Would you still enjoy a meal out with a few drinks if you knew exactly how much exercise you’d have to do to burn off those delicious calories?
Well, a new online calculator is revealing just that, with UK website WorkOffYourDinner telling users exactly what they need to do to work off their food and beverages.
The website lets people select what they’ve consumed on a night out, offering various drinks including wine and beer, as well as pub meals and takeaways as options.
It then shows users the different exercises they could do to burn off the calories consumed – such as rowing, cycling, walking and squats – and how many miles or reps they’ll need to do it for.
While a Chinese takeaway could be worked off with a 21-mile walk or 3,071 sit ups, one glass of Prosecco can be redeemed with a two-mile cycle.
UK website Work Off Your Dinner tells users exactly how much exercise they’ll need to complete to work off their food and beverages (stock photo of a chinese takeaway)
The free tool was built by the people behind Alertr.co.uk, a website that notifies users when the price drops on their favourite products, to mark the launch of its new diet-foods and weight loss sections.
The data behind the site is from a mix of sources, such as fast food restaurants’ own information, alongside average sports and nutrition statistics gathered using desk-based research by the owners of Alertr.co.uk and their team. The exercise statistics are weighted to cater for the average adult.
Users of the tool should consult their doctor before starting any exercise program or dramatically changing their diet. Yorkshire-based charity SEED (Support and Empathy for people with Eating Disorders) has criticised the website and others like it for focusing on the significance of burning off calories.
Speaking about the new, free online tool, Andy Barr from www.WorkOffYourDinner.com said: ‘What started off as a fun project to highlight a new section of our website quickly became quite an eye-opening experience, especially when you consider the Government’s efforts to reduce obesity in the UK.
‘WorkOffYourDinner shows how quickly the calories can build up, even on a short night out, and before you know it you are having to put in a serious shift in terms of either running, cycling, walking, burpees or sit ups in order to work off that big night.’
Emmerdale actress Gemma Oaten, who is a patron of SEED, said: ‘In reference to this I am dumbfounded. Food is to be enjoyed, to be sociable, to celebrate, to nurture us with what we need to live, to breathe, to function. This is making it as though food is there to just “burn off”.
‘That is extremely damaging to not just anyone with an eating disorder but the nation as a whole. Especially our kids. What lesson is this teaching? That food is only there for you to get rid of… that’s borderline eating disorder talk right there.
‘Many eating disorder sufferers develop exercise addiction; this message, I feel, encourages this and that is scary. Exercise is vital and important but it has to be proposed or delivered in a healthy way. I feel this isn’t healthy at all.’
Source: Food Recipes and News