FOR LATER:
Follow Delish on Instagram.
