Stop working out as a punishment for how you eat. It won’t work.

A recent study notes that you can’t work off a poor diet. So why do we keep forcing ourselves to exercise to “fix our sins?”

“Ugh, I need to start running.”

It was the summer of 2014. I had just spent my first full summer in Chicago working at a digital publication, then spent two weeks in southern Germany celebrating my parent's 30th wedding anniversary. I spent the majority of my time at a desk, then sitting eating deliciously fried schnitzel and pretzels bigger than my face, with frothy German beers in steins that required two hands. By the end of the summer, I felt disgusting. I woke up one morning and decided that’s it. I’m going to be a runner.

Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash

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I hate running so much that it makes me want to vomit right now thinking about it. I never liked it. I ran cross country in middle school hoping that I would somehow convert into a long-distance runner who just loved to slap her sneakers on the pavement for a god-awful amount of time. But it just never came to me. And quite frankly, my asthma was not having it.

I opened up my laptop and started googling “easy races in Chicago.” I felt like everyone I knew at the time was training for the Chicago Marathon, which was pretty much the last thing I was up for doing. I would start at the bottom, the absolute bare minimum. So when the Hot Chocolate Run showed up, I signed up immediately. Just a 5K, and then a mountain of chocolate fondue at the end. Clearly my kind of race.

I downloaded the Couch to 5K app, then got my ass out of bed. And I started running. I was terrible, but I did it. I needed to burn off all those excess calories. I needed to work off my sins.

Funny, when I think back to that season. I did lose some weight, and my roommate at the time told me she was happy I was running. “You look the best you ever have,” she told me. I loved the attention from her back then (she was stupid pretty), but as the years go on, I think back to how that little moment had such a hold on my life. That if I run, I’ll look good. If I don’t, I won’t.

I know I’m not the only one here. How often have you been acknowledged by someone in your life for how good you look after slaving your body into some kind of workout or dieting routine?

Exercise, longevity, and our lack of care

News of a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine had me thinking back to that fall. The study concluded that you can’t exercise away a poor diet. The idea that you need to work out after a poor day of eating is a complete myth, and unsurprisingly one that comes from diet culture. Eat a brownie? Run a mile. Indulge in an ice cream cone? Do a HIIT workout. Slam a cheeseburger? Sweat it out in hot yoga. You get the drill.

The study specifically looked at the longevity perspective of working out. Researchers found that participants who had a combination of regular exercise and a high-quality diet resulted in a 17% reduced risk of mortality from all-cause diseases. This includes cardiovascular, cancer, and more.

But here’s the problem—no one seems to really care about longevity. Sure, maybe a bit later in life. But when you’re 21 and just had your full first summer of drinking with office buddies and bouncing around Europe, you care more about exercising to look good. Because it’s what we’ve always been told. Even the CDC’s website states that in order to lose weight, you need to exercise and be in a calorie deficit. But it doesn’t specify the type of food. So a calorie deficit means a box of mac and cheese and a beer and that’s it for the day…right?

Which I find somewhat hilarious when you look at the science. A review from the American Diabetes Association in 2017 evaluated the impact of exercise on weight loss and weight maintenance and found the data to be inconclusive. Sure, they did note that following the basic health standards of 150 minutes of moderately intense exercise a week can help with long-term weight management, but it doesn’t say that a workout can’t reverse a vacation of beer, brats, and Bavarian pretzels.

I do think there’s a shift happening around how we view exercise these days. More people are caring about movement and diet as an act of taking care of their long-term health versus trying to look good, and I think the body positivity movement is a big motivator for that change of thinking.

But I do still think there’s a long way to go when it comes to our need to exercise when we’re guilty over our behaviors around food. The shame is stifling, and it creates such hostility around exercising our bodies and how we view them.

Exercise as a positive protest

In 2016 when I decided I needed to start “sweating for the wedding” (I know, still about my looks and my body here, but we all have to grow from somewhere), I decided to approach fitness differently and I tried doing HIIT and weight-lifting workouts online.

