Consider a woman training for a 10-K race. She runs from half an hour to an hour every day. With all of that exercise, she figures she should be losing weight and should be able to treat herself every so often. However, she’s plagued by some remaining pounds that she just can’t shake.

What’s happening? Let’s take a look at the math. As a 140-pound woman, she burns about 300 calories in a 30-minute run. And that’s fantastic! In addition to the calorie loss, she experiences cardio health, mood elevation, and countless other benefits (including a sense of accomplishment!) from her runs.

However, those 300 calories are a lot easier to consume than they are to burn. Simply put, she can consume 300 calories by eating a small bagel or sipping on a sweet coffee drink.

In fact, studies have shown that exercising often leads to an increase in food consumption. Some of this effect may be due to our hormones’ impacts on appetite, and some of it simply might be because we tend to tell ourselves (often subconsciously) that we deserve more food after a workout.