Even if you're dedicated to keeping healthy and avoid the temptation of the junk food aisle at the supermarket 99 percent of the time, it's easy to have a moment of weakness and reach for a candy bar. Give yourself a moment to enjoy it before lacing up your running shoes and heading out for a run to burn off the calories you just consumed.
Snickers Bar Calories
A standard size Snickers bar, which weighs 52.7 grams, has 250 calories, including 110 calories from fat. The amount that one Snickers bar makes up of your daily calorie intake depends on the number of calories you consume. The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion recommends that, on average, women consume between 1,800 and 2,400 calories daily. This number varies according to your age and level of activity.
Running Calories Burned
The number of calories you'll burn while running depends on the speed of your run, the length of your run and your weight. Harvard Medical School reports that a 155-pound person will burn 298 calories during a 30-minute run at 5 mph, while a 185-pound person will burn 355 calories during the same run. If, for example, you weigh 155 pounds, you'll need to run for about 26 minutes to burn off the calories you consumed while eating the Snickers bar.
Other Running Speeds
If you don't have about 26 minutes to spend running to burn off the calories from your Snickers bar, you can run at a higher speed for a shorter duration to burn about 250 calories. If you weigh 155 pounds, a 30-minute run at 6 mph will burn 372 calories, which means that you'd need to run about 21 minutes. If you weigh 155 pounds and can run at a pace of 7.5 miles per hour, you'll need about a 17-minute run to burn off the bar's calories.
Running Benefits
Even if you sneak the odd chocolate bar into your diet, look at running as more than just a way to negate the calories from junk food. Whether you run outdoors or on a treadmill, running can help strengthen your muscles, build stronger bones, improve your cardiovascular fitness and burn calories to help maintain an athletic body. Running also releases endorphins, which can help improve your mood.