As I went through different programs, I was surprised to find that I absolutely loved it. I liked that I could easily work out in the convenience of my home—it felt as simple as going for a run—and I really wasn’t in the mood to be surrounded by pompous buff college guys at the gym. I liked the tired way my muscles felt after a workout, or how sore I felt when I needed to sit down on the toilet (I know, I’m weird, you can tell me). I liked that I wasn’t getting skinny but trim—my arm muscles in my wedding photos still make me so proud today.

And yet, I always felt like I wasn’t “truly” working out because I wasn’t running. I’m not sure why this type of exercise had such a hold on me. Maybe because it’s the type of workout my father enjoys, or most of my friends enjoy. Maybe because it’s the type of workout that did make me slim down fast and any other type of exercise really didn’t do the same. I’m still working through the psychological baggage I have around running, but at least I know now that I don’t have to do it.

But now, in 2022, I’m a woman who loves to move her body simply for how calm it makes me feel the rest of the day. I love how it gives me stamina and energy. I love knowing how it contributes to my long-term health and well-being.

So I work out—like, every day. Sometimes it's 10 minutes. Sometimes it’s 40. Yesterday it was an 18-minute booty band workout that required jump squats and lunges and I hated it and loved it at the same time. I exercised on the porch, then sat on a chair and finished up my water, read the morning news, and relished in how good I felt.

I don’t run as a protest. I’m protesting the f**ked up diet culture system, and instead, working out on my terms. I call it a positive protest because exercise is good! It’s a positive thing! And I don’t have to work out to anyone else’s standards. And neither do you.

Do you ever have meals you make over and over and over again until you get so sick of them that the thought of eating it one more time makes you want to gag? Elyse Myers gets it.

This toast, right now, does not make me gag. At least not yet.

After figuring out I’m lactose intolerant (sad, I know, read about it here), I’ve been trying to find some dairy alternatives that don’t completely suck, and came across Kite Hill. They make products out of almonds rather than cashews or coconut (typically the more popular choices), and honestly, sometimes I can’t even tell it’s dairy-free. Their sour cream, their Greek yogurt, the ricotta cheese? Chefs kiss. All of it.

Their cream cheese, in particular, is out of this world. I’ve been spreading the Kite Hill Chive Cream Cheese on a slice of sourdough bread each morning, then slicing up a hard-boiled egg on top. It’s…amazing. And simple. And the perfect breakfast I’m looking for after jump squats.

So, naturally, I’m gonna force you to get addicted to this toast, too:

• 1 slice of toasted sourdough bread

• 1-2 Tbsp chive cream cheese (depending on how big the slice is!)

• 1-2 sliced hard-boiled eggs

• Salt & pepper

A little hot sauce wouldn’t hurt here either, but honestly, the chive cream cheese brings enough flavor itself. You’ll love it. And then you’ll hate it after a long time. But then next summer you’ll discover it all over again and then you’ll be back to loving me.

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I’ve been ramping up my freelance work (yay!) and figured I would share some of my latest published work. If you’re in a reading mood still, here.

• 9 Limited-Time Summer Beers You Can Only Buy Right Now. Seems like everyone is into watermelon beer these days…

• We Tasted 7 Fast-Food Black Iced Coffees—And This Is The Best! All I have to say is…Taco Bell. Wow.

• Taking These 3 Supplements Has No Effect on Preventing Disease, Says New Study. Pop a pill and it will solve all of our health problems, right? Lol.

• Weekend-Only Workouts Are Just as Effective as Daily Exercise, Says New Study. Would you look at that! You don’t have to stay beholden to the relentless grind after all.

• Eating This Fruit Once a Day Can Decrease Bad Cholesterol, Says New Study. Stop worrying about your serving of avocado, people. You’re fine.

• The #1 Eating Habit for a Lean Body, Says New Study. Are we even surprised that restrictive diets are running our muscle mass? Ha. Eat real food and protein, people!

• Here’s Why Too Much Vitamin D Can Cause Major Health Problems. Not much else to say here.

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