Does this scenario sound familiar?:
You’ve had a hard day at work. It’s late and it’s starting to get dark earlier. Your motivation for working out is barely there but somehow you drag yourself to the gym. You aren’t feeling too motivated but feel proud of yourself for pushing it even when all you wanted to do was go home and sit on the couch. After a 30 minute jog on the treadmill plus an ab/stretch session for 15 minutes you are on your way home.
You make a healthy dinner, deciding to pour yourself a glass of wine or a beer. After all, you had a long hard day AND your worked out so you deserve it. One glass turns into two. One plate of dinner turns into a second helping. And those brownies that you made with your sister over the weekend are still sitting on the counter so you have one for dessert. It’s ok, you worked out right?
Ok, let’s think about this in terms of numbers. The average person will burn anywhere from approximately 250-450 kcals during the above mentioned workout (variations based on size, gender, weight, exertion etc). Two glasses of wine equals approximately 200-250 kcal. One brownie is approximately 250 kcals (depending on size, ingredients etc). So the calories burned in your workout are already negated. And we didn’t even count the second helping of dinner.
The “I worked out so I deserve the dessert/margarita/baked brie/half a pizza/fill-in-the-blank” mentality can get you into trouble when your goal is weight loss, or even weight maintenance. A standard weight loss recommendation is to cut 500 calories a day through diet and exercise. But notice the key words: diet AND exercise.
Last year TIME magazine published an article “Why Exercise Won’t Make you Thin” (check it out here) where they discuss this common problem. The title of this article was a bit misleading, because exercise IS important for weight loss and associated health benefits, but many of us compensate for what we believed to be a high calorie burning workout, only to sabotage our weight loss efforts.
You can avoid this pitfall by taking into account the energy (food) you are putting into your body AND the energy you are expending through exercise. If you are trying to lose weight aim for a 500 calorie deficit a day: reduce your calorie intake by 250 (decrease portion size, healthier snacks, no sodas/juices) and burn 250 calories through exercise. Eat meals balanced with lean protein, healthy fats, and whole grains. Mix up your workouts with a variety of fat burning cardio and muscle building strength training.
And don’t take that additional helping just because you exercised.