The holidays have descended upon you and you can’t pass on Uncle Bert’s special eggnog.  Perhaps you have visions of Grandma’s sugar cookies dancing in your head (and on your tongue!).  Maybe you also have not-so-nice visions of having to let your belt out a notch or two the first week of January.

Fear not.  You can have your holiday fruitcake and eat it, too.  The antidote for all of these extra holiday calories is – physical activity, of course.   Here’s a list of common holiday treats, their calories, and how how long you would need to do a brisk walk to burn off the calories for each one.*

• Eggnog (1 cup) – 343 calories; 48 minutes
• Candy cane – 45 calories; 6 minutes
• Fruitcake – 410 calories; 57 minutes
• Sugar cookies (2) – 320 calories; 44 minutes
• Hot mulled cider – 148 calories; 21 minutes
• Latkes (2) – 248 calories; 34 minutes
• Champagne – 91 calories; 13 minutes

Check out Monday’s blog for more ideas of ways to balance out the extra calories you eat this holiday.  And tell us how you plan to keep your belt on the same notch all throughout the holiday season.

* Based on a reference person who weighs 180 pounds.  If you weigh less than this, you would need to do walk a slightly longer and if you weigh more, you’d need to walk a little less.