The Faulty Holiday Exercise Myth
At a holiday party, I discovered a giant platter of exceptionally delicious cake balls. I had two…then three. My stomach was full and I’d had my share, but drizzled in white chocolate and topped with sprinkles, they appeared to sparkle from across the room. I soon heard the voice of negotiation whisper … “you can eat more cake balls, just do a few more jumping jacks at the gym tomorrow!” How do we respond to this all-to-familiar voice of persuasion that speaks especially loud during the holidays?
The rationalization that doing a few more jumping jacks can erase a plateful of cake balls or excessive consumption of any food is wrong on multiple levels. People who allow themselves to accept this false reasoning fool themselves and typically take steps toward frustration and later exercise drop out.
How to Respond to this False Rationalization: Recognize, Recalibrate, Rebrand
1. Recognize
When you hear the voice of false rationalization, acknowledge it as such. The voice may use a range of different approaches (e.g. “you worked out this morning, eat another cake ball!”), but the overarching fallacy is the same, which is that exercise equals eating more. When you hear it, call it out, “there’s the voice of false rationalization again!”
2. Re-calibrate
Next, recognize the math that underlies weight gain, loss, and maintenance. The relationship between food consumption and energy expenditure is not directly proportional by way of time and effort.
For example, a few jumping jacks doesn’t come anywhere close to offsetting the calories consumed in a single cake ball. The average [150 pound] person expends [burns] about 100 calories running one mile, 5.1 calories/minute doing jumping jacks, and 48 calories per mile riding a bike.
Since there are about 170 calories in a cake ball, one more ball would take about 33 minutes of jumping jacks to offset. “A few extra jumping jacks” would realistically equate to more like three sprinkles.
In fact, since there are 3,500 calories in one pound, you could run an entire marathon– 26.2 mi and expend less than a pound of calories (only 3/4 of a pound)!
It can sound discouraging to hear that so much physical activity is necessary in order to expend very few calories. My goal is certainly not to discourage exercise, but instead to re-calibrate our thinking to a more accurate understanding– that adding a couple more minutes of exercise does not offset the number of calories that we consume with a plate full of holiday treats.
Does this mean exercise is not as effective as we once thought? No way!! Here’s why …
3. Rebrand
The benefits of exercise extend well beyond body weight regulation. It is critical that our culture re-brands exercise as a method for enhancing health, well-being, and vitality and moves away from the mentality that exercise is a tool primarily for body weight regulation. Even if you don’t lose a single pound (or cake ball), exercise still has profound benefits for health and well-being. Research shows that exercise decreases risk for:
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• High blood pressure
• Type II diabetes
• Back pain
• Osteoporosis
• Cancer (colon, breast, endometrial)
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress
Exercise also provides positive health benefits such as improved:
• Aerobic and muscular fitness
• Emotional well-being
• Feelings of vitality/energy
• Sleep patterns
• Immune function
• Quality of life
• Social relationships
• Productivity
• Financial well-being
In sum, we can have our cake balls and exercise too. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Thanks for reading! 🙂
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References:
Ekkekakis, P., Zenko, Z., & Werstein, K. (2018). Exercise in Obesity From the Perspective of Hedonic Theory: A Call for Sweeping Change in Professional Practice Norms. In S. Razon & M. L. (5-14). New York: Routledge.
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