Studies on Exercise and Eating

[ravenrose]

interesting results reported in a USNews.com blog titled
"Does Exercise Distort Your Perception of Hunger?"



turns out some of us respond differently than others. some people eat more just THINKING about exercising...

[Punkin]

That is interesting. In my experience, especially after meticulously tracking my calorie intake and body composition over the last few years, exercise for me causes me to overeat and gain more bodyfat. So I don't use it as a method to manage my weight. I think that article might be onto something about the psychological aspect. The body might react to ideas of exercise, because it basically acts to try to preserve itself. Exercise is a state of catabolism so it reacts by inducing a state of anabolism. For some people, that could be disastrous, if their bodies have an affinity for storing fat. That is what I have experienced anyways.

I think it is funny how our society sings the praises of exercise for losing weight, when in actual fact for a lot of people it could work them. I think it is because we see very thin people who exercise a lot (ie. marathon runners) and just assume that the reason they are thin is because they exercise a lot (which they do of course). But this is more so because they are genetically programmed to be lean. Gary Taubes mentions this in his book. But research has shown that the genetically thin also get fatter over time through participating in excessive exercise. This could be the reason why that happens.

[Beeb]

Originally Posted by Punkin

That is interesting. In my experience, especially after meticulously tracking my calorie intake and body composition over the last few years, exercise for me causes me to overeat and gain more bodyfat. So I don't use it as a method to manage my weight. I think that article might be onto something about the psychological aspect. The body might react to ideas of exercise, because it basically acts to try to preserve itself. Exercise is a state of catabolism so it reacts by inducing a state of anabolism. For some people, that could be disastrous, if their bodies have an affinity for storing fat. That is what I have experienced anyways.

I think it is funny how our society sings the praises of exercise for losing weight, when in actual fact for a lot of people it could work them. I think it is because we see very thin people who exercise a lot (ie. marathon runners) and just assume that the reason they are thin is because they exercise a lot (which they do of course). But this is more so because they are genetically programmed to be lean. Gary Taubes mentions this in his book. But research has shown that the genetically thin also get fatter over time through participating in excessive exercise. This could be the reason why that happens.

and EXACTLY what I have been saying about myself for years!! I exercise, I eat the paint off the walls!! So glad it's finally being proven that I'm not as as I seem when I talk about this to others!

[avid]

I started my lc woe about 7 months ago and have been exercising the whole time.
I don't find that my exercising causes me to get hungry. It can, and often does cause me to desire paticular foods. My favorite post workout snack is some sour cream sweetened with torani sf vanilla, I add a small handful of whatever berries are in the fridge that day, and sometimes will add a sprinkling of chopped nuts.
It's my carbiest "meal" of the day. I find it very satisfying.
Typically, I make sure I eat red meat daily. It makes me feel strong.
I have lost over 20 pounds since going lc, while increasing muscle mass.
I'm pretty close to my goal weight so I'm not really focusing on the weight loss
aspects of my woe/exercising....I'm in full "health and fitness" mode and it is working.
I feel great. It's funny when I see someone I haven't seen in a while.
They run up to me with this looking that oozes concern "Are you alright? You lost so much weight"....LOL It seems the heavier they are the more insistant they are that I should stop losing....

[Rhubarb]

Originally Posted by avid

I started my lc woe about 7 months ago and have been exercising the whole time.
I don't find that my exercising causes me to get hungry. It can, and often does cause me to desire paticular foods. My favorite post workout snack is some sour cream sweetened with torani sf vanilla, I add a small handful of whatever berries are in the fridge that day, and sometimes will add a sprinkling of chopped nuts.
It's my carbiest "meal" of the day. I find it very satisfying.
Typically, I make sure I eat red meat daily. It makes me feel strong.
I have lost over 20 pounds since going lc, while increasing muscle mass.
I'm pretty close to my goal weight so I'm not really focusing on the weight loss
aspects of my woe/exercising....I'm in full "health and fitness" mode and it is working.
I feel great. It's funny when I see someone I haven't seen in a while.
They run up to me with this looking that oozes concern "Are you alright? You lost so much weight"....LOL It seems the heavier they are the more insistant they are that I should stop losing....

That's funny. I got that just last night. Someone I hadn't seen in a while asked if I was sick and I said, "why, do I look sick?" He said, "no but you've lost a lot of weight so ..."

I realized that when you're older people don't always assume you lost weight voluntarily. It's kind of creepy. But once I reassured him that I felt healthier than ever he was nice about it.

[avid]

I realized that when you're older people don't always assume you lost weight voluntarily. It's kind of creepy. But once I reassured him that I felt healthier than ever he was nice about it

Absolutely!!....It is kind of morbid right?
I mean when your thirty something and lose 20 pounds, people compliment you on your will power.
At 60 something they want to call 911

[tobelowcarber]

Cardio kills my appetite and weight training increases it.

