![\"Experts](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/619d27bb260000dd3b3ceeac.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nJust 12 hours after the last Halloween trick-or-treater left and my sugared-up kids were tucked into bed, I started my typical Monday morning fitness class. But mid-plank, the instructor\u2019s comment caught me off guard, and didn\u2019t sit well with me the rest of the day. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s work off all that Halloween candy!\u201d she shouted into her mic. <\/p>\n
The nonchalant phrase of \u201clet\u2019s work off ___,\u201d while surely intended as a lighthearted joke, is seriously problematic, according to experts. The idea that you need to out-exercise food or earn any treats isn\u2019t just prevalent during Halloween \u2015 it\u2019s also extremely common to hear during the holiday season. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s why this mentality needs to stop, and how you can feel good in your body instead.<\/p>\n
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SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Experts explain why it’s important to overcome the damaging notion that you have to work out in order to eat holiday meals or treats.<\/p>\n
It discredits the more important benefits of exercise<\/strong><\/p>\n I definitely wasn\u2019t at the gym that morning to burn off Sugar Daddys and Dots. I was there to strengthen my postpartum abs, to visit my friends and to move my body so it felt limber and strong.<\/p>\n Emmie Keefe<\/a>, a Boston-based nutritionist, said whenever instructors focus on this calorie-based \u201cmotivation,\u201d it backfires. <\/p>\n \u201cWe should never exercise for the sake of burning calories. … We should exercise for cardiovascular health, for mental health, for emotional health. It gives structure to your day. You can create social relationships through classes together,\u201d she explained. \u201cThere are so many reasons to exercise. Burning calories shouldn\u2019t be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Recent research shows that focusing on regular exercise improves your longevity<\/a> \u2015 even more than focusing on weight loss. Exercise also<\/a> alleviates symptoms of anxiety and depression, enhances creativity, and helps you sleep better. Meanwhile, looking at exercise as punishment rather than a beneficial activity<\/a> makes you less likely to engage in the healthy behavior.<\/p>\n Keefe added that the \u201cmental gymnastics\u201d of trying to count calories in and out with food and exercise isn\u2019t always realistic or helpful. Instead, regular exercise can help you feel more motivated in other areas of your life and that you\u2019ve started the day off in a productive way. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat that walk and that workout class is not going to do is burn off what you ate right before,\u201d she said. \u201cThat way of thinking is big, big trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many reasons to exercise. Burning calories shouldn\u2019t be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n – Emmie Keefe<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It promotes harmful eating mindsets<\/strong><\/p>\n How do you feel when you are about to dig into a pumpkin pie you only encounter once or twice per year? Hopefully simply excited, and not anything else. According to Alyssa Royse, owner of Rocket Community Fitness<\/a> in Seattle, the mindset that you have to deserve that pie or undo the damage is \u201creally dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt links us to this idea that we have to earn the right to eat and have to earn the right to have pleasure. Both of those things are innate in simply having a body … by virtue of being alive, you are allowed [both],\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen we moralize food, we trigger all sorts of dangerous thoughts and behavior patterns in people,\u201d she continued. This includes eating disorders, which can lead to major long-term health complications<\/a> like heart damage, hair growth issues, brain damage, lethargy and more.<\/p>\n Instead of creating these negative connections, trainers in her gym don\u2019t mention food. If the holidays do come up, they try to focus on positive aspects like, \u201cgo have fun and enjoy the bounty, go feel the joy … that\u2019s the primary purpose of your body \u2015 to experience joy,\u201d Royse said.<\/p>\n Royse added that people already have these damaging thoughts on their own around the holidays, as a result of years of toxic messaging in media where people are pushed to be thinner. She encourages her clients to challenge these connections they and others have made, and move instead toward body and food neutrality. <\/p>\n \u201cFood doesn\u2019t need to be an emotional or moral experience. You are allowed to just have it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Keefe also noted that shaming yourself for what you ate can have an additional physical consequences. As a result of the stress hormones you release through that thought pattern, you can experience stomach pains and digestive problems<\/a> (along with so many other issues like headaches, heart palpitations and more).<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re really making yourself suffer twice,\u201d she said. Instead, she emphasizes enjoying it and moving on.<\/p>\n \u201cFood doesn\u2019t need to be an emotional or moral experience. You are allowed to just have it.\u201d<\/p>\n – Alyssa Royse<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Listen to your body instead<\/strong><\/p>\n Both experts believe it\u2019s necessary to tune in to your body instead of letting outside forces influence how you feel, especially when it comes to the holidays. This process, also known as mindful eating, is where you pay close attention to your food \u2015 mentally noticing how it tastes and how enjoyable it feels to eat it. It also has you listen to your natural hunger and fullness cues. Food is not something you\u2019ve \u201cearned\u201d and there is absolutely no expectation that you need to \u201cwork it off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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