Stop Justifyng Your Diet

Iwas on Facebook a few weeks ago when I saw a “Facebook friend” (need to makethat clarification for those that understand the differences vs. real life) say something tothe tune of “Worked hard at the gym for my birthday cake!”  I didn’t want to be “that guy,” nor did Ihave the heart to tell that person that it doesn’t quite work like that.

It’sOK, I’ve done it too.  In fact, I’veprobably done most of the mistakes I write about on this blog.  So, let’s think about this problem in a more scientificway: does a 45 minute workout justify eating another 1,000 calories?  Absolutely not, and it’s a losingproposition.

Iwon’t start off by saying how the calories your treadmill says you “burned” isnot accurate, and how post-workout recovery drinks aren’t appropriate for manypeople who don’t really work hard at the gym (yes, I'm being ironic by leading off with those topics).  But, perhaps nothinggets the point across quite like this video:

Shocked?  People don’ttend to think about intake and expenditure - because that’s what it really is - in such abstract terms. 

This study, performed by Dr. John Berardi, showed that ifyou’re exercising without any dietary changes, you’re hardly realizing yourpotential.  He found that those thatexercised without any dietary changes lost a measly 1% of bodyfat over thecourse of twelve weeks.  

Further, this study at the University of Oklahomaalso looked at exercise with and without dietary changes.  Again, those that exercised without dietaryintervention saw minimal changes, while those that exercised AND ate correctlylost over 9% body fat.

Now, this doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself every now and then, because that's what life is about!  It's what you do everyday that makes you what you are, and the old adage is true – you really can’t out train a bad diet.