"I feel like a Snickers, so I'm gonna run 2 miles..."

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  • JenniferIsLosingIt
    JenniferIsLosingIt Posts: 595 Member
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    Exercising makes me appreciate food. I'd have to run 2.5 miles for a Snickers? Ugh.

    Homemade key-lime pie (with real key limes) is worth 2.5 miles. I'd run a marathon for the whole pie.

    ^^This! I totally agree, if it is your fave or something that is worth it oh yes! But I too will put in extra exercise to counteract an episode of going over on claories. I also make sure I drink extra extra extra water! It is really helping pull the pounds off.
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
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    Reminds me of a real life story (20 years ago):
    - wife: Hello!?! I'm home.
    - me: Hi, going for a run
    - wife: now?
    - me: yes! I HAVE to
    - wife: but, it's ...
    - me: I HAVE to go
    - wife: but ...
    - me: no buts! I'm running. Now. I just ate a whole box of Mallowmars ... all 18!
    - wife: uh, OK, how long
    - me: 45 or so
    - wife: have fun. (and under her breath) that'll teach you!

    We still laugh about it, though the long term weight gain over the years was no laughing matter.

    Now I'm in control of my eating. Other than one Milk Chocolate Hob Nobs binge, I'm much better about it now. However, if I've had more treats than my diary targets, I do add more activity to compensate.
  • amberj32
    amberj32 Posts: 663 Member
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    Exercising makes me appreciate food. I'd have to run 2.5 miles for a Snickers? Ugh.

    Homemade key-lime pie (with real key limes) is worth 2.5 miles. I'd run a marathon for the whole pie.

    I totally agree! Exercising does make me appreciate food. Running 2.5 miles isn't worth a snickers to me, but for something else I might.
  • caesar164
    caesar164 Posts: 312 Member
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    That's a rip-off!!! If it fits in your macros, then eat it! But to relate cardio to a specific food, sounds like your getting jipped! After a hard training session all I'm thinking of is a quality protein source to aid in recovery, not some junk food I'm craving...
  • sassyrayofsunshine
    sassyrayofsunshine Posts: 499 Member
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    If you're craving something, find a way to make it fit your macros. You have to allow yourself to feel normal. You have to make sure that what you're doing is sustainable in the long run, otherwise you'll burn out and throw in the towel.
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
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    Who cares? My motto is if it works for you, use it. And helll yes, I've burned some extra calories in anticipation of getting my snickers on......... And sometimes I get a little crazy and eat a snickers w/out burning some extra calories. Journey, not destination.
  • Laura3BB
    Laura3BB Posts: 250 Member
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    Well I don't work that way.
    I don't do much exercise but I also don't eat a lot of unhealthy things.
    So maintenance is going fine - without having to run miles.
    It's all about moderation and weekly intakes for me.
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
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    This is tricky! Ideally I would say that this is not a great attitude. In reality however. . .

    Linking exercise and eating this way helped me develop a healthy exercise routine. Instead of seeing exercise as a chore, as I always had before, I now see it as a reward, or at least something that earns me the reward of the ability to eat more. So now I seek out ways to include exercise almost every day. I know that if I don't exercise, I will need to eat less.

    Also, when you are small (not just short but also fairly low body weight), and middle aged female, it just doesn't take much food to fuel your body. If you don't exercise, and you wish to stay slim, your only other options are smaller amounts of food, or eating only very low calorie foods (think chicken, fish, and anything green and that is about it!). For me personally, I use a combination of all these techniques to balance my weight. Sometimes I will choose to eat extremely lo cal/fat foods, knowing I can eat larger portions. Sometimes I will choose higher cal, less healthy options and eat less of them, and sometimes I will exercise more knowing that I have a special occasion coming and I will eat more indulgently.

    With all that being said, I know exercise should be for body/fitness improvement and nutrition should be for weight maintenance, but I am not perfect, and I do not plan to live the rest of my life eating only skinless chicken, leaves, and twigs! I like dessert, steak, potatoes,, an occasional glass of wine, and even a margarita, chips, and salsa every now and then. So I will continue to use exercise as needed to help manage my weight.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    We've all said something like that before. Either proactively or reactively.,, we've run off a slice of pizza after the fact, or worked out ahead of time in anticipation of a snack or meal.

    Is this healthy and effective for a maintenance lifestyle? No facetiousness.

