EXERCISING DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN EAT UNHEALTHY!!

Nikkisfitblog · July 2014

"Healthy" = nutrient dense

"Unhealthy" = delicious

Is this what you really mean?

Sasssy69 · July 2014

Can I just...can someone PLEASE just bring me some pizzas??? I live in a teeny, tiny town. NO pizza joints. NO PIZZA. Crickey. Now I want pizza.

<

Me. When I eat pizza.

bregrig · July 2014

Wrong. You CAN eat unhealthy foods (in moderation) as long as you are eating at maintenance.

A better title for this thread would have been: "Exercising doesn't mean you still shouldn't track your calories".

yes exactly what I meant, title was wrong

Willowwisp23 · July 2014

Since nutrient density and unprocessedness determines healthiness of what we eat, and broccoli is a very nutrient dense food with minimal processing, I'm going to start eating 2000 calories of broccoli every day for maximum health.

Brilliant!

I'll report back in four months with my amazing success story.

apriltrainer · July 2014

Hey Op, I know what you meant too..ignore the snarky comments.

I gained weight running a marathon because I ATE alot of unhealthy stuff but I also ate ALOT of healthy stuff. I just ate too darn much because "I earned it." Which..I did not.

After the marathon my appetite had not yet caught up(or shall i say dropped down to match) my lack of activity. I gained more weight after I ran a marathon. What was I going to do, sign up for yet another marathon to keep it off? Yup, that's exactly what I did. Eventually I saw the light because I got burnt out.

I am glad I went through that. I got to also learn, longer and more exercise doesn't always mean weight loss..it can mean a crazy out of control appetite. I do shorter sessions because my appetite will get out of control. And I refuse to be one of those people that uses exercising just for food.

What about training for performance goals? Not just using it for eating?

I now just mainly do ONE barbell lift 3 times a week(squat,op/bench, deadlift) and after I do my one barbell lift, I'll do kettlebells (usually kettlebell training is only 20 min sessions, 3 times a week) for conditioning. That' s it. And I now only train for performance goals and try to keep the eating part to maintain weight, the exercise to get better at competing in my sport(kettlebell sport). I try not to even think of exercising as burning calories. It's not for burning cals for me anymore. This way I don't get suckered into eating as much as I want just because I exercised today.

I train to get better at my lifts.... eating is SEPARATE for me.

I may eat more for additional energy but that's as far as it goes. I am not trying to lose, not trying to put mass on. I won't use exercise as an excuse to eat pizza. If I eat pizza..fine. I won't EVEN try to out exercise it. I eat it because I want it. Done. Move on. My training won't be used to punish myself ANd yes, I enjoy food..but I will enjoy my pizza or doughnuts without thinking I have to run it off, or in my case, kb snatch the weight off.

,
.

bregrig · July 2014

Hey Op, I know what you meant too..ignore the snarky comments.

I gained weight running a marathon because I ATE alot of unhealthy stuff but I also ate ALOT of healthy stuff. I just ate too darn much because "I earned it." Which..I did not.

After the marathon my appetite had not yet caught up(or shall i say dropped down to match) my lack of activity. I gained more weight after I ran a marathon. What was I going to do, sign up for yet another marathon to keep it off? Yup, that's exactly what I did. Eventually I saw the light because I got burnt out.

I am glad I went through that. I got to also learn, longer and more exercise doesn't always mean weight loss..it can mean a crazy out of control appetite. I do shorter sessions because my appetite will get out of control. And I refuse to be one of those people that uses exercising just for food.

What about training for performance goals? Not just using it for eating?

I now just mainly do ONE barbell lift 3 times a week(squat,op/bench, deadlift) and after I do my one barbell lift, I'll do kettlebells (usually kettlebell training is only 20 min sessions, 3 times a week) for conditioning. That' s it. And I now only train for performance goals and try to keep the eating part to maintain weight, the exercise to get better at competing in my sport(kettlebell sport). I try not to even think of exercising as burning calories. It's not for burning cals for me anymore. This way I don't get suckered into eating as much as I want just because I exercised today.

I train to get better at my lifts.... eating is SEPARATE for me.

I may eat more for additional energy but that's as far as it goes. I am not trying to lose, not trying to put mass on. I won't use exercise as an excuse to eat pizza. If I eat pizza..fine. I won't EVEN try to out exercise it. I eat it because I want it. Done. Move on. My training won't be used to punish myself ANd yes, I enjoy food..but I will enjoy my pizza or doughnuts without thinking I have to run it off, or in my case, kb snatch the weight off.

,
.

what an insightful post!! honestly I rarely ever trained for performance, just to make up for the calories I ate and to also eat more. I love exercising but never had that focus or direction. I am going to start trying thinking of my workouts as performance and challenging myself and not associating it with food at all. Thank you for your advice, much appreciated

zyxst · July 2014

Can I just...can someone PLEASE just bring me some pizzas??? I live in a teeny, tiny town. NO pizza joints. NO PIZZA. Crickey. Now I want pizza.

<
Me. When I eat pizza.

I have extra Hawaiian leftover from supper tonight. Willing to share if you bring chocolate.

OT: OP would likely go Jillian Michaels on me if she saw my "unhealthy" diet.

lbpears · July 2014

Hey Op, I know what you meant too..ignore the snarky comments.

I gained weight running a marathon because I ATE alot of unhealthy stuff but I also ate ALOT of healthy stuff. I just ate too darn much because "I earned it." Which..I did not.

After the marathon my appetite had not yet caught up(or shall i say dropped down to match) my lack of activity. I gained more weight after I ran a marathon. What was I going to do, sign up for yet another marathon to keep it off? Yup, that's exactly what I did. Eventually I saw the light because I got burnt out.

I am glad I went through that. I got to also learn, longer and more exercise doesn't always mean weight loss..it can mean a crazy out of control appetite. I do shorter sessions because my appetite will get out of control. And I refuse to be one of those people that uses exercising just for food.

What about training for performance goals? Not just using it for eating?

I now just mainly do ONE barbell lift 3 times a week(squat,op/bench, deadlift) and after I do my one barbell lift, I'll do kettlebells (usually kettlebell training is only 20 min sessions, 3 times a week) for conditioning. That' s it. And I now only train for performance goals and try to keep the eating part to maintain weight, the exercise to get better at competing in my sport(kettlebell sport). I try not to even think of exercising as burning calories. It's not for burning cals for me anymore. This way I don't get suckered into eating as much as I want just because I exercised today.

I train to get better at my lifts.... eating is SEPARATE for me.

I may eat more for additional energy but that's as far as it goes. I am not trying to lose, not trying to put mass on. I won't use exercise as an excuse to eat pizza. If I eat pizza..fine. I won't EVEN try to out exercise it. I eat it because I want it. Done. Move on. My training won't be used to punish myself ANd yes, I enjoy food..but I will enjoy my pizza or doughnuts without thinking I have to run it off, or in my case, kb snatch the weight off.

,
.

Fantastic post.

jmv7117 · July 2014

I have been asked this question over and over again from clients 'Can I eat what I want now that I am exercising and burning it off?' You all know this is wrong... but I want to shed light on why it is... and why I have found myself on this site because of this exact thinking.

From personal experience, I love exercising. I feel powerful and strong and like pushing my body to it's limits. It is fun and exhilarating. But I also love eating. And when I used to have a hard workout, I often feel like I can eat whatever I want because 'hey, I burning the calories so I can be more slack with my food!'

But I was wrong. Four years ago I decided to train for and run a marathon. I had been in excellent shape at that point, running 6 miles daily with regular boxing and weight training workouts. I also was very VERY strict with what I was putting in my mouth, only allowing myself unhealthy items 5-10% of the time. I weighed 131 pounds when I started training for the marathon. 5 months later on the day of the race, I weighed 170 pounds. I had GAINED 40 pounds in 5 months from eating whatever I wanted. I dumbly thought that 'wow, I am running 40+ miles a week, I must be burning a ton of calories so yay pizza!!'

To put this into perspective, someone that is around 150 pounds burns about roughly 300-350 calories in 30 minutes of running (10 min/mile). In a large slice of cheese pizza there is about the same amount of calories. It takes me maybe 5-10 minutes to eat a slice of pizza. Right there takes away your exercise deficit. It is SO EASY to overeat when we regularly workout because a) we think we burn more calories during our workouts than we actually do and b) we are hungrier when we are more active! at least I am

Just remember that abs are built in the kitchen exercise is only 20% of weight loss... it is actually monitoring what we put in our bellys that we will see the best results, and especially not negative results! Regular exercise is not an excuse for poor eating (what I have done my whole life). Is this something you all struggle with? Let's conquer the hunger with nutritious foods and see amazing results from our hard-earned workouts!!

I agree that exercising doesn't mean you can eat unhealthy. If anything, you should be eating healthier to provide your body with the necessary nutrients for recovery and repair. Running is not the best exercise for weight loss and/or maintenance because your body adapts giving a less effective calorie burn. It also increases cortisol which increases fat storage. One of our kids run along with a group of friends and despite the amount of running they do, they don't lose weight. If anything they gain a little.

bregrig · July 2014

That's very interesting! If not running, what exercises do you suggest are best for maintenance/weight loss?

RGv2 · July 2014

That's very interesting! If not running, what exercises do you suggest are best for maintenance/weight loss?

You will lose weight while running, if you're in a deficit. Find me a runner that is eating at a deficit and gained fat, an you'll find me the first one.

apriltrainer · July 2014

That's very interesting! If not running, what exercises do you suggest are best for maintenance/weight loss?

Do Whatever you enjoy!! That's what is best. Kb conditioning works best for me because I love it. I now do them without the thought of " how many clean and jerks do I have to do to get rid of last night's dinner?"

Nope.

now the thought is, "I can clean and jerk with my 16 kg but I want to eventually do the 20 kg.. I train today to get stronger...."

I hate running now..well,long distance running. It just wasn't for me. Doesn't mean it was bad. But I think some people get goal hijacked.. Do they really want to become better runners or are they just trying to burn off their breakfast? Which of those two people will STICK to this routine in the longterm and actually succeed? I put my money on the one who wants to just become a BETTER RUNNER.

If I run now, which is rare, I'll go run a 1/4 mile- 1 mile as fast as I can and try to get faster at those short distances. Now that's the kind of running which I actually do like, although doing fast is BRUTAL. But those kind of runs rarely jack up my appetite like regular marathon training. I didn't enjoy marathon training. (although I did enjoy the social aspect of marathon brunches, lunches and dinners afterwards with my training partners. Probably too much. I definately wasn't in a deficit.)

I think if most people trained for performance instead of exercising off what was eaten, we'd all have a better mind shift in relation to food and movement.

EXERCISING DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN EAT UNHEALTHY!!

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