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Open wide and say, 'Oh dear!'

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published December 22, 2006

MIAMI - Oh, those holiday pitfalls: a martini and a handful of Chex mix at the office party, Grandma's fruitcake, the plate of gingerbread cookies from your neighbor.

Eating all those goodies will cost you.

To burn off the calories in one gingerbread cookie, you will have to swim 18 minutes. The martini and party mix will take 47 minutes of biking.

And the fruitcake? Take an 84-minute walk.

Those are the calculations in a new book that lists the calorie content of 7,500 foods and tells you just how long it will take to work it off.

"Most of us have no idea what a calorie is worth," said Charles Stuart Platkin, author of The Diet Detective's Count Down and other books.

Platkin, a 44-year-old Miami public health advocate, became his own diet detective after losing 50 pounds 14 years ago. He spent nearly a year compiling this list, which includes fast-food dishes, popular restaurant menu fare and most grocery items.

The book could come in especially handy for nibblers.

"Nibblers tend to be worse estimators because they feel like they're not eating anything - a few fries, a bit of cookie. But they add up to be significant calories," said Platkin, a certified trainer who is finishing his doctorate. in public health.

Most Americans underestimate how much they're eating by as much as 40 percent, he said.

Those calories will cost you

6 ounces of honey-glazed ham = 26 minutes swimming

Four bite-size mini pizzas = 23 minutes running

A cracker with cheese = 8 minutes bike riding

A candy cane = 19 minutes of yoga

A slice of fruitcake = 55 minutes of dancing

One small slice of pecan pie = 54 minutes of biking. Or an hour of swimming. A 1-hour, 11-minute run. Two hours and 10 minutes of walking. Or 2 hours and 51 minutes of yoga.

[Last modified December 22, 2006, 00:30:11]