"I'll Run it Off Later..."

If you're anything like me you've justified eating pizza or a bag of chips with the "I'll run it off later" rationale.

I was inspired to write this post after my recent weekend getaway. After a full day of work and a long drive up to Whistler, my husband and I were famished and neither of us felt like cooking. After debating between the various take-out foods we knew we would pass on the drive up, we decided to grab something quick and easy from the grocery store up in Whistler.

After a quick tour of the grocery aisles, nothing really inspired us and our hunger pains were definitely winning the war against our will-power. We settled on the most filling and easiest to prepare meal we could find - a couple bags of cheese perogies from the frozen food aisle.

As we sat down to a heaping plate of cheese-y and dough-ey goodness topped with onions (that's a vegetable right??), I recited the familiar "it's okay, I'll run this off tomorrow" excuse.

Later in the week I found myself in need of a sugar kick before the gym. On my way out the door I succumbed to the chocolate chips sitting in our fridge. I grabbed a small handful as I headed out and didn't really think anything of it as I was heading to the gym to burn it off.

After considering I had used this excuse twice in just one week I began wondering if my thought process was accurate or if I was just leading myself into a state of disillusion.

I found out that it takes much longer to work off my guilty pleasures than I thought. Check out what I found out from various sports and health magazines/websites, below. The below calculations may vary on your body type but it gives you a good idea:

Guilty Pleasure: Can of Coca Cola Classic
Time running at 10-12min mile: 12 min

Guilty Pleasure: Bag of plain salted potato chips
Time running at 10-12 min mile: 1 hour 50 min

Guilty Pleasure: McDonald's Big Mac
Time running at 10-12 min mile: 50 min

Guilty Pleasure: Two slices of Pizza Hut cheese pizza 
Time running at 10-12 min mile: 58 min

Guilty Pleasure: One 12-ounce beer
Time running at 10-12 min mile: 16 min

Guilty Pleasure: Two pancakes with butter syrup
Time running at 10-12 min mile: 70 min

Guilty Pleasure:Starbucks mocha frappuccino 16 ounces
Time running at 10-12 min mile: 31 min

Now I don't plan on starting a routine of counting calories or denying myself the opportunity to indulge once in a while, but I do plan to be more cognizant of the foods I eat, relative to the amount of activity I get. After all, the purpose of exercising is so that I can enjoy foods that I love after, but it shouldn't be the reverse.

I hope this information doesn't make anyone feel too guilty! Does anyone else find themself using this excuse once in a while?

In my next posts, I look forward to passing on the info I found out about the "super-foods" that actually burn more calories than they're worth -  yes, they actually exist!

Happy Running!