Big Mac fans need to cycle for this length of time to burn the calories

Calorie-laden snacks refresh the parts that other food fails to reach – but how many of us feel so guilty afterwards that we put ourselves through an exercise regime?

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But estimating how much time it takes to burn off the carbs after tucking into a Big Mac or a Greggs sausage roll is where we fall wide of the mark.

The majority of people  think it takes as little as 15 minutes cycling to get rid of the 452 calories in an average doughnut – but the true figure is 40mins, almost three times as long.

And they kid themselves it takes as little as 60mins to work off a medium Domino’s pepperoni pizza, whereas that has 2,478 calories and actually takes over three hours on the bike to work off.

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Pedal hard

Even a seemingly innocent Caesar salad that the majority think can be worked off in 16 to 20minutes, actually takes 43 minutes of pedalling.

Conversely, people think it takes 90 minutes to burn off 550 calories in a Big Mac when it’s half that time.

It’s not just exercise where knowledge lacks but diet too, a study by Intelligent Cycling has found.

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A third of the 2,000 adults polled said that they keep track of some nutrition in their diet but guessed the rest.

Cheat days

One in three people say that they have cheat days all the time and 58% say that they struggle to keep track of what is healthy and what isn’t.

Younger Brits are more likely to be healthy, with 61% saying that they are strict with their diets.

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Brian Overkær  is founder and chief executive officer of the immersive training software company Intelligent Cycling. He said: “While a lot of us are doing less at the moment, exercise is more important than ever before, to ensure that we are keeping healthy both physically and mentally.”

(Photo: Shutterstock/goodbishop).

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