Exercising and Eating...there may be synergy but one is not an excuse to do the other poorly

I have through the years had friends, family and nutrition clients hint or outright say the reason they exercise is that it allows them to eat more unhealthy "junk" foods. I remember a friend who runs the marathon slowly saying, albeit jokingly, "I do this so I can eat." I understand the sentiment. But, here is the thing.

Healthy people eat healthy foods. Exercise is just one part of that healthy lifestyle. I find with myself, no matter how much I exercise (which is often a considerable amount) the foods I eat make or break my figure. If I want to feel, strong, healthy, awake in the morning, happy, optimistic, relaxed and energetic and I want to fit into my clothes comfortably, I need to eat properly. I do fall back on the gym and my very long bike rides when I have gone astray and the exercise makes me feel good, works as an appetite suppressant, and can be incentive because my bike sure goes faster with less weight on it and so do my legs when I run.

I did have a winter weight gain this year and it is more than gone. Just being back to better weather allows me to be outside away from snacks and to surround myself with people who eat like I do. In the fall and winter, we had endless family obligations and the spring did not feel much freer. While I do my very best to avoid "holiday eating", I would say a freezing January to February lapse sometimes happens and then next thing you know spring is birthday season in our family. While I am pretty free of sugar and flour, my two worst figure destroyers, I had a peanut butter addiction that saw me through the long cold winter. But, guess what? I am over it.

I decided to cook big hot vegetables at lunch and to drink hot vegetable broth in April and May which were basically cold and rainy. And, I changed my ratio of nuts and seeds. I had slipped into maybe 80 per cent peanuts and peanut butter and 20 per cent other nuts and seeds. Flipping that ratio on its head worked completely. Having raw sprouted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, Brad's Nasty Hot or Alive and Radiant Quite Cheezy kale chips, raw walnuts, almonds, and cashews as well as roasted pistachios, and sometimes roasted mixed nuts, my winter weight lifted. I am not sure I had any days of fewer calories. And, I felt much more satisfied than on days where I had been overeating snack foods like peanut butter, or my beloved sesame rice cracker coated peanuts or my ridiculous Bhuja or Hadiram's spicy peanuts. Learning to moderate those and enjoying bigger, more exciting meals helped me out of my winter slump.

I am sure riding 60 miles today helped but food is the key to good health. Even studies of those who can not exercise, are chair-bound or otherwise impaired, blood sugar and ratios of good fats are achieved through diet without exercise. I always go with the 80 / 20  rule that says health is dictated 80 percent by food and 20 percent by exercise. You simply can not overeat or eat poor food choices and expect stellar health, good blood fats and blood sugar levels merely because you are an avid work-out-aholic. An American diet will wreak havoc even in strong fit people.

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