Are you consuming more calories after your workout than you think?
Jodi Davis
| 3 min read
The more I work out at the gym, the more I want to go. A brisk daily walk is just as rewarding; after all, it has been part of my routine since January 2001. But not that long ago, decided that I wanted to try something more and I found that going to the gym was exactly what I needed.
I found something else out as well, working out at the gym makes me hungry.
Walking doesn’t have a tendency to make me hungry. But when I’m finished working out at the gym, I’m pretty sure that fellow gym members can hear my stomach’s symphony of growls from the other side of the floor. From what I’ve read the past few weeks, I know I’m not alone.
My solution for my little hunger issue is pretty simple. I enjoy a 6 oz. container of my favorite flavor Greek yogurt and a 12 oz. bottle of water. This solution works great for me. The remainder of my day is pretty routine after that; I don’t make any drastic changes to my normal eating habits. Of course, most individuals don’t use the same solution as I do because our eating habits are as unique as we are.
Some folks have found their new workout routines have created some major changes in their daily eating habits. Exercising at the gym allows them to feel as though they’ve earned the right to eat more, and in some ways they have. But unfortunately they are consuming more calories than they burned during their workout; often a substantial amount more.
One complaint I’ve been hearing is from people are gaining weight instead of losing it, sometimes up to 7 lbs per week! It’s confusing and makes a person wonder why it’s happening?
One thing to remember that each pound equals 3,500 calories.
If you work out for 30 minutes at the gym, you are probably burning a few hundred calories, not the thousands some think they are burning.
The Harvard Medical School gives some ideas of estimated calories burned by performing popular workouts at the gym:
“Vigorous biking is the best calorie-burning exercise, with 391 calories expended by a 155-lb. person. The same person jogging on an elliptical trainer burns 335 calories, while rowing at a moderate pace burns 260. Vigorous weightlifting causes you to use 223 calories, but increasing your pace during a circuit training lifting session leads to a loss of 298 calories.”
Remember, if you are focusing on losing weight, you need to know how many calories you should be consuming.
Working out at the gym may cause a little hunger, but please snack on healthy items to curb your increasing appetite. Before you know it you’ll be noticing some amazing rewards, like a smaller jean size!
Photo credit: Premshree Pillai
