Watching the Super Bowl is basically as American as celebrating Thanksgiving -- and we eat nearly as much. That's right, Super Bowl Sunday is second only to Turkey Day when it comes to stuffing ourselves silly.
In fact, the average Super Bowl fan will eat 1,200 calories during the game, according to the Calorie Control Council. While that's still well under the estimated 1,600 to 2,400 that women need and 2,000 to 3,000 that men need in an entire day, it's important to take into consideration where exactly these calories are coming from.
And it's not great news. It's all about the snacks on Super Bowl Sunday. Thirty million pounds of 'em, to be exact. Americans will eat 11.2 million pounds of potato chips, 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips and 4.3 million pounds of pretzels, according to the Calorie Control Council. Plus, we'll consume 1.23 billion chicken wings (12.3 million fewer than last year, though, according to Business News Daily), 111 million gallons of beer and 4.4 million pizzas, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Yes, it's only once a year, assuming you don't make a habit out of Sunday night dinners consisting of nachos and wings. But 1,200 is still not a small number. To put that in perpective, we've crunched the numbers on how much exercise it would take a 150-pound person could burn off their Super Bowl snacks, like seven hours of yoga or a three-hour hike. (Of course, your personal calorie burn will vary with intensity, body composition and weight.) It also goes without saying that you should use discretion before attempting the great Nacho-Work-Off of 2013. While some of these sound like reasonable fun -- who doesn't love a long hike? -- others are a little outlandish (think: seven hours of Pilates).