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HOLIDAY EATING

It's a familiar cycle -- usually starting with second helpings at Thanksgiving, revving up in December with endless trays of holiday treats, and ending with feelings of guilt and despair after seeing the bathroom scale reading on New Year's Day.

Given how easily those holiday pounds add up, ever wonder what it takes to burn off those Christmas cookies or counter the effects of a slice of fruitcake washed down with a glass of spiked eggnog?

Not surprisingly, it's much tougher to work off those holiday calories than it was to devour them.

"Believe me, I want people to enjoy food, but not just food," said Keith Ayoob, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association and a professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. "Don't arrive at parties and gatherings starving to death because it really distorts your eating -- you do a lot of impulse eating."

Impulsive eating can lead to many hours in the gym in the new year, Ayoob told UPI, and not all calories are equal.

Depending on their contents, different foods may require various periods of exercise. Liz Applegate, author of "Eat Smart, Play Hard," (Rodale 2001) and a lecturer on nutrition at the University of California at Davis, breaks down which foods holiday party-goers need to be aware of and what they can do to burn them off:

-- Enjoy an occasional glass of eggnog? An 8-ounce glass contains an average of 342 calories, and even more calories if you add alcohol. For an average 160-pound person, to burn that one glass of eggnog off, you need to do 14 minutes of jogging at 9 minutes per mile, 62 minutes of walking 3 miles per hour, 50 minutes of non-stop weight-lifting, or 46 minutes of cycling.

-- How about an 8 ounce glass of rum punch with 280 calories? That means 20 minutes of jogging, 50 minutes of walking, 42 minutes of weights or 38 minutes of cycling.

-- Two butter-based Christmas cookies, about one inch in diameter, quickly add up to 150 calories. That means 11 minutes of jogging, 27 minutes of walking, 22 minutes of weights, and 20 minutes of cycling.

-- The notorious fruitcake is loaded with 302 calories per slice, which will require 21 minutes of jogging, 55 minutes of walking, 44 minutes on the weights, or 41 minutes of cycling.

-- A candy cane looks harmless, right? Wrong. A single 2-ounce candy cane contains 210 calories and requires 15 minutes of jogging, 38 minutes of walking, 31 minutes of weights, or 28 minutes of cycling.

-- A 4-ounce slice of ham adds on 150 calories, which calculates to 11 minutes of jogging, 27 minutes of walking, 21 minutes on weights, and 19 minutes of cycling.

-- If you wash that ham down with a 5-ounce glass of champagne, be prepared to do another 11 minutes of jogging, another 27 minutes of walking, 22 minutes on weights and 20 minutes of cycling.

"Go ahead and have these things," Applegate told UPI, "But if you do go overboard, you're taking in more calories than you need."

One way to avoid overeating during the holidays is to have a light nutritious snack before attending gatherings. This can minimize rampant eating, said Dr. Ruth Kava, director of nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health in New York.

"Planning is key," Ayoob added.

(Thanks to UPI Science News Writer Katrina Woznicki)