Those who train frequently are well aware of the amount of physical activity involved in burning a whole pizza, an all-over hamburger with fries, or a gigantic bag of crunchy cheese sticks. And it is that what characterizes junk food is its high content of trans fat , calories and carbohydrates, providing our body with much more than what it actually needs and what it can consume.
The key to maintaining an adequate weight is of course in balance, and physical activity helps us to a great extent to obtain it. But how much exercise do you have to do to burn off junk food? In this FastlyHealarticle we explain it to you in detail.
Table of Contents
How many daily calories do we need?
Everything we eat and what we spend is measured in calories, which serve to express the energy that food gives us and that we use when we do any physical activity. To live and keep our bodies healthy, it is important to know how many daily calories we need , a measure that changes depending on our sex.
To maintain a healthy weight we need to consume daily:
- Women: approximately 2,000 calories
- Men: approximately 2,500 calories
In weight loss diets you may have to consume less than that to lose accumulated fat. However, a medium-sized whole pizza averages about 1,000 calories, a Big Mac with medium potatoes and soda is around 1,100 calories, and three pieces of fried chicken, without potatoes or any other side, are around 800 calories.
You don’t have to be a mathematician to notice that it is enough to abuse junk food a little to ingest more calories than our body needs to produce energy. All that surplus ends up being stored in our body in the form of fat , therefore learning to burn it and being aware of the need to limit this type of food as much as possible is very important to maintain ideal health and achieve a good weight. Attentive, because in the following steps we explain how much exercise you have to do to burn junk food effectively.
Cardio and weights to burn it all
To get rid of all those extra calories, cardio is undoubtedly an excellent ally , as it helps us burn sugar and consume a good dose of calories. On the other hand, resistance exercises such as weight lifting, repetition series or the use of machines, in addition to toning, also help the consumption of calories, favoring excess oxygen consumed post exercise (EPOC), which means that when finish muscles will continue to burn calories for recovery.
That is why in this article we propose several alternatives to burn junk food:
- Cardio: running, brisk walking, biking at a brisk pace, elliptical cross trainer at a brisk pace, taking a dance or spin class. You should always do it at an intense pace, otherwise the calorie consumption will not be as expected.
- Resistance: weight lifting, squats, resistance exercises for legs, arms, back, etc. Working the repetitions with a good weight is essential for the body to burn calories.
One chocolate = 240 calories
An average milk chocolate bar has 240 calories, of which about 14 grams are fat. It may seem harmless, but due to its high fat content and limited nutritional content, it is important to burn it properly.
To achieve this you must do:
- Cardio: 25 minutes
- Weights: 35 minutes
One scoop of ice cream = 275 calories
Calories can vary depending on the type of ice cream, but on average just one scoop contains around 275 calories, of which a significant percentage is made up of fat, which is why ice cream is among the 10 worst foods for health .
To burn all this fat you need:
- Intense cardio: 30 minutes
- Walking at a moderate pace: 1 hour
- Weights: 40 minutes
Burger with fries and soda = 1,100 calories (average)
Perhaps many of the times that you have wondered how much exercise to do to burn off junk food, you have done it because you just had a hamburger with fries and soda, something not light or nutritious.
Depending on the type of hamburger, the amount of potatoes or the size of the soda, the calories in this dish can rise to a great extent, so we have used a medium Big Mac menu that has approximately 1,100 calories as a reference .
To burn them you must do:
- Running: 1 hour 50 minutes, just over 13 kilometers
- Walking at a moderate pace: 3 and a half hours
- High intensity cycling: 3 hours
Medium pizza 4 toppings = 1,200 calories on average
The case of pizzas is more complex to calculate, since there is a great variety of sizes, ingredients and presentations. So to do it justice we will break it down depending on whether it is a supermarket pizza or one of the fast food restaurants specializing in this food.
Frozen supermarket pizza = 350 calories on average
- Intense cardio: 45 minutes
- Weights: 55 minutes
Medium fast food restaurant pizza = 1,200 calories on average
- Intense cardio: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Running: 2 hours
3 pieces of fried chicken = 730 calories
Without potatoes, coleslaw, soda or any other addition, just the fried chicken pieces from any of the fast food chains, have on average 730 calories of which 42 grams are fat, a huge amount!
To burn this you must do:
- Intense cardio: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Walking at a moderate pace: almost 3 hours
- Weights: 1 hour 40 minutes
1 kebab of 300 gr = 1,000 calories
This is one of the quintessential fast foods, but also one of the biggest hoaxes we can find. Its innocent appearance with meat, vegetables and the occasional sauce makes us believe that it has fewer calories than it actually contains, and is that on average a durum kebab provides 1,000 calories, an outrage!
To get rid of this great sin you must:
- Running: approximately 1 hour 40 minutes
- Walking at a moderate pace: approximately 3 hours 20 minutes
A 450 gr chocolate cake = 1,700 calories
If it occurs to you to eat 450 grams of chocolate cake in a single day, or even share it with someone else in half, it is clear that you will have to give everything training so that that immense amount of fat, sugar and calories are not stored in the form of fat in your body. At 1,700 calories, it’s about the amount of energy a woman needs every day to keep her body working – a lot for a simple pie!
To get rid of those 1,700 calories you will have to do:
- Intense cardio: 2 hours 50 minutes
- Walking at a moderate pace: 5 and a half hours
Before sinning, think better!
Getting rid of a lot of calories full of fat, sugar, carbohydrates and few nutritional contributions is more difficult than it seems, which explains why on many occasions we have excess weight , localized fat, cellulite, high cholesterol and triglycerides, fatty liver or high blood pressure.
Our body needs much less than that, it needs quality food, nutritious and with beneficial calories, that’s why nothing better than consuming in moderation:
- Lean meats prepared on the grill, oven or grill. cuts of pork or beef without fat, chicken, turkey, duck (without skin), among others.
- White and blue fish and shellfish.
- Vegetables and fruits, great sources of fiber and vitamins.
- Whole grains such as rice, whole wheat bread and pasta, oats, wheat, etc.
- In a smaller quantity, dairy products and their derivatives, preferably skimmed, and only occasionally sweets, pastries, chocolate and the occasional whim, but in a very moderate way and never as something frequent.
Take care of your diet, do frequent physical activity and you will see how you manage to maintain your health and well-being for longer.
This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to How much exercise do you have to do to burn junk food? , we recommend that you enter our category of Physical Activity .
I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.