How Exercise Can Influence What We Eat — and How Much

• Exercise affects our relationship with food in both physical and psychological ways.
• When starting a new exercise routine, you might believe you can eat more calories than you need, making it difficult to achieve weight loss (if that’s your goal).
• Health experts say planning meals and being aware of how exercise impacts our appetite and perception of food can make lifestyle changes easier.

Restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made it more challenging to exercise as often (or as intensely) as some people did before.

In fact, many of us have found ourselves practicing a more sedentary lifestyle, gaining unwanted weight over the past year.

But as restrictions ease, a number of us have started thinking how to approach losing weight and embracing exercise in a healthy, measured way.

New research published in the journal Nutrients may make that task easier.

The study examined the connection between physical activity and its effects on both how and what we eat.

The findings offer some interesting insight into our relationship with fitness and food, and may help provide a clearer road map for people looking to make lifestyle changes.