Overeating nixes benefits of exercise

Q: I have started exercising five days a week for an hour, and I am gaining weight! How can that be? What can I do to prevent that?

Janine R., Rockford, Ill.

A: It is possible that you’re adding muscle mass.

Since muscle weighs more than fat, as you shed fat and gain lean tissue, you can put on a couple of pounds.

A quick check: Is your waist circumference smaller than it was? Are you seeing better muscle tone already? If your answer to both is yes, that might indicate you’re “beefing up.”

But we hate to pop your bubble — it’s far more likely that you are simply outeating your exercise benefits.

Increased muscle mass should provide more calorie burn for you and shedding fat does reduce weight, too. So if you’re like lots of folks, we bet you overestimate what you can eat post-workout without gaining weight.

Exercising regularly doesn’t mean you don’t have to think about what — and how — you eat. You still need to take in fewer calories than you burn off, avoid unhealthy fats and refined carbs, and eat only while the sun is up.

If you weigh 155 pounds, an hour of moderate intensity walking on a flat surface burns around 232 calories.

That quarter pounder you think you’ve earned by doing that? 520 calories! Heck, a healthier-sounding chicken Caesar salad at Applebee’s delivers 800 calories.

Also important: It’s smart to think about the kind of exercise you do — especially if you are out of shape or getting older.

While aerobics is hearthealthy, it is weight training, even with your own body weight, that improves postexercise calorie burn as well as muscle tone, balance and strength.

Gradually increasing the number of reps you do will help you burn fat while building muscle. Dr. Mike’s favorite strength-training routine, available for free at Google Play and the Apple App Store, is the J&J Official 7 Minute Workout. Do it once a day.

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. Submit your health questions at www.doctoroz.com.