Summer has arrived!  Yesterday – the summer solstice – made it official.  With summer comes ice cream, a delicious, somewhat nutritious (i.e., calcium), hot weather treat.  But be mindful that ice cream is high in calories.  For example, a Baskin-Robbins banana split would add 1,010 calories to your day’s total calorie intake.  For many people, that could be more than 50% of their daily calorie need!

The Stand Up & Eat website is dedicated to calorie balance.  So check out the table below to see how much physical activity you* would have to do to burn off those 1,010 extra calories compared to a 2-cup bowl of watermelon (91 calories). 

 

Time Needed to Burn the Calories In:

Physical Activity Banana Split Watermelon (2 cups)
Bicycling (moderately fast) 1 hour, 30 minutes 8 minutes
Canoeing (moderately fast) 1 hour, 43 minutes 9 minutes
Fishing from a boat 4 hours, 50 minutes 26 minutes
Hiking 2 hours 10 minutes
Horseback riding 3 hours, 1 minute 16 minutes
Jogging (12 min./mile pace) 1 hour 5 minutes
Kayaking 2 hour, 25 minutes 13 minutes
Lying in a hammock 12 hours, 5 minutes 65 minutes
Mowing lawn (push mower) 2 hours, 11 minutes 11 minutes
Mowing lawn (riding mower) 4 hours, 50 minutes 26 minutes
Painting home exterior 2 hours, 25 minutes 13 minutes
Picking fruit off trees 4 hours, 1 minute 21 minutes
Playing badminton 2 hours, 41 minutes 14 minutes
Playing Frisbee 4 hours, 1 minute 21 minutes
Rock climbing 1 hour, 12 minutes 6 minutes
Rollerblading 1 hour 5 minutes
Rowing (light effort) 4 hours, 1 minute 21 minutes
Running (8 min./mile pace) 53 minutes 4 minutes
Snorkeling 2 hours, 25 minutes 13 minutes
Swimming 2 hours 10 minutes
Washing and waxing car 2 hours, 41 minutes 14 minutes
Water skiing 2 hours 10 minutes
Wind surfing 4 hours, 1 minute 21 minutes

So mowing the lawn with a push mower would burn off the calories of two cups of watermelon in 11 minutes.  But you would have to mow the lawn for 2 hours and 11 minutes to wipe out the calories added to your diet by eating a banana split. 

Which summertime dessert will you choose most often this summer?


* Based on a reference person who weighs 175 pounds.  If you weigh less than this, you would need to exercise longer and if you weigh more, your exercise time would decrease.