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Although exercise modulates appetite regulation and food intake, it remains poorly understood how exercise impacts decision-making about food. The purpose of the present study was to assess the impact of an acute exercise bout on hypothetical choices related to the amount and timing of food intake. Forty-one healthy participants (22.0 &plusmn, 2.6 years, 23.7 &plusmn, 2.5 kg/m2, 56% female) completed 45 min of aerobic exercise and a resting control condition in randomized order. Food amount preferences and intertemporal food preferences (preference for immediate vs. delayed consumption) were assessed using electronic questionnaires with visual food cues. Compared to rest, exercise resulted in a greater increase in the food amount selected, both immediately post-exercise (+25.8 &plusmn, 11.0 vs. +7.8 &plusmn, 11.0 kcal/item, p = 0.02) and 30 min post-exercise (+47.3 &plusmn, 12.4 vs. +21.3 &plusmn, 12.4 kcal/item, p = 0.005). Exercise further resulted in a greater increase in the preference for immediate consumption immediately post-exercise (+0.23 &plusmn, 0.10 vs. +0.06 &plusmn, 0.10, p = 0.03) and 30 min post-exercise (+0.30 &plusmn, 0.12 vs. +0.08 &plusmn, 0.12, p = 0.01). Our findings demonstrate that a single bout of aerobic exercise shifts hypothetical food choices toward greater amounts and more immediate consumption, highlighting the importance of the timing of food choices made in the exercise context.

Acute exercise can induce either a compensatory increase in food intake or a reduction in food intake, which results from appetite suppression in the post-exercise state. The timing of food choice&mdash, choosing for immediate or later consumption&mdash, has been found to influence the healthfulness of foods consumed. To examine both of these effects, we tested in our study whether the timing of food choice interacts with exposure to exercise to impact food choices such that choices would differ when made prior to or following an exercise bout. Visitors to a university recreational center were equipped with an accelerometer prior to their habitual workout regime, masking the true study purpose. As a reward, participants were presented with a snack for consumption after workout completion. Participants made their snack choice from either an apple or chocolate brownie after being pseudo-randomly assigned to choose prior to (&ldquo, before&rdquo, ) or following workout completion (&ldquo, after&rdquo, ). Complete data were available for 256 participants (54.7% male, 22.1 &plusmn, 3.1 years, 24.7 &plusmn, 3.7 kg/m2) who exercised 65.3 &plusmn, 22.5 min/session. When compared with &ldquo, before,&rdquo, the choice of an apple decreased (73.7% vs. 54.6%) and the choices of brownie (13.9% vs. 20.2%) or no snack (12.4% vs. 25.2%) increased in the &ldquo, condition (&chi, 2 = 26.578, p &lt, 0.001). Our results provide support for both compensatory eating and exercise-induced anorexia. More importantly, our findings suggest that the choice of food for post-exercise consumption can be altered through a simple behavioral intervention.