For anyone wanting to lose weight, their first strategy is to start exercising. Whether you join a gym, a class or start running, it is generally accepted that doing some exercise will help you to lose weight. Yet many people find that despite this assumption, they actually lose little if any weight from exercising alone. Whilst exercise has many health benefits, a growing body of research suggests that exercise itself only has a limited impact when it comes to weight-loss. From miscalculation of the energy burned during exercise to an increase in food consumption, here are some reasons why you are not losing weight when you exercise. 

1. You Undermine Your Exercise With Compensatory Behaviors 

One of the biggest contributing factors which affects how much weight can be lost, is how much we eat. In order to lose weight, we need to reduce our calorie intake. Or rather, we need to ensure that the energy expended outweighs our energy intake, in the form of what we are eating.

However, there is a growing body of research which suggests that after exercising, some people in fact increase their food intake. In a study in 2009 by Timothy S. Church et al, researchers found that after having completed exercise, some people then ate more. In some instances, this was because individuals felt hungrier following their workouts, whilst other people believed that they could eat more because they had burned off many calories.

Similarly, in their 2012 review of studies into exercise and weight-loss, D. M. Thomas et al found that people had a tendency to overestimate how much energy they had burned off during exercise. This resulted in individuals eating more following a workout. In fact, by eating a small portion of a particularly unhealthy or high-calorie food, individuals could undo the effort of the hours’ worth of exercise. 

A third study in 2014 found that teenagers who undertook a high intensity workout in the morning expended less energy in the afternoons. This suggests that following particularly high-intensity exercise sessions, people may slow down for the rest for the day, in part as a result of feeling tired from their workout. Ultimately, this can lead to reduced energy being used up for the rest of day. For example, people may fidget less, be less tempted to walk and either take the lift instead of the stairs or spend more time in sedentary positions for the remainder of the day.  

These types of behaviors are known as compensatory behaviors. In a