Behavioral Mechanism of Energy Compensation With Exercise

Plain-language summary

Over 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese, putting them at risk for many chronic diseases including diabetes. Exercise is commonly used as a weight loss and weight loss maintenance strategy. However, exercise-induced weight loss is often much less than expected as individuals compensate for a large portion of the energy expended through exercise, resisting maintenance of the negative energy balance needed for weight loss. Our prior research, in agreement with others, point to increases in energy intake as the primary compensatory response when exercising for weight loss; however, mechanisms promoting this behavior have yet to be fully elucidated. With obesity and diabetes prevalence continually rising, innovative research is needed to identify novel mechanisms promoting energy compensation with exercise. The long-term goal of this proposal is to reduce the incidence and improve the outcomes of obesity-related diseases by developing interventions that will attenuate compensation for the energy expended through exercise and thus improve initial weight loss and weight loss maintenance. The present proposal will take the necessary first steps towards our long-term goal by identifying novel mechanisms promoting energy intake when exercising for weight loss. One's reinforcing value of food, attentional bias and inhibitory control for food cues play an important role in feeding behaviors, independent of hunger. These behaviors are largely a product of the central dopamine reward system, which is also in play with exercise behavior. This provides mechanistic support for our central hypothesis, that exercise evokes increases in food reinforcement, attentional bias, and lowers inhibitory control for food cues to promote greater energy intake in effort to maintain energy homeostasis. The rationale for this project is by elucidating the mechanisms mediating energy compensation, future interventions can be designed that attenuate this response to improve the utility of exercise as a weight loss intervention to prevent and manage T2DM. The overall objective of the current proposal is to demonstrate an acute bout of exercise alters food reinforcement, attentional bias and inhibitory control for food cues. Upon completion, we will have a greater understanding of the mechanisms underpinning compensatory increases in energy intake when exercising. These findings will pave the way for future clinical trials testing this hypothesis in the context of a long-term exercise intervention. This contribution is significant, as the identification of novel mechanisms influencing energy compensation with exercise is needed to provide strong support for the development of novel, evidence-based interventions to attenuate this compensatory response to exercise, improving its efficacy for weight control and chronic disease management.

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