Whether your candy binge is brought to you as a token of love from your sweetie at Valentine’s Day, as a surprise from that silly Easter bunny or in the form of your kid’s Halloween treat bag cast-offs, we have a few ideas of how you can indulge with less bulge!
Treats like a 1.2oz Cadbury Creme Egg (150 calories), a 4 pack of Peeps (130 calories) or 20 Starburst Jellybeans (100 calories) can taste delicious but you don’t want them to stick around. “A moment on the lips -A lifetime on the hips!” as my Grandma used to say.
Keep in mind that each Twix bar is 80 calories, Reese’s Cups are 110 calories each, five Hershey’s Kisses are 112 calories and a 2oz. box of Nerds are a whopping 227 calories! Our family favorites are M&M’s at 176 calories for 1oz. and snack size Butterfingers at 80 calories each. Pick your favorite and then work them off with these great ideas -
Outside activities year-round can help you stay fit. Snow shoveling burns an amazing 380-715 calories per hour, depending on your weight. Getting your yard ready for spring, gardening and raking leaves in the fall, at a vigorous rate, can burn between 120-180 calories per half an hour, also depending on your weight. Cleaning the gutters, lawn mowing and other yard work can be surprisingly good calorie burners, too. Grab the neighborhood kids for a game of touch football. A high-energy game can burn a lot of calories - just 15 minutes of playtime burns about 150 calories.
Want to mix it up? A great 80 calorie burn can be 20 squat jumps, 6 minutes of walking and 2 minutes of kettlebell swings. And, 40 mountain climbers, 15 minutes of Pilates and 4 minutes on the elliptical will burn 140 calories in a hurry.
Take your pick - 15 minutes of dancing, 9 minutes of jumping jacks or 10 minutes of rowing will burn off approximately 70 calories. If you need some motivation, check out our online At Home Workouts like Butts-N-Guts or Zumba and burn off those calories while trying something new!
Enjoy your treat but remember to do these exercises with the same enthusiasm as you ate the candy!
Special thanks to Pop Sugar's calorie chart to help us be more aware of those tasty calories.