Can I exercise and keep eating what I want?

Can I exercise and keep eating what I want?

You know that feeling...you’ve done your exercise for the day and now you’re stood in the kitchen. What to eat? Surely I can eat whatever I want because I’ve exercised, right?

Well….

Not quite! 

Evidence shows that we typically overestimate how many calories we’ve used during exercise. Plus, we underestimate the number of calories we’re eating.

Now, I’m not a big fan of calorie counting as I think it’s pretty soul destroying and doesn’t focus on health (think diet fizzy drinks vs an avocado). But if you’re a midlifer shifting the recent weight gain, then you need to be aware of where you’re tripping yourself up. 

Exercise and eating - punishment and reward? 

I know at the weekend, when I have more time for a long run and a longer gym session, I catch myself planning a bigger breakfast, because I’ve done more exercise and I ‘deserve it’ or I’ve ‘earned it’.

But, let’s be honest, this idea of exercise as the punishment and food as the reward isn’t a healthy way of living. There’s a fine line between eating to give you an exercise energy boost and simply using your weekly run as a way of justifying a chippy tea on the way home (and I know runners who do just that).

It’s quite a negative mental state because you get into the mindset of - ‘I’ve eaten loads, I need to exercise to make up for it’. 

Or you decide that if you’ve exercised, what you eat doesn’t matter so much.  

Then it’s easy to adopt the mental attitude of ‘well I deserve it’ or using calorie counting to justify decisions - ‘I burned 900 calories therefore I can eat 900 calories’. 

But, as already mentioned, we tend to overestimate how many calories we burn during exercise and underestimate the amount in what we eat!

Improving your exercise - eating relationship

Your actions are driven by your emotions which are driven by your thoughts. So, have a close look at what you’re thinking. 

Having a positive thinking process about exercise can make you feel more virtuous, and enjoying that feeling then makes you eat well. 

‘Athletes eat and train, they don't diet and exercise’ - you’ve probably heard this quote from Lolo Jones and it shows how you think about something can reframe how we view our actions.

Ideally, eating and exercise should be about nurturing and looking after yourself, not constantly yo-yoing between punishment and reward.

So how can you get round this? 

I’d say there are a couple of key things to bear in mind...

Our bodies are designed to be active, so try to find some exercise that you enjoy. One person’s buzz from running is another's nightmare but there’s so much you can do - swimming, running, walking, dancing, martial arts, the gym. Just find the exercise that makes you feel like it is doing some good, either because you can fit it into your life relatively easily or, even better, you actually enjoy it. Make exercise about enjoyment and break that negative ‘I hate exercising’ mindset. 

And the other key approach which works for me is planning what to eat before or after exercise. If you’ve got to make more decisions when you come back after a fitness class or a swim, the temptation to grab the first thing you see is strong. Instead, when you decide you will do some exercise also decide at the same time whether you are eating before class or after and what you will have. 

Let me know in the comments if you’ve been able to break the exercise punishment/reward cycle. It can be tricky but once you’ve changed your mindset you’ll never look back.

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