I didn't workout over the weekend as I had wanted to. Not remembering daylight savings caused me to not attend a yoga class on Sunday morning, and I just plain ol' didn't go biking or running either day for no good reason. I did BUY exercise gear, though: new running shoes with inserts, clippless pedals and shoes for bike, triathlon specific top and bottom that were on mega sales, fantastic athletic bras that weren't on sale at all, more wicking shirts and running shorts and socks, and biking gloves and a bottle holder. Didn't use a single piece of that gear, though. :/
Drank three or more drinks Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Ate a bit too much, but not completely overboard. Did a decent amount of walking.
On Friday I just couldn't stop eating... I wasn't exactly hungry, wasn't exactly not hungry. I just kept snacking and snacking and couldn't figure out why. I had a small thought that I seemed to eat more food on days that I exercised less than on days when I exercised more. So I tested that out and graphed calories in vs. exercise calories (Jan-March, thank you, fitday.com) and lookie here:
"Calories of Eaten": good one...
Amazing. Amazingly clear. The more I exercise the less varied my calorie intake is. You can see that on the left side of the graph, where I exercise little or none, my calorie intake is all over the map (1200 to 3100 calories). But on days when I exercise off 300 calories or more that calorie intake range shrinks down to 1600-2600. You'll also notice that there are no points at all in the upper right section of the graph: if I get a reasonable workout in I don't binge eat, I actually eat less than if I hadn't exercised at all. I did an analysis to be sure that I wasn't simply eating more the day AFTER a workout, and while that did happen a few times it wasn't the general pattern.
So, one more reason why exercise is an essential piece of the weight maintenance puzzle: it really does control my appetite.
ETA: Something I hadn't thought of earlier, but seems really clear after a day of overeating then exercising after work: the power of appetite suppression is probably best wielded BEFORE the day's major meals. Two years ago when I was at my most fit I worked out in the mornings, but now my schedule is totally different and I often hit the gym after work. I'm not sure I can rearrange my schedule back to AM workouts though. Have to investigate that.
2 comments:
That's pretty awesome. I've noticed that I've been eating more since starting to work out, which has been worrying me a bit, but I think it's not going too far out of my range of norm.
Then I'll be eating like a glutton while on my honeymoon, but I hope being in constant motion versus sitting around all day just moving my fingers will serve as a good compensator. :D
You may not be eating as gluttenously as you think. I hear that French portion sizes are on the small side of reasonable, plus as you said you'll be walking a lot so you won't want to become stuffed.
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