Read beyond the headlines and exercise every day

A headline in the news today is sure to get alot of attention.

why women gain weight after exercise


Any normal person, especially any woman who is trying to lose some baby fat, is going to say "Oh my goodness! See! I just shouldn't exercise. I don't want to GAIN weight!".  


When you see a headline like this it is important to read that article. Full disclosure: I am a social exerciser and could not be put in the category of exercise fanatic. So there was an appeal to this headline. I could take this research and show my husband and my mother and tell them that I would love to exercise more but I don't want to gain weight.  But the article is more of a sensational headline than anything else (as most of these kind of articles are). It doesn't answer the question of why women gain weight after exercise. In fact, it does say that only some of the women in a study group (not sure how many women) seemed to gain weight after 30 days of exercise. It goes on to say that their diets didn't really seem to change but it doesn't say if they kept a diet record during this study. Be honest - our day to day eating habits fluctuate depending on various factors like how much of the kids happy meal is left after they are done etc. And the fact that we finished up the kids fries don't really count toward "our" meal...

The bottom line is that there is more research needed because some women who were participating in this study did gain weight after 30 days of regular exercise. 

But the most important information came at the end of this article in almost an afterthought. It said that all of the women who participated (whether they gained weight or lost weight) became more fit. This is hugely important because it is what will make it possible for us to keep up with our kids when they get a little older and will give us the best possibility of keeping up with our grandkids. 

Having small kids in the house does mean that sometimes scheduling in time for regular exercise can be a challenge. But don't put it off because of a fear of gaining weight. Remember you will gain fitness and that is the most important thing here.

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