WASHINGTON 鈥� Working out in the morning is a good way to get in shape, but it鈥檚 easy to undo the good you鈥檝e done by slipping into bad eating habits later in the day, in part because of the feeling that you鈥檝e earned a bit of indulgence.
blogger Sally Squires told 海角社区app that diet and exercise each have a role to play in the quest to lose a few pounds.
Studies suggest that exercise helps to decrease hunger, Squires said, by reducing ghrelin, known as the hunger hormone. But 鈥渁s the day wears on,鈥� she said, 鈥渨e feel pretty virtuous, and we overcompensate for the exercise we鈥檝e done, and eat more.鈥�
You can鈥檛 really lose weight with just diet or exercise; you need both. A three-mile run will only burn about 300 to 450 calories, Squires said, and a heavy snack will undo that right away. But if you eat about 250 calories less per day, and exercise about 250 calories more, that works out to 500 calories per day, which could add up to about a pound lost per week.
鈥淲hich may sound slow to a lot of people,鈥� Squires said, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 slow and steady and safe.鈥�
That said, a snack after a workout is 鈥渁 good idea,鈥� Squires said, especially after a weights-based workout.
A high-protein snack can help rebuild the muscles what you鈥檝e just worked. Squires suggested nuts, a glass of milk, a cheese stick, turkey jerky, some bean dip or peanut butter and a few crackers. 鈥淭he main thing is, you don鈥檛 want to overdo it.鈥�
Squires added that one team of researchers has suggested that there may be merit in exercising after eating a meal, to enhance the satiating effects of the food.
