The Holiday Calorie Catch-Up Game, by Ben Greenfield
Monday, December 21, 2009 at 3:07PM 
Question: Is it a bad idea during the holidays for me to eat as much as I want, then just train harder to burn the excess calories?
Answer: While it's true that you can often combat the caloric effects of indulging at a large meal with a good, long run or an extra 30 minutes at the gym, this may not be the healthiest lifestyle choice.
Think about the eating disorder bulimia. In this situation, individuals will binge on large portions of food, then simply "purge" the excess. Why have self control around food if you can just get rid of it before it gets converted into fat? Unfortunately, the side effects of bulimia are severe problems with absorption of vital nutrients, esophageal irritation and cancer, tooth decay, horrible breath, and a host of other negative consequences.
Simply eating as much as you want and then exercising to burn the excess calories can be thought of in a similar manner as bulimia. Rather than showing self control, why not just binge, then exercise later to burn it off? There are also negative side effects with this habit, including overtraining, joint wear-and-tear, time lost from social life and family and perhaps most importantly, never learning how to control the appetite.
Occasionally, such as during a major holiday, planning a long run or larger than normal amount of exercise the next day will be fine. Just don't make it a lifestyle habit. Instead, eat slowly, take small bites, engage in conversation, and try "a little bit of everything." This will significantly help you control calories during a large meal, especially compared to caloric gluttony and post-meal "exercise purging."
Ben Greenfield
MS, CPT, CSCS, CISSN
President, Pacific Elite Fitness
Director of Sports Performance, Champions Sports Medicine
http://www.pacificfit.net/bengreenfield.html
http://www.champsportsmed.com
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About the expert:
Ben Greenfield is recognized as one of the top fitness, triathlon, nutrition and metabolism experts in the nation. In 2008, he was voted as the Personal Trainer of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, an internationally recognized and respected certifying agency. Ben is Director of Sports Performance and oversees the physiology and biomechanics laboratory at Champions Sports Medicine in Spokane, WA, which offers metabolic-based weight loss, bicycle fitting, running gait analysis, swim stroke analysis, VO2 max testing, blood lactate testing, resting metabolic rate analysis, and other cutting-edge procedures for weight loss and performance.
Ben hosts the highly popular fitness, nutrition and wellness website at www.bengreenfieldfitness.com, which features blogs, podcasts, and product reviews from Ben. In addition to coaching and training for weight loss and sports performance at http://www.pacificfit.net, Ben serves as a business and marketing consultant to fitness professionals, and is the host of a weekly syndicated fitness business blog and podcast at http://www.trainfortopdollar.com. E-mail: ben@bengreenfieldfitness.com
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Reader Comments (1)
Hello Ben,
I m 42 years of age, resting pulse 38BPM and compete in motorcycle racing in Australia at the highest level in flat track racing. In 2010 we have an Australian Championship, February 6th and for the first time in many years because of my age I guess, I have watched what I have taken in during the christmas season. I will be defending two titles this championship and some of my strongest competitiors come in at 55kilos. I weigh 76 at the moment and need to get down to 70. Each morning I rise to either weights competed in 20 rep range as I have already completed a strength buiding phase. In the afternoons or by how I am feeling I will complete a cardio session, running at 70% of max or cycling with intervals at 85% lasting for 2 minutes over an hour long ride, obviously with a solid warm up and cool down, stretching also. The weight I need to lose is around my waist and it is pissing me off. I have cut full cream dairy, Breads, sweets went long ago, alcohol and other than that my diet is really good including many fruits and vegetables, plenty of water and quality foods for recovery, normally in liquid form. Your suggestions would be appreciated. Every 3 kilos is 1 horsepower. Regards PC.