How much exercise will burn off the pud?
comment, Christmas and the New Year period is a celebratory time where most of us over-indulge in family roasts dinners, sweet and savoury treats, and puddings.Most people feel it is a period they put on some unwanted body weight and make resolutions to get fit and burn off the Christmas "pud".A British Medical Journal review of weight gain during the Christmas period reported consistent increases in weight of 0.4 kg to 0.9 kg across several studies.A question I am often asked is how much exercise is required over the seven-day Christmas-New Year period to keep the weight in check? Ultimately your energy expenditure needs to be greater than your energy intake to facilitate weight loss (or should be equal to maintain body weight).A kilocalorie (kcal) and kilojoule (Kj) are both terms used to measure the energy in food and energy expended from exercise.Kilojoules are the international standard measure or unit of energy and is the measure you see on the packages of food you buy from supermarkets.It is easy to convert kilojoules to kilocalories. 1 kcal is about 4.0 Kj. A Mars Bar typically has about 250 kcal - which is about 1000 Kj.The Christmas/New Year period is generally not a time of reduced energy intake (nor should it be).Subsequently, most people keen to prevent weight gain or lose weight gained focus on increasing energy expenditure.A broad and conservative assumption is a person who does not hold back on Christmas festivities gains about 1/3rd of kg (333 grams) of fat over the Christmas/New Year period.A third of a kilogram of fat stored on the body equates to about 12,000 Kj of stored energy in the body.In context, a slice of pavlova contains about 800 Kj and a slice of Christmas plum pudding contains about 1100 Kj.A person who indulges in Christmas pudding and the trimmings and gains 1/3rd kg of fat needs to expend an additional 1700 Kj a day above their normal energy expenditure through exercise/physical activity to prevent the 1/3rd gain in body mass over the period. HAVE YOUR SAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY. The energy expended during exercise depends on the intensity and duration of exercise.Energy expenditure is greater if exercise is longer and more intense (harder).Running twice as fast as your brisk walking speed increases energy expenditure more than two-fold.Your body weight also impacts on energy expenditure during exercise.A heavier person expends more energy during walking and running.Walking at a brisk pace (6 km per hour) burns about 21 Kj per minute for a 60kg person and about 34 Kj per minute for a 100kg person.A 60kg person walking for 60 minutes burns roughly 1260 Kj. A 100kg person who walked for 60 minutes burns roughly 2040 Kj.So, a 60kg person would need to walk 6km per hour for 75 minutes to burn of the 1700 kj of Christmas indulgence.The 100kg person would need to walk at 6km per hour for 50 minutes.I personally recommend dividing the additional 1700 Kj of daily walking (or other forms of mild exercise) into morning and dusk/after-dinner "sessions" to capitalise on those glorious summer balmy mornings and sunsets. There are caveats with these calculations. We are we all individuals, some of us indulge in treats more than others and the estimations don't factor differences in metabolic rates and incidental exercise physical activity. It would be an advantage to know what you personally expend through exercise to prevent weight gain or lose weight.Millions of people wear wristband activity monitors to assess their personal energy expenditure.But is the data accurate? Stanford University researchers published a study in 2017 that evaluated the calorie accuracy of the Apple Watch, Basis Peak, Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band, Mio Alpha 2, PulseOn and the Samsung Gear S2.Interestingly, they found none of the seven devices measured energy expenditure accurately. The most accurate device was off by an average of 27 percent. And the least accurate was off by 93 percent. The preferred method of determining individual energy expenditure accurately is metabolic analysis of breathing.Metabolic analysis of breathing assesses how much oxygen your body uses, and the carbon dioxide you produce.Metabolic analysis can be performed during exercise such as cycling, walking, running and rowing at your preferred pace to determine precisely how long you should exercise for to prevent weight gain.Federation University's Health and Sport Precinct at Mt Helen has the capability for accurate energy expenditure assessment. On a lighter note, an alternate method of energy expenditure is to laugh more.Researchers from Vanderbilt University have shown 10-15 minutes of genuine thigh-slapping chortling increases metabolic rate by 10-20 percent which may account for 40-170 Kj.Maybe incorporate some good old-fashioned humour in your Christmas weight gain prevention or weight loss program. Brendan O'Brien (PhD) is a senior lecturer in Exercise Physiology at Federation University Australia./images/transform/v1/crop/frm/xZTdZ6tEPcDnFXvZB8aTeZ/eb94f8c5-0a63-401f-bc24-6a433ee06c29.jpg/r9_218_4278_2630_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgOPINIONDecember 25 2021 - 12:00PM
How much exercise will burn off the pud?
