Eating junk food – can I burn it off through running?

The credit-debit approach to exercise remains a popular one. ‘I can eat this burger tonight if I go for a run tomorrow.’ Or ‘I’m fine to have a large pizza for tea because I went for a 5km run this afternoon.’

Sound familiar? While there’s no denying that it’s better to be active and exercise regularly than to have a blasé attitude towards fitness, the harsh truth is that you can’t outrun an unhealthy diet. Yes, burning off calories is one of the benefits of working out, but it doesn’t erase the effect of eating junk food on our bodies. You can’t just burn calories through exercise and think you can eat rubbish. It helps, but it is not the saviour!

To maintain a healthy weight, we need to combine exercise with the right food, not justify eating rubbish with a run. Here’s how you can burn calories through exercise, and which foods take longer to burn off.

How many calories?

To give the number of calories in junk food a bit of context, a quarter of a large pizza has 449 calories and requires a 43-minute run to burn off the equivalent. If you have a sweet tooth, the standard chocolate bar contains 229 calories and can be burnt off with a 22-minute run, while a medium mocha needs a 28-minute blast to work off the 290 calories you’ll consume. Of course, no one wants to live off fruit and veg alone. Life would be pretty dull if we didn’t allow ourselves any treats, and having the odd portion of chips, cake, pizza, etc., is sometimes good motivation for keeping up our fitness regime. But diet affects our health in many ways, and a ‘calories in vs calories out’ approach isn’t sustainable as part of a long-term plan.

A healthy diet for long-term health

The impact of the food we put into our bodies cannot be underestimated. As well as helping to reduce the risk of chronic disease, a balanced diet will give us more energy, boost our immune systems, improve our mental health and help us to feel our best. The benefits of exercise are similar, but one without the other just won’t cut it. Although high levels of physical activity such as running, aerobics or cycling play an essential part in our long-term health, they won’t completely erase the harmful effects of a poor diet. Of course, running a few hours after eating a pizza is better than lying on the sofa, but your fitness efforts will be in vain unless your bad food habits are tackled simultaneously.

Combine a balanced diet with regular exercise

There is no quick fix if we want to improve our long-term health. We need to move our bodies regularly and eat healthily to give ourselves the best chance of keeping in good shape on the inside and the outside. Of course, there’s no need to be a saint, but lots of fresh fruit, veg, plant-based proteins, less processed meats, sweet treats, and alcohol will go a long way. Especially when combined with regular high-intensity exercise. Our long-term well-being relies on a balanced approach to exercising and the food we put into our bodies, meaning the justification of eating junk food with physical activity won’t give us the results or health benefits we need.

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To find out about food intolerance testing and how it can improve your health, please visit our website for more information. If you have any specific questions, you can send an email to [email protected] or fill out our contact form on our website. We hope you’ve enjoyed our blog on how to burn calories through exercise and that it makes you feel better in the long run.