“I swim/exercise a lot so I can eat what I want!” Many of us have heard this statement, perhaps we’ve even made it ourselves. Dr. Gabe Mirkin recently posted an interesting summary of an article about the effect of diet and exercise on weight gain. The study pointed out the foods and lifestyle factors to be avoided if we don’t want to gain weight.

A significant finding of the study contradicts the “I can eat what I want” sentiment of avid exercisers: in the words of the authors, “specific dietary and lifestyle factors are independently associated with long-term weight gain.” In other words, bad foods (potato chips, french fries, sodas) will promote weight gain, period. So eat your vegetables!