By Lori Leath Smith
The holidays — twinkling lights, fun events, parties with friends, gifts, family gatherings, and yes, a lot of shopping.
Usually, at this time of year, I’m not pleasure shopping, I’m a woman on a mission.
But then, I found out that shopping burns calories; and lots of ‘em! Is that possible? Yes, it is, I found out. Actually, everything we do burns calories — breathing, sleeping, standing and all of the active pursuits we enjoy (and some we don’t).
That means I can offset a little of my holiday party “taste-testing” and Christmas Day food fests with some heavy-duty shopping — kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. That means I can have a bite of those cute little pecan pie treats, a small handful of puppy chow (a favorite tradition at our house), a little apple cider or a glass of red wine. After all, no one wants to miss out on enjoying the holidays. And, by thinking of this “shopping” thing a little differently, I figure I can shop the calories off and, hopefully, offset any added pounds.
Through research I found out a 150-pound person can burn roughly 100 calories in 38 minutes of shopping, or approximately 160 per hour, according to sparkspeople.com!
Though the amount of calories you burn while shopping depends on your body weight, the average person can burn almost 400 calories and cover almost three miles on a shopping trip in 2.5 hours of browsing in stores, according to a study commissioned by Debenhams, a British multinational retailer. That’s the equivalent of a piece of carrot cake or two large glasses of red wine! Just two hours could work off the 283 calories in a typical latte coffee, based on an average body weight of 175 pounds, walking at an average speed of 3 mph.
According to Nutrition ATC (nutritionatc.hawaii.edu), an easygoing shopper can accrue about three miles of walking during a three-hour period. Add standing and looking at merchandise or standing in line to make purchases to the equation, and it can add up to roughly 400 calories for a 100-pound person, 750 calories for a 200-pound person, and 1,100 calories for a 300-pound person. And those stats are conservative. A more aggressive shopper might be able to walk as many as five miles in a three-hour shopping spree. And if he or she is doing a lot of fidgeting, reaching for merchandise, and waving at friends, a 100-pound person on average can burn 500 calories and a 200- to 300-pound shopper up to 1,000 calories or more.
Women take an average 7,305 steps each time they head out to actively shop, almost three quarters the 10,000 daily number recommended by the National Health Service (NHS) of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Add to that the weight of bags full of bargains and you have a work- out worthy of the gym.
Therefore, I’ve calculated that my shopping burns approximately 160-165 calories per hour. And, my leg muscles benefit most (from all the walking) and arms also get a good workout from carrying shopping bags.
Here’s some perspective for comparison if you’re counting calories:. If I shop for three hours, I can burn off approximately 495 calories. If I hit the shops for six hours, I can burn off some of the “day of” meals. That means I can enjoy some of the following holiday favorites!
8 ounce cup of Eggnog – 340 calories; spiked with 2 ounce rum = 470
1 cup (a few handfuls) Puppy Chow, a homemade holiday treat made with Chex cereals, melted chocolate, butter, peanut butter and powdered sugar.
Pecan Pie (1/8 inch of 9-inch diameter = 456)
Apple Cider (1 cup = 120 calories)
Turkey (6 ounce serving = 240 calories)
Dressing (1 cup = 400 calories)
Ham (3 ounces = 210 calories)
2 by 4 by 1⁄2-inch slice fruitcake = 450 calories
Sweet Potato Casserole (1 cup = 239 calories)
Green Bean Casserole (1 cup = 142 calories)
Perhaps this year a little “shop ‘til you drop” mentality is in order—not, WHAT shopping I must do, but what shopping can DO for me.
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