Will Exercise Derail Your Diet?
How to handle food cravings that may result from heavy exercise.
Ben Greenfield
Recently, I came across the first study I’ve ever seen that shows that exercise may not actually cause you to “calorie compensate” by eating more later in the day. Up until this point, most research has suggested that exercise may actually derail your diet by allowing you to justify eating a few extra snacks or more junk food on the days that you exercise.Â
This is often what causes people to stop healthy lifestyle changes. They get excited about changing their daily routine, eating better, and exercising more. But then heavy exercise volume causes food cravings that make it impossible to stick to a healthy diet, so the individual becomes discouraged, and simply quits altogether.
I’ve noticed this phenomenon seems to be most pronounced among heavy exercisers such as triathletes, marathoners, or bodybuilders. So what’s the solution?
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Exercise in moderate amounts.
It’s not necessary to do an enormous daily volume of exercise unless you’re a pro athlete.
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Write down what you eat.
Keeping track of what you’re putting into your mouth will make it less likely that you’ll engage in excess calorie intake. Use a calorie tracking app to make this process easier.
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Fuel your workouts.
If you work out on an empty stomach, try to eat something soon after your workout so you don’t have a ravenous appetite later on.
If you have questions about how whether exercise can derail your diet, then ask away at the Get-Fit Guy Facebook page.
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Girl Eating image from Shutterstock
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.