Easter Eggs and @EalingHalf

Earlier today, @EalingHalf tweeted:

Did you know – one chocolate Easter egg (shell) is the calorie equivalent of a 2 hour half marathon.

But is it?  How big is the Easter Egg?  Is it milk or dark chocolate?  Which is more important, running a half marathon, or running for two hours?

I did some research on this last year, and found that:

Calories burned by exercise = ((METs * 3.5 * weight in kg) / 200) * duration in minutes

If you take the METs for running, walking and lying down (handily published in the Compendium of Physical Activities) and plug them into the formula, then what you find is that running a marathon in two hours and then lying down for three burns the same number of calories as running a marathon in five hours.  What’s important is your weight and the distance that you run, not the speed at which you run.

So strictly speaking, the tweet could more accurately be phrased:

Did you know, one 150g milk chocolate Easter Egg (shell) is the calorie equivalent of running a half-marathon if you weigh 5 1/2 stone.

Though I grant you, this lacks the punch of the original!

As for my Viceathon totals, the Easter Egg and Hot Cross Buns have put me well and truly into the red.  Good job I’ve a marathon coming up in under a week.

April 6
Chocolate in: 3 squares = 90 chocal = 180 excal
Hot Cross Buns in: 1 = 250 buncal = 500 excal (ouch!)
Exercise out: 3.5 miles run = 350 excal
Viceathon total b/fwd: 1,100 excal
Viceathon total c/fwd: 770 excal

April 7
Chocolate in: 2 squares = 60 chocal = 120 excal
Hot Cross Buns in: 1 = 250 buncal = 500 excal
Exercise out: 6 miles cycled = 300 excal
Viceathon total b/fwd: 770 excal
Viceathon total c/fwd: 450 excal

April 8
Chocolate in: 1 Easter Egg shell = 800 chocal = 1,600 excal
Exercise out: nil
Viceathon total b/fwd: 450 excal
Viceathon total c/fwd: (1,150) excal

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