Exercise Suppresses Appetite
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Exercise may actually suppress your appetite, two new studies suggest
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Exercise actually decreases your appetite, so the urge to snack after a workout may be all in your head, experts suggest.
By Lindsey Emery, pancakes, or maybe even a burger and fries. What they don’t want? To not eat anything.
And yet, a few recent studies found that moderate intensity aerobic training could actually decrease your appetite or increase your feelings of fullness or satiety. Strange, right? Previous research has shown that people who exercise often reward themselves with food, increasing overall calorie consumption, and often sabotaging their weight loss goals. So, what gives?
“I’m pretty certain the average person greatly overestimates the number of calories burned during physical activity,” adds Braun. “Running 40 minutes at a 9 min/mile pace burns about 450 calories, and there are 500 calories in a Starbucks Venti Mocha Frappucino (with whole milk and whipped cream). So it’s incredibly easy to negate the weight loss effects of exercise.”
The fix: Nix food rewards — treat yourself to a Redbox flick instead — and write down everything you eat into your iPhone for a week. Studies show that simply logging your meals can make you eat less. Don’t skip the gym either, says Kym Guelfi, associate professor at The University of Western Australia, and co-author of the Metabolism study. “Exercise gives you benefits that dieting alone cannot, such as increased fitness, decreased stress, and increased muscle mass, which helps you burn more calories and fat at rest.”