Eating in response to exercise cues: Role of self-control fatigue, exercise habits, and eating restraint

Identifying moderators of compensatory eating is important for understanding the failure of many people to lose weight in response to increased exercise levels. A previous study demonstrated that individuals shown action words (e.g., “active” or “go”) were primed by these words to increase energy intake. Further studies have demonstrated that individual differences (e.g. differences in body mass) affect susceptibility to relevant priming cues. Based on these findings, this study examined individual differences, including exercise habits, tendencies toward compensatory eating, dietary restraint, and body mass that may serve as moderators of compensatory eating in the context of conceptual priming. A 2 × 2 design was utilized to analyze the effects of both priming and a self-control task on energy intake. Participants were presented with several snack foods under the guise of a taste test, with energy intake (kcal) during this taste test as the primary outcome variable. Results of this study indicate that, among those with higher baseline levels of exercise, lower energy intake was found for those exposed to exercise cues relative to those who did not receive these cues. In addition, the influence of the self-control fatigue condition was dependent on body mass index.