Comment
Christmas and the New Year period is a celebratory time where most of us over-indulge in family roasts dinners, sweet and savoury treats, and puddings.
Most people feel it is a period they put on some unwanted body weight and make resolutions to get fit and burn off the Christmas "pud".
A British Medical Journal review of weight gain during the Christmas period reported consistent increases in weight of 0.4 kg to 0.9 kg across several studies.
A question I am often asked is how much exercise is required over the seven-day Christmas-New Year period to keep the weight in check?
Ultimately your energy expenditure needs to be greater than your energy intake to facilitate weight loss (or should be equal to maintain body weight).
A kilocalorie (kcal) and kilojoule (Kj) are both terms used to measure the energy in food and energy expended from exercise.
Kilojoules are the international standard measure or unit of energy and is the measure you see on the packages of food you buy from supermarkets.
It is easy to convert kilojoules to kilocalories. 1 kcal is about 4.0 Kj. A Mars Bar typically has about 250 kcal - which is about 1000 Kj.
The Christmas/New Year period is generally not a time of reduced energy intake (nor should it be).
Subsequently, most people keen to prevent weight gain or lose weight gained focus on increasing energy expenditure.
A broad and conservative assumption is a person who does not hold back on Christmas festivities gains about 1/3rd of kg (333 grams) of fat over the Christmas/New Year period.
A third of a kilogram of fat stored on the body equates to about 12,000 Kj of stored energy in the body.
In context, a slice of pavlova contains about 800 Kj and a slice of Christmas plum pudding contains about 1100 Kj.
A person who indulges in Christmas pudding and the trimmings and gains 1/3rd kg of fat needs to expend an additional1700 Kja day above their normal energy expenditure through exercise/physical activity to prevent the 1/3rd gain in body mass over the period.
HAVE YOUR SAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.
The energy expended during exercise depends on the intensity and duration of exercise.
Energy expenditure is greater if exercise is longer and more intense (harder).
Running twice as fast as your brisk walking speed increases energy expenditure more than two-fold.
Your body weight also impacts on energy expenditure during exercise.
A heavier person expends more energy during walking and running.
Walking at a brisk pace (6 km per hour) burns about 21 Kj per minute for a 60kg person and about 34 Kj per minute for a 100kg person.
A 60kg person walking for 60 minutes burns roughly 1260 Kj. A 100kg person who walked for 60 minutes burns roughly 2040 Kj.
So, a 60kg person would need to walk 6km per hour for 75 minutes to burn of the 1700 kj of Christmas indulgence.
The 100kg person would need to walk at 6km per hour for 50 minutes.
I personally recommend dividing the additional 1700 Kj of daily walking (or other forms of mild exercise) into morning and dusk/after-dinner "sessions" to capitalise on those glorious summer balmy mornings and sunsets.
There are caveats with these calculations. We are we all individuals, some of us indulge in treats more than others and the estimations don't factor differences in metabolic rates and incidental exercise physical activity. It would be an advantage to know what you personally expend through exercise to prevent weight gain or lose weight.
Millions of people wear wristband activity monitors to assess their personal energy expenditure.
But is the data accurate? Stanford University researchers published a study in 2017 that evaluated the calorie accuracy of the Apple Watch, Basis Peak, Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band, Mio Alpha 2, PulseOn and the Samsung Gear S2.
Interestingly, they found none of the seven devices measured energy expenditure accurately. The most accurate device was off by an average of 27 percent. And the least accurate was off by 93 percent.
The preferred method of determining individual energy expenditure accurately is metabolic analysis of breathing.
Metabolic analysis of breathing assesses how much oxygen your body uses, and the carbon dioxide you produce.
Metabolic analysis can be performed during exercise such as cycling, walking, running and rowing at your preferred pace to determine precisely how long you should exercise for to prevent weight gain.
Federation University's Health and Sport Precinct at Mt Helen has the capability for accurate energy expenditure assessment.
On a lighter note, an alternate method of energy expenditure is to laugh more.
Researchers from Vanderbilt University have shown 10-15 minutes of genuine thigh-slapping chortling increases metabolic rate by 10-20 percent which may account for 40-170 Kj.
Maybe incorporate some good old-fashioned humour in your Christmas weight gain prevention or weight loss program.
Brendan O'Brien (PhD) is a senior lecturer in Exercise Physiology at Federation University Australia.
