Hi everyone : )
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Just a quick post to share a recent Examiner article with you all. I love working out but I think this shows the importance of having a healthy lifestyle mindset, rather than just striving for a new temporary diet or temporarily working out. Here goes ….
“When trying to lose weight, a common goal and objective is often pursued in buying a gym membership. One vows to undergo regular sweat sessions in order to combat excessive fat. So what is the problem and why do these regular sweat sessions oftentimes seem to do no good at all?
According to a recent study in the article, "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin", it's oftentimes due to what one eats after that intense workout session or what's done (or not done) after having exerted oneself.
Photo By: D Sharon Pruitt
Expending yourself in the gym oftentimes creates hunger as your body’s glycogen storage is running low. So an important factor to look at is what's going on right after exercise? If the answer involves high-calorie, high-sugar energy drinks or greasy junk food, some rethinking may be in order.
Oftentimes after exercise people seem to feel like they "deserve" the junk food that they're craving or they simply won't be as active the rest of the day because they feel as though they already got enough activity in. Similar to the article's example, if a person was to spend 30 minutes on the elliptical machine only to chug a sugar-filled Gatorade right afterwards or eat a muffin from Starbucks, from a weight loss point of view, this person would have been better off never having gone to the gym. Assuming 300 or so calories were burned while on the elliptical, more than that was consumed just eating that muffin. (As the average 6 ounce muffin has 400 calories).
This brings us to the point of it all: when loosing weight and maintaining weight loss, what you eat is about 90% of your success or failure. In fact, when trying to loose a bunch of weight, the most important thing is eating clean and staying active. Success isn't necessarily about strenuous sweat sessions, but an active and healthy lifestyle mindset. For example, instead of the elevator, take the stairs. Instead of the closest parking spot, take the one further away.
Not to say those intense sweat sessions aren't necessary or good because they are! They improve heart health, cardiovascular strength, and do help blast that fat away. However, next time you're tempted to go eat a muffin or drink a frappuccino right after a hard workout, try a whey protein shake instead, or some fresh fruit (just watch your portion sizes) and your results are likely to be much more positive.”
Lesley
It is really important to realize the "side" effects of intense workouts! :D
ReplyDeletegreat post!
Great post. So many people tell me they eat more after they workout, which is fine, but more shouldn't equal bad food. It's fine to eat that muffin or frozen starbuck's drink every once in a while after a workout, but making it a habit is not a good idea!
ReplyDeleteI always feel relaxed about a nice walk and my yoga sessions, so I'll keep them up :)
ReplyDeletei think this article definitely raises some interesting questions -- and i agree, it's so much more important to adopt a healthy lifestyle .. (eating, exercise, and understanding the importance of moderation!) rather than being a slave to the gym and eating whatever the heck ya want! thanks for the info, love :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I am definitely one of those people that once in a while tries to rationalize poor food choices with the excuse 'I just went to the gym.' Instead I try to think of it as yes I just went to the gym so I better not undo all the hard work I just did by eating fries!
ReplyDeleteI agreee with what you picked out of that article, but all his other points in that article were so biased! What'd you think?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrea...the reference article has its ups and downs It mostly makes me nervous because I feel with some of its points its saying hey....just eat less and don't exercise. Plus exercise has lots of benefits outside of weight maintenance.
ReplyDeleteHey, your new template looks great! There are certainly tons of people out there who are SO misinformed about the true link between diet and exercise. The whole mindset of "needing" to work out in order to burn off that pint of ice cream is so damaging, since exercise shouldn't justify eating crap! It just doesn't work that way, as I'm sure plenty of people discover.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a peice onthis article, but in short it's bull. Of course if you over eat your arent going to lose weight. a lot of things stimulate your appetite: like stress. Lets all quit our jobs and run away form our lives to avoid it. Or, you can have some free will and make the decision not to eat the crap. blaming it on exercise is dangerous and irresponsible
ReplyDeleteRE: Great thoughts, everyone! Yes, I agree with you all that didn't necessarily care for many parts of the article. However, I definitely do think this can be a problem for many people, especially those that might be more than just a little bit overweight. For people who have loved working out most of their lives this isn't normally a problem and it seems silly, but for a newbie in the gym who is used to eating fattening, greasy foods I think this is something that some people really deal with and struggle with.
ReplyDeleteI think the article was just a good example to reiterate that loosing weight and being healthy is not about a current diet fad or about working out for a few months out of the year, but it's about a way of life.
It's so true. People go workout and then think they deserve a treat afterwards and then end up eating up all the calories they just burned off.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to have a healthy balance, don't overdo it in any area!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree--you can totally undo 2 hours of hard work in about 2 minutes or less!! Crazy!
ReplyDeleteI see people all the time trying to lose weight (and going to the gym), not understanding why the scale isn't budging. It's because they haven't changed their eating! Exercise DEFINITELY has its place, but it shouldn't be viewed as an "excuse to eat."
ReplyDelete