Is it Better to Exercise After Dinner?

Exercising after work is a common practice among many Americans. Some people choose to do it immediately after work while others wait to get their energy from supper. Both times have their good and bad sides; is one better than the other?

PROS

1.) Caloric Knowledge - If you have already eaten dinner then you can guess about how many calories you have eaten. Knowing this, it becomes easier to estimate about how long you should exercise to burn enough calories for the day. After eating a big meal you then have the opportunity to exercise a wee bit more. Days when the meal was light you can skimp a little on the exercise if fatigue strikes. As the old saying goes, knowledge is power.

2.) Higher Metabolism - Exercise, without a doubt, increases your metabolism during the work out and for a few hours after. This extra boost will help to burn off those added calories from dinner exactly when you need them - before bed time. You have probably heard the saying not to eat right before bed time. It is because going to sleep on a full stomach makes all the food turn directly to fat; if your body does not have time to burn the calories from supper that is exactly what happens. Thus, exercising after the meal will help to stop the food-to-fat conversion from going to sleep.

3.) Relaxing - Some people find that exercising further into the night is more relaxing than during the day; there are less people around, not as much hustle and bustle, and the mood is a bit more somber. If you like the entire hubbub though... well, this might be a con for you.

4.) Temperature - As the sun sets it gets a bit cooler outside. The further south you live the better this is. No one enjoys running in sweltering heat. Take advantage of the cooler air as your lungs may have an easier time with it.

5.) Available Energy - Jogging or walking after eating , while giving time for digestion of course, also means you will have a bit of energy available to use for the work out. Exercising before dinner means the last meal your body had could have been six or seven hours prior! Try exercising with no fuel in your tank. It becomes quite a challenge.

CONS

1.) Too Full - Most people seem to use dinner as their largest meal of the day (why not breakfast?). In light of this, a few may be far too full for exercise after eating. After all, it becomes harder to jog with two pounds of food inside your digestive track!

2.) Family Time - For quite a few families the time after dinner is prime family time. There is a reason the cable networks call 8:00 to 9:00 P.M. "prime time." If this is your family, then exercising after supper probably will not please the wife (or children).

3.) Too Cold - As temperature is a pro it can also be a con. People who live more northern will find the temperature outside getting too cold for an outdoor walk. However, you should know that your body will burn extra calories to keep itself warm though!

Of course not everything can be covered in a single list. It will vary from person to person too. Use it only as a guide or starting point; only one person can find the right plan for you.