Would that cheeseburger be nearly as tempting if you knew you’d have to log 33 minutes on the treadmill to burn off all of the calories it contains? Didn’t think so. So it’s not exactly shocking that, when menus list how much exercise you’d have to do to work off each food, people order lower-calorie options, according to a recent study.
For the experiment, researchers from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth randomly assigned a group of people aged 18-30 to one of three groups: one that ordered off of a menu without calorie counts, one that ordered off of a menu with calorie counts, and one that ordered off of a menu that listed how many minutes of brisk walking would be necessary to burn the food calories. Other than the calorie/exercise labels, the menus were exactly the same.
Listing calories on the menu didn’t lead people to order lighter options—but listing the minutes of brisk walking necessary did.
The next time you go to a restaurant, you probably won’t see the exercise equivalents for each dish—but you can still use a similar motivational strategy to curb junk food urges. The next time you hear a donut or a slice of pizza calling your name, consult this handy guide—and see if you even want it afterward:
