{"id":4260,"date":"2019-02-16T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T13:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=4260"},"modified":"2019-02-05T17:44:20","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T22:44:20","slug":"healthy-snacks-after-exercise-depends-on-the-timing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/healthy-snacks-after-exercise-depends-on-the-timing\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Snacks After Exercise? Depends on the Timing…"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you saw Roy Baumeister at the 2015 Learning and the Brain conference in Boston, you remember his presentation on self-control<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, teachers care A LOT about self-control.<\/p>\n

We need our students to control their behavior. (“Do not use the bunsen burner to light your backpack on fire,” my 6th grade science teacher said to me. Often.)<\/p>\n

And, we need them to control their cognitive processes. (“When balancing chemical equations, start<\/em> by identifying the elements.”)<\/p>\n

Baumeister found, among other fascinating things, that both kinds of self-control “drain the same reservoir.”<\/p>\n

That is: if I use up some self-control resisting the temptation to climb the jungle gym, I have less self-control left over to process the steps involved in subtracting two-digit numbers.\u00a0(Baumeister’s book\u00a0Willpower<\/em>, written with John Tierney, explains his research in helpful detail.)<\/p>\n

Replication Controversy<\/h2>\n

As the field of psychology wrestles with the “replication crisis<\/a>,” Baumeister’s conclusions have come under question.<\/p>\n

Some researchers haven’t gotten the same results when they run self-control experiments. Some question the research field in general<\/a>. (For instance: terms like “self-control” are notoriously hard to define.)<\/p>\n

This question matters to us. If Baumeister’s theories don’t hold water, then it’s unlikely the self-control solutions<\/em> he proposes will help very much.<\/p>\n

So, to take only the most recent example, John Medina’s\u00a0Attack of the Teenage Brain<\/em><\/a> devotes several chapters to helping adolescents develop executive functions —\u00a0such as self-control<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If the research that Medina cites can’t be trusted…we might be back to square one.<\/p>\n

Latest News<\/h2>\n

I’ve just found some pertinent research in an unlikely field: exercise and nutrition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Researcher Christopher Gustafson and Co. asked visitors at a local gym to wear an accelerometer, purportedly so they could “keep track of relevant exercise data.” As a reward for participating, they were given a free snack after their workout.<\/p>\n

In fact, the “accelerometer data” story masked the real interest of the study: participants’ snack choice.<\/p>\n

All participants chose between a brownie and an apple. Some got the choice\u00a0before<\/em> they exercised; some\u00a0after<\/em>. Did the timing of the choice matter?<\/p>\n

If Baumeister’s theory holds up, we would expect a difference between these two groups. Here’s why…<\/p>\n

Self-Control, Snacks, and Exercise<\/h2>\n

Because apples are a healthier snack than brownies, we know we ought to choose them. But, for most of us, brownies taste a lot better. And so, we must use self-control to make that choice.<\/p>\n

Likewise, we know that exercise is good for us. But, we rarely want to do it — and so\u00a0that<\/em> choice also takes self-control.<\/p>\n

If I make the snack choice\u00a0before\u00a0<\/em>exercise, my self-control reservoir remains relatively full. As a result, I’m likelier to make the “right” choice.<\/p>\n

But, if I select my snack as I towel off\u00a0after<\/em> exercise, I’ve probably drained that reservoir considerably. So, I’ve got less willpower left. And I’m likelier to give into chocolatey temptation.<\/p>\n

Is that what Gustafson found? Indeed he did.<\/p>\n

In fact, 17% fewer people chose the apple, and 6% more chose the brownie. (The rest turned down a snack altogether.)<\/p>\n

In other words: this study supports Baumeister, and gives us increased confidence in the research suggestions that flow from it.<\/p>\n

What are some of those suggestions? You can start with an intriguing one here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re likelier to make good snack choices before we exercise than after. This research finding gives us practical advice, and supports a well-known (but recently controversial) theory of self-control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[33,14],"class_list":["post-4260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog","tag-exercise","tag-self-control"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4260"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4266,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4260\/revisions\/4266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}