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Exercise Does Not Help You Lose Weight
The British Journal of Sports Medicine reports that exercise fails to help many people lose weight. A team of sports scientists conducted a study which involved monitoring the calorie expenditure of a group of people on a rest day and then again on a controlled exercise day.
The results showed that exercising did not generate a calorie “after burn” that many people believe. In fact, in some cases people burned less fat on their exercise days than on their rest days.
continued below ....These data demonstrate that significant and meaningful health benefits can be achieved even in the presence of lower than expected exercise-induced weight loss. Less successful reduction in body weight does not undermine the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise. From a public health perspective, exercise should be encouraged and the emphasis on weight loss reduced.
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However, in the study all the subjects were overweight or obese, and the study only monitored progress over a short period. From practical experience we see that although in the very short term people do not lose weight when they start exercising, on the longer term they do. For example, when people start jogging / running they often see no or little weight reduction in the first month. It is only in the second month of running when the body has become stronger and fitter that a person can push themselves hard enough to burn off enough extra calories to make a real difference.
Short Term Weight Loss is Not Possible
In the average 45 minute cardio session the number of calories burned is about the same as that for an energy drink, and less than that of a protein / carbohydrate replacement drink. So it stands to reason that without strictly controlling calorie intake weight loss is much harder to attain. In fact the study showed that weight loss was not possible in the very short term by exercise alone.
Another reason why people fail to lose weight is because they gain more muscle when they start exercising. Although there is no weight loss, there is sometimes some fat loss, which is the ultimate goal. Muscle is healthy, fat is not.
Exercise is Important
Exercise does help you to lose weight and it certainly gets you fit. But you need to ensure you exercise with intensity and do not over eat afterwards. So many people treat themselves to a big dinner or breakfast after exercising in the mistaken belief that they have worked hard enough to deserve it. This is rarely, if ever, true. Professional swimmers, athletes and bodybuilder consume considerable more calories every day, but they are super-fit and train for several hours each day at a much higher intensity than an overweight and unfit person can manage.
Exercise does have a vital purpose though. Most people that manage to control their weight long term after losing a lot of weight do so by using exercise. If you are fit and exercise on the regular basis you can get away with a few more eating binges before the weight comes back on.
If you want to lose weight and shed the pounds, then the answer is to eat a healthy well balanced, portion controlled diet AND do some exercise to get fitter so that you can maintain your healthy weight.
One final point on exercise – it boosts your confidence. Another study recent showed that people feel better about themselves after they exercise. Even when there is no real physical change, self-confidence is improved. This increase in self-esteem caused by exercise leads to more exercise and eventually you become healthier, fitter and slimmer.
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