Eating unhealthy foods (or larger amounts of food) after exercise may be one factor contributing to unsuccessful weight loss. Further, this pattern of "compensatory" eating is likely to be associated with adverse health effects. Psychological factors are implicated in compensatory eating beyond physiological factors alone, but the existing research has been dominated by short-term studies lacking in ecological validity. As a result, relatively little is known about how frequently people engage

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... n compensatory eating or why it occurs. The program of research described in this thesis used a variety of methods to broaden current understanding of post-exercise eating behaviour. An experimental study that improved upon methodological limitations of previous work found limited evidence of post-exercise compensatory eating in the laboratory (Chapter II). The next phase involved a novel approach to understanding reasons for compensatory intake with the development of a scale to measure reasons for compensatory unhealthy eating (Chapter III). Four distinct reasons were identified that were validated across three samples and had good scale properties. The final component of the research program used daily diary methods to investigate the frequency of compensatory eating in everyday life over an extended period of time (Chapters IV and V). These studies found that participants consumed relatively larger portions of relatively healthier foods after exercising (compared to meals eaten on non-exercise days). Although most people did not show compensatory eating, there was evidence of considerable individual variability in patterns of post-exercise eating such that some people did tend to eat unhealthily after exercise. Together, the current studies make a significant contribution to understanding the frequency of compensatory eating, as well as individual differences in eating patterns and reasons for unhealthy post-exercise eating. These findings have implications for designing interventions for those who display unhealthy po [...]