We already know that one of exercise’s unintended consequences can be extra calories: “Exercise can increase the body’s production of appetite hormones, making some people feel ravenous after even a light workout and prone to consume more calories than they expended,”explainsThe New York Times。换句话说：有什么比用蛋糕更好的庆祝五英里跑的方法？
A new study may provide some insight into why it’s so difficult to achieve weight loss through exercise. Part of it may be related to the halo effect of working out—creating a situation in which virtue (exercise) can be followed by vice (cake). Take the virtue out of it, though, and you might have a different story.
For example: What if we consider exercise not “exercise,” but a form of play instead?The study, published inMarketing Letters, suggests that simply changing our perspective might be enough to short-circuit the connection between exercise and the dietary overindulgences that sometimes follow it.
Fifty-six women participated in the first study. All were given a map of a one-mile outdoor course and told to expect 30 minutes of walking there, with lunch afterward. Half the women were told they were exercising. The other half were told they were walking “purely for pleasure.” The differences were notable both in terms of mood and raw calories: The “exercisers” reported feeling more “fatigued and grumpy.” They also paid themselves a reward at the lunch buffet, choosing soda and pudding over water and applesauce—consuming more calories than their pleasure-walk counterparts, though, of course, their energy expenditures were similar.
A follow-up study repeated those findings even more starkly. Once they were finished walking, both “exercisers” and the “purely for pleasure” crew were invited to fill a plastic bag with M&M’s: “The volunteers from the exercise group poured in twice as much candy as the other walkers.” A third iteration of the study had researchers quizzing runners on whether they’d had a fun race or a difficult one. Those who described their run as “difficult” or “unsatisfying” were more likely to choose a chocolate bar as their post-run snack than a cereal bar.
这对我们意味着什么？我们如何看待锻炼可能比锻炼本身重要（如果不是更多）。如果我们觉得这很痛苦，我们将为我们的辛勤工作带来奖励，而这种奖励很可能以甜点的形式出现。另一方面，如果我们将同样的锻炼视为大量的乐趣，那么锻炼本身将是我们的回报，让我们以其他方式证明我们的美德，包括我们的餐食选择。
Walking, running, hitting a Zumba class—what are you doing for “fun” today? Tell us in the comments!
