Exercise can undermine weight loss in subtle ways
Kevin Hall believes that exercise can undermine weight loss goals. He says that the concept of calories in-calories out is something that people do not believe are independent of each other. This is because exercise increases hunger, which can make people consume more calories than they burned off.
Studies have shown that people tend to increase their food intake after exercising for several reasons:
• They thought they burned a lot of calories
• They felt hungrier than usual
• They overestimated how much energy they used
• They generally ate more when exercising
It doesn’t take much to replace the burned off calories that occurred during the workout. A slice of pizza, a café mocha, or an ice cream cone can replace more calories than were burned off during the workout.
Slowing down after a workout can also prevent more calories from being burned. People tend to relax, lay down, or take the elevator instead of the stairs. These compensatory behaviors occur unconsciously to conserve energy and offset the calories that were burned during the workout.