    I would imagine that if you are measuring and hitting your marks with these adjustments, then it's fine. I also would think that the thought process of action/consequence as it relates to junk food and exercise is a good balance. Yet... I dunno... Something about the philosophy seems almost unnatural.

    Do you subscribe to this approach? Has it made you snack more? Have you maintained? Any thoughts to add?
    The answer could be anywhere from "totally fine" to "totally messed up" depending on context.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
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    I do this occasionally when I am at or near my calorie goal and I want something sweet. I think that it can be a healthy approach when done this way.
  • daynerz
    daynerz Posts: 227 Member
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    yes, as long as the thoughts are positive and reinforcing (self talk)

    This is a good method because it activates your REWARD system and you will notice to have a higher appreciation for food while you work for it, and don't take it for granted.

    =)
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    You don't look like a Snickers....
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
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    Ice cream - yes
    Snickers - never
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    I do a crazy cardio and weights workout before I know I'm gonna have a night out eating and drinking...
  • xenu01
    xenu01 Posts: 117 Member
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    For me, it's not. My mother and sister both suffered from ED so I spent my entire twenties being afraid to count a calorie. Now that I'm doing it, it's not scary (though time consuming sometimes). But anyway, logging exercise for me is dangerous because I am not very far from walking 20 minutes to burn off something I wasn't supposed to eat, etc.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    I don't believe it is the healthiest mindset to have BUT I'd still say it's better than just eating a snickers (or whatever) and not worrying about it. This will lead to weight gain over time.

    OP: you mentioned larger calorie intakes and longer cardio to compensate. I would also like to add, what about different types of foods? Some people could go the other way eating what they consider "clean" foods that may not fit into their calorie allowances also e.g. I feel like a baked potato, so I'm gonna run 2 miles". Is this mindset any better/worse than rewarding with "junk" food?

    This is how I typically think.

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    If I know I'm going to have a high calorie dinner or whatever, I plan for it and eat lightly/fast earlier. I may also exercise that day. (Although I exercise most days I guess)

    If I'm at my cal target and I want to eat one snickers, I'll eat it and drop cals the next day. I always work with weekly averages basically.
  • einzweidrei
    einzweidrei Posts: 381 Member
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    Does it fit into my calories for the day? If yes, it's all mine. No exercise needed.

    I usually try to do 6:1 and "fast" one day per week in order to have a day where I eat maybe 3500-4000 calories without care. This day would include drinks, things drenched in cheese, etc. No exercise needed.

    I am still trying to bring my weight back down from vacation which means I need to be okay for awhile. But yesterday I wanted more candy after already eating ice cream so I was already at my limit. I went for a nice long walk and then ate the candy. To be clear, it doesn't have to be junk food---I don't care about that stuff it's all about numbers.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    Depends on where you are mentally and how active you've been that day.

    If you've just finished a marathon, re-fed, and freak out about an extra Snickers enough to go run another 2 miles ... I think you have a major problem.
  • nyiballs
    nyiballs Posts: 147
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    ChrisDavey... I am totally with you in terms of shifting the mindset to "cleaner" foods as a reward over the "junkier" foods.

    Case in point, I had a HUGE surplus going late in the day, and I had recently shifted from using MFP to Fitbit in terms of measuring output vs. the input and macros I enter into MFP. I've noticed that fitbit has me on a tighter leash some days and gives me mountains more on my real active days, where MFP was much more stagnant. This makes sense to me, because my work can be very sedentary, with hours of sitting at a desk.

    This particular day was a weekend where I had been up with the kids, did a good run, yardwork, etc. I had burned over 4000 kcal and eaten only 1600 by 8pm. I was freerolling at that point. In the past, that would have meant cake, candy bar, etc.
    Instead, I gave myself a potato, a peanut butter sandwich on wheat, some fro-yo, and a chocolate milk. Still not the "healthiest" of foods necessarily, but all told, probably much more nutritious use of calories compared to the alternative... and nearly as satisfying.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    I have thought like that. I'm recovering from that line of thinking, but I still have a bit of a ways to go until total freedom.

    I hate it.

    IFing frees me from that. That's why throwing in a fast day or two per week is my maintenance plan. I prefer to have a catch all that allows me the freedom to enjoy food without concerning myself about the "cost".

    I'd rather keep exercise in the context of being beneficial to my overall health, and physique goals, than as a tool to allow me to eat the proverbial snickers.

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