Strange to think that those who exercise as a means of losing weight, may end up undoing some of their hard work by eating too much at mealtimes! According to new research, this is precisely the case for many exercisers.
Researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center followed 324 post menopausal women who were overweight, or obese. The women were prescribed various amounts of exercise and advised not to diet.
After six months they found that:
- Those who exercised on average 73 minutes a week lost about 3 pounds.
- Those who exercised on average 136 minutes a week lost a little over 4 pounds.
- Those who exercised 190 minutes a week lost about 3 pounds (they should have dropped around 6 pounds), some of the women admitted that they were eating more.
Timothy Church, director of preventive medicine research at Pennington Biomedical Research Center commented, “Some people think the exercise gives them carte blanche to eat what they want, it doesn’t take that many calories to overcompensate for the gains they made through exercise.”
What can we learn from this study?
I think the study proves the benefit of exercise as a means of weight loss, however the main message is a reminder that exercise and healthy eating go hand-in-hand. If you are following an exercise program, it’s important to eat healthy, balanced meals to avoid undoing all of your hard work with a few unwise meal or snack choices.
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Yeah, I find this issue very interesting. One of the biggest misconceptions for people losing weight is that regular exercise will lead to weight loss. Whilst it is important, weight loss is far more dependant on calories consumed. A bottle of coke has over 200 calories and yet a 20 minute jog will burn only around 200 calories.
Richard – thanks for your comment.
Yes, it’s an interesting one. I suppose there is also the other side of the coin, with people who believe that all they need to do is go on a diet, leaving exercise out of the equation, however they definitely go hand in hand.
Melanie, your absolutley spot on. Other than making you feel good by releasing endorphins, exercise also speeds up your metabolism meaning you will burn more calories during the day. Excerise is extremely important in keeping a fit and healthy body however it does not give you a license to eat anything and still lose weight. It is hard but for effecitive weight loss a large forcus needs to be on cutting out calorie rich foods.
i always exercise. I run alot. However, I always overeat. I try to treat myself and then am reminder how much i did (6-8 miles sometimes..) and I reward myself until im sick. This only leads me to feel like i have to exercise more and ultimately if i never would have exercised i never would have felt able to “reward” myself too greatly. Its not always like that. I’m not fat at all tho but probably have a food disorder, i like food wayy too much,
plz help.
Hi Jennifer,
Have you tried writing goals for yourself? For example, “I will reward myself with xyz” Then commit to sticking with that and not going over?
Have you considered not using food as a reward? Can you think of something else, perhaps a movie with friends etc? Or simply the fact that achieving better health from running is your “reward.”
Also, are you eating enough at other times of the day—what I mean is, sometimes when we overeat it’s because we’ve allowed ourselves to get too hungry, then it’s so difficult to stop eating when you start.