[NH_Free]

Originally Posted by avid

Absolutely!!....It is kind of morbid right?
I mean when your thirty something and lose 20 pounds, people compliment you on your will power.
At 60 something they want to call 911

I'm 50 something and, so far, only my landlady has commented. She told me I look great. The neighbors haven't commented on it at all. Even the UPS guy is mum - he delivered an exercise bike to me last spring, then didn't see me until last month (36 lbs. lighter). He looked twice, but didn't say a word! I thought he'd at least say it looked like the bike helped.

About the exercise - I've amped it up a little the past few weeks and I'm suddenly ravenous. I only have LC foods here to eat, but I'm eating way too much this past week. I've gained 2 lbs. and I don't think it's water weight.

[Psmileyf]

I have to be really careful when I exercise. I feel hungrier and have to be careful not to think I "deserve" to eat because I exercised.

[avid]

Odd, but I find NO correlation between exercise and appetite.
But then I also find NO correlation between exercise and weight loss.
They are two separate things for me.
I exercise because it makes me feel great
I eat LC because it keeps my weight down and is very healthy.
I'm really glad the two don't impact each other negatively.
I would hate to have give up one in favor of the other.
The article cited by OP talks about psychological effects of exercise.
I"ll bet that's more of a contributing factor than people realize.
We have been saturated with the 'calories in / calories out' myth
for decades. It's not easy to ignore such pervasive and effective propaganda.

[creseis]

A lot of my casual cyclist buddies say they are always starving after a long ride and they will fill up on pizza and beer, but my former olympian friends say that when they were racing they were always soooo careful about their diet and nutrition during training, they really used food as a fuel source and not as a reward, and everything was carefully planned and measured (for them by their soigneur!) because they did not want to ever have the possibility of carrying extra weight up the hill!

[Gretalyn]

For me personally, I haven't noticed (consciously, at least!) any impact on my appetite from my typical short/light workouts. But when we do a multi-hour hike with significant elevation gain, I definitely notice that I'm hungrier after that. And personally I think that's a legitimate physiological hunger, because I know my body has worked harder and burned more calories than it normally does. Of course, that doesn't mean that I feel entitled to pig out on carbs. I keep my carb limit the same whether I exercise intensely, lightly, or not at all. But I probably do eat more calories overall after a six hour hike than on my more typical days of two hour hikes.

[avid]

I always have a snack after a workout.
But I'm not sure if it's hunger or a need to re-balance my blood sugar.
I wonder because I don't require much food after working out, even if I focused
on weight traing with heavy weights.
And as I stated earlier, the after workout snack is a little carbier than I usually eat
so the glucose is added quickly. I then feel satisfied and go about my day.

[Gretalyn]

Originally Posted by avid

And as I stated earlier, the after workout snack is a little carbier than I usually eat
so the glucose is added quickly. I then feel satisfied and go about my day.

That makes sense - I've heard that just after a workout is the best time to eat carbs. Now me personally, I just still have to keep my overall limit the same, because otherwise its a slippery slope back down to high-carb land.

[Strawberry]

Regardless.... Exercise is HEALTHY for your body. Your heart, lungs, bones, cholesterol (arteries), etc are all improved by exercise.

I think its unfair to suggest or hint that not doing exercise is a good thing for weight loss. Its just not as healthy to be sedentary and the most exercise you do is walking around on your job or in a store.

We all get that you dont HAVE to exercise in order to lose weight, but you SHOULD exercise in order to be healthy. People who exercise also statistically have better success at maintaining their weight loss.

[Knittering]

Exercise is a state of catabolism so it reacts by inducing a state of anabolism.

I don't know what this means. Can you explain it in layman's terms?

[creseis]

I do 3 very very hard and intense workouts per week and 2-3 light workouts. I think I have gained enough muscle to counteract much of the fat loss based on my body changes/size changes. On low carb, I don't get the huge hunger I used to get, especially because I don't bonk. If I am really hungry, I make sure I eat something like cheese or nuts, packed with fat to fill me up faster with less impact. I typically eat a very high fat breakfast, followed by a workout in the afternoon/evening, and I eat snacks throughout the day, sometimes, like tonight, I don't even eat a real dinner, just a light snack of cheese or an Atkins bar, and I'm fine. I don't think I could have had nearly the same muscle development without the exercise I do, and I think even lighter exercise programs will induce greater muscle development, especially on low carb, which allows you and actually necessitates more calories. I think it is counter intuitive to me to say that exercise is a hindrance to weight loss, unless you are only counting total amount of weight lost and not the loss of fat compared to muscle and strength gain.

[Strawberry]

Exercise is a state of catabolism so it reacts by inducing a state of anabolism. I don't know what this means. Can you explain it in layman's terms?

When you exercise, you make tiny tears in the muscle and break down muscle (catabolism - process of breaking down tissues), so the body's response is to repair the muscle and build it up stronger and larger than before (Anabolism - process of building up tissues and adding to them)