"I think we are not insisting enough on the fitness factor," said Valerie Orsoni, a food and fitness expert and creator of Le Bootcamp.
Orsoni thinks label reading is a must because slick marketing can fool us into thinking we're eating right. If the package revealed how much energy we had to expend to work off our treat, it might give us pause.
"The difference between a French croissant, which is 320 calories, and a zucchini walnut muffin from Starbucks, which is 490, is an hour walk," said Orsoni.
A half cup of Heart-Smart granola is 200 calories. Orsoni ventures that most pour twice as much, because four ounces of cereal won't satisfy. So if you weigh about 135 pounds, plan on two hours on the treadmill or a 60-minute session on the elliptical going all out. That's just for the 400 calories - not counting milk or anything else you're adding to your cereal.
An energy bar that's typically 260 calories can contain 4 grams of saturated fat and 20 grams of sugar - way too much. You'll need to climb stairs for 25 minutes.
The serving for a 15.2 fluid ounce Naked juice bottle is half the bottle, but many people will drink it all, which means 56 grams of sugar. Albeit, naturally occurring, that's 14 teaspoons. At 440 calories, be prepared for about two and a half hours of yoga.
What if you weigh a bit more? At around 150 pounds, it will take you an hour to walk off a half a bag of M&M's.
A snack-size bag of chips will have you strength training for an hour and a half.
A medium order of Five Guys fries will have you on your bike for an hour and 35 minutes.
Down a Venti Cinnamon Dolce Latte with whip, and it will cost you a 50-minute jog.
While tart Pinkberry yogurt seems healthy, but a large original equates to working an hour and five minutes on the elliptical.
