By Jocelyn Wright, Australian Doctor
If you’re keen to avoid an expanding waistline this festive season, knowing the trade-off for each mince pie is a twenty-minute jog may keep you on Santa’s good list this Christmas.
Regular weigh-ins and knowing how much exercise is required to burn off Christmas dinner will help those keen to avoid weight gain over the festive season, researchers say.
A double-blinded, randomised controlled trial, published in the BMJ, tested the effectiveness of a brief behavioural intervention on 272 adults to prevent weight gain.
The intervention involved encouraging weigh-ins twice a week, tips for weight management and providing information on the physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) of common festive foods and drinks.
A small Christmas pudding, for example, requires three-and-a-half hours of walking to burn off the 1280 calories it contains.
Those participants who did not receive the behavioral intervention put on more weight over Christmas.
According to the findings, those in the intervention group weighed nearly half a kilo (-0.49kg) less than the comparison group.
The researchers from the Universities of Birmingham and Loughborough said that while the overall difference in weight was small, it was still an important finding.
“The relation between weight and mortality is linear and any weight gain prevented will have a positive impact on health outcomes,” they said.
They also noted the intervention group had exercised more cognitive restraint as a result by limiting food intake to control body weight.
However, no difference was seen between the two groups when it came to confessing their emotional or uncontrolled eating habits over the holiday period.
And because alcohol significantly contributes to overall energy intake, future measures to curtail holiday weight gain should focus on reducing the number of Christmas tipples being consumed, the researchers added.
Tips to avoid piling on the pounds this Christmas
The calories in a mince pie require 21 minutes of running.
One small glass of mulled wine requires 33 minutes of walking to expend.
Just five tablespoons of gravy contains 50 calories.
A small Christmas pudding will take you three-and-a-half hours of walking, or almost two hours of running, to burn off.
Prepare for a brisk 27-minute walk to burn off three large roast potatoes.
One thick slice of roast turkey will cost you a 16-minute walk around the block.
