From the date on my gym card I can see that I joined on September 30, 2006 and I've never looked back. I have gone to the gym consistently ever since. I almost never miss my workouts. I do weight training 2 times per week (for 60 minutes each time). And I do cardio at least 4 times a week. Since I started running outside this past May, I go to the gym less for cardio, but still for my weight training.
What I find interesting, is that despite all this exercise that I do... I have still gained my weight back twice (while I was working out!). When I've gained weight, I could press my fingers into my stomach (past my rolls of fat) and feel my strong ab muscles in there, or squeeze my arm and feel my strong biceps, but those muscles were very far from being visible. What this demonstrates, to me anyway, is that exercise is only part of the equation (an important part, but only part). I can work out on the elliptical trainer like a fiend for an hour and I will burn 600 calories or so. But I can eat those 600 calories back (and more) in mere minutes with an ill-thought-out in between meal "snack"...
Does that mean all my exercising was in vain? Of course not. I am very fit (whether I LOOK fit or not), and when I do lose weight, it doesn't take as much work for me to GET INTO good shape, because I already have good muscle tone (its just all hidden by a layer of pudge)...
This is why I almost never "eat back" my exercise calories. I think that's a slippery slope. It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that you can eat more because you exercise (I know that I can't). The exercise just helps to burn off what I am ALREADY eating. I know that when I hit maintenance I will be able to eat a little more than I do now, but I will never say to myself... oh I burned 760 calories today on that 10km run, so I can eat my regular food PLUS 760 extra calories. I will just monitor my weight, and if I start going below my goal weight (as if - ha) THEN I will increase my calories...
I ate well yesterday, and I had my planned French Toast for dinner. It was soooo good, a MAJOR treat. It didn't really fill me up though. I usually rely on my dinner to help me get my vegetable quota for the day, and I just couldn't figure out any way to work vegetables into my French Toast... so I am a little low. I'll catch up on veggies today promise!):
This is really important! As you know, I lost a lot of weight, and teach weight loss classes in my community.
ReplyDeleteI see this all the time, where people work out, and unintentionally "eat back" their calories that they've burned.
You explained it very well. Good job!