A friend, jokingly, commented the other day: “I eat therefore I run”. I know her too well to know that this is really the case, but this is the case for many people who exercise solely for the purpose of burning calories. (Years ago, I actually calculated the minutes of cardio I had to do to burn off a sleeve of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies—I ate and I did the work.) The ideal relationship between food and exercise, however, should be: “I run therefore I eat”. In other words, our diet should fuel our performance.
Of course, we have to consider caloric balance. Exercise can often lead to weight gain (i.e., increased fat weight) because we convince ourselves that we “earned” the food we are eating. This leads to over-estimation of the calories we are expending and an underestimation of the calories we are consuming.
The caloric calculation should be on the front-end of the meal planning and should consider macro balance, as well as nutrient timing (meal planning). This is not to say we bring back the ideal of ill-conceived “carbo-loading” (which brings to mind the episode of The Office in which Michael Scott loads up on fettuccini alfredo right before a 5-k run). Thankfully, sports nutrition has advanced over the last 30 years.
Caloric calculation also should be based solely on a straight “calories in equals calories out”—i.e., relying on the digital output on the treadmill at the gym and the food labels on food. Caloric needs are a bit more complicated—involving a less-than-static basal metabolic rate, the thermogenic effect of food (the calories expended digesting and absorbing the foods we eat), as well as physical activity. At best, we can make an educated guess (short of living in an exercise physiology laboratory) about our caloric balance. Over all, what is complicated is quite simple, if we consider overall changes in weight relative to the calories consumed. And, really, counting calories is quite futile when we realize that we are estimating the actual calories in the foods we eat and that what is absorbed from the foods is quite individualized and circumstantial.
When we exercise with the attitude of “I eat therefore I run”, exercise becomes a form of punishment. Conversely, “I run therefore I eat” allows performance to be the reward. When performance is the reward, it is easier to be more conscientious of what we put into our bodies.
Of course, we can allow ourselves some room to let our diet affect our exercise—to have a “I eat therefore I run” mindset. I presume that we all enjoy food. It is okay, from time to time, to increase our exercise in response to our occasional over-consumption. I often refer to my increased exercise around the holidays as “preemptive caloric expenditure”. It is okay to do a little more exercise to counter our “guilty pleasures”. Over all, however, our minds should be focused on performance—not punishment.
I like food. I like sweets and I like beer. I can enjoy these in moderation, and I find I make better choices when I base my decisions on performance. I am not going to waste calories on bad food/drink. I don’t want to feel like I have to “run” because I ate a crappy donut—that is just punishment on top of punishment. I will, however, have no quilt over a dessert that astounds my taste buds and satisfies my senses.
Shift your mindset to enjoy food as fuel for successful exercise and physical activity. Let food fuel your growth and success.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!