Controlling the damage over Easter

Whilst we all look forward to taking some well deserved time off over the Easter break to recharge our batteries and spend some time with the kids Easter is a two edged sword for those of us endeavoring to lose or maintain our weight.

Easter is a time that tests all of the good habits we have put in place since the beginning of the year.

We consume around 3,000 kj’s along with each egg and whilst this in itself isn’t the end of the world most of us don’t stop at one!

For most of us 3000 kj’s is around half of what our total calorie intake should be. 3000 kj’s also looks like this:

1 apple

2 poached eggs on 1 slice of wholemeal bread

1 banana

1 turkey and lettuce sandwich

1 large garden salad.

To burn of 3000 kj’s you will need to run for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

So... is there any good news?

Fortunately the answer is yes, there are a number of things we can do that will minimize the “damage”.

Firstly as we are on holiday and have more free time at our disposal we can increase our exercise over the holiday period.

To burn some major calories do this cardio exercise all four days of the break.

You can do this anywhere and is even better if you can pair up with a buddy.

Walk at a fast pace for 10 minutes, work hard enough to begin to sweat.

Stop and stretch your calves, hamstring and quadriceps.

For the next 30 minutes you will alternate 1 minute jogs with 1 minute walks. Jog at a pace you can maintain for a minute but by the end of the minute you should be looking forward to your 1 minute walk.

Walk at a slow pace for 5 minutes to bring your heart rate back down and then stretch again to complete your workout.

Other things we can do is to factor in our Easter treats to our daily kj intake and look for alternatives.

A hot cross bun without butter is between 700 and 1000 kj depending on the brand you purchase.

A Cadbury light chocolate mouse is 470 kj’s.

A chocolate paddle pop is only 520 kj’s.

1 row (6 pieces) of Cadbury milk chocolate is 550 kj’s.

In summary remember the same rules apply at Easter as they do at any other time if you want to lose weight, burn more kj’s than you consume and keep it simple. Increase your exercise to cater for the increased kj intake and if you want to treat yourself shave off kj’s from your regular daily intake to make room for additional treats.