wedding love

exercise article - TIME.

"Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better."~Robert Redford,

I have heard this before that exercise actually makes "you" gain weight due to the increased appetite and justification of eating your favorite foods because you "earned" it or "need" the calorie replenishment.

And for some it may be true.

But for me, exercise is the key ingredient for weight loss.

what keeps my eating in check -- to avoid extreme binging.

I feel better after exercise and am thus more hesitant to let go of that feeling - reaching for vegetables and lighter fare rather than heavy, creamy, fatty.

Though, sometimes, I agree, if the exercise was extremely strenuous or I waited too long afterward to eat, I get RAVENOUS and seem to eat a larger portion.

But in the end, I still think that, for me, it works.

And I am always surprised how quickly, again, for me, the weight seems to drop off.

It's likely just the bloating soothed and the water weight disappearing but, sometimes the spare tire that has begun to appear around my middle is flat again after a back-to-back night and morning workout. (it's more like the tire shrunk from monster truck to worn down sedan tires, but still.)

But exercise alone does not "magically" 'make you thin' : diet and exercise TOGETHER is the ticket.

And Im a BIG believer in not putting too much pressure on it. Don't obsess about it. Make it a priority but do it more for your health and your overall feeling (?)

not for your looks.

i personally don;t believe in an all-or-nothing approach because I think that sets a person up for failure. If you're in the mindset that you "can't" have anything, there will be a day when you're tempted and give into that temptation. and then it becomes huge feeling of failure and (I think) that person is much more likely to say f*%& it and eat everything in sight.

rather than if you balance yourself out throughout the day or week, you won't feel so deprived or exhausted from having to be on the defensive all the time and go crazy, literally and figuratively.

Say you decide to cut out bread. and it goes really well for several weeks. your willpower has been so strong and you really haven't even had any cravings at all.

But then one day, you get a hankering for a nice, big, perfect sandwich.

You deny it; wrap your sandwich in lettuce instead. But it doesn't do the trick and now you want that sandwich even more. It's all you can think about.

A couple more days go by with that sandwich the only thing on your mind. you start dreaming about it; drooling when you think about it. You finally give in and it IS as good as you imagined. But since you deprived that craving for so long, your brain is still in satisfaction-mode: BREAD!

and you proceed to consume every piece of bread you can get your hands on; even when your stomach is completely distended and feels like it's going to explode.

(But again, that may just be what works for me: I do agree with Gretchen Rubin that there are certain people that really can't 'just have one' or a little break and get back on track easily...)

maybe another reason, though is that I don't crave much other than water after a workout.

sports drinks are too sugary and even coffee or beer is close to repulsive after a strenuous workout.

Sometimes I am ravenous after a workout, but I want something more substantial but lighter, and generally more savory, like a sandwich or oatmeal; not a muffin or pancakes or french fries.

but Im not very good about gaging hunger. I don;t really have a schedule, which makes it a lot easier to >>>>

I eat when Im hungry, which is great but it makes it harder to judge whetther the hunger is real or inventive from a craving or outside factor. and I often let myelf get TOO hungry and have to eat right. now. and end up snacking while I make food or just reach for something easy (like the peanut butter and banana sandwich I have almost everyday because it's quick and easy and filling and tasty).