Think fun when exercising and you’ll eat less later

For me, Saturdays are my “fun” work out day, where I go to the gym and just do different exercises that I might not do during the week.  Usually it is something that involves plyometrics, body weight, or functional movement – things like Box Jumps, Kettle Bell Swings, Jacob’s Ladder, and TRX.  Now this might not sound like fun to most people, but I look at as a way to try different moves and challenge myself.  Usually, I end up doing stuff like this:

I thought about this because of this study that shows by thinking of exercise as fun, you will end up eating less. It seems that if we think of it as a “workout” we feel like we can get away with rewarding ourselves by over eating or eating junk. If you think of it as a fun activity, you’ll be less inclined to over eat.

This weekend, try to do something you consider fun for your exercise. Shoot hoops, talk a scenic walk, go for a hike – just do something that gets you moving for 30 minutes. You’ll enjoy yourself, get in a sneaky workout, and be less inclined to overeat all at once.