If this doesn’t scare you, nothing will. In fact, if this doesn’t make you squeamish, you should probably consider approaching Quentin Tarantino for an assistant’s position.
Here are the calorie counts for the most popular Hallowe’en candies. Remember, this is per piece.
Milky Way - calories: 76, sugar: 10.9 g
Butterfinger - calories: 100, sugar: 10 g
M&Ms - calories: 90, sugar: 11.5 g
Peanut M&Ms - calories: 93, sugar: 9.1 g
Nestle Crunch - calories: 51, sugar: 5.6 g
Kit Kat - calories: 73, sugar: 6.7 g
Skittles - calories: 80, sugar: 15 g
Hershey’s Bar - calories: 66, sugar: 7.7 g
Snickers - calories: 72, sugar: 7 g
Mike & Ike - calories: 50, sugar: 9 g
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups - calories: 80, sugar: 7 g
Source: FitSugar, 2010.
Now, calories we sort of understand these days but how bad could 7, 8, or 11 teensy grams of sugar be?
4 g sugar = 1 teaspoon sugar. OK, just to drive it home because I can be a bit of a pushy bitch sometimes, you are consuming 2-3 teaspoons of sugar per piece of Halloween candy. Eat 10 pieces in front of the TV and you've stuffed your face — and poisoned your body — with 20-30 teaspoons (we like to call that about 1/3 cup, by the way, which is an easier and more revolting way to picture it). Now think back… how many pieces did you eat last Hallow’en? How about the days before and after Hallowe’en?
Now imagine this (other from the liver damage). How many minutes, roughly, would you have to exercise to burn off those itsy bitsy, teeny, harmless little treats?…
1 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (80 cals) (this is hubby’s favourite… or one of his favourites…)
Walking 4.0 mph – 14 minutes
Hatha Yoga – 30 minutes
Belly Dancing – 15 minutes
Bootcamp – 10 minutes
(based on a 150-lb woman; if you weigh less, you burn fewer calories, and if you weigh more, you burn more calories)
Not quite so yummy-looking anymore, are they?
Happy Hallowe’en!
Photo credit: Steveydphoto, dreamstime.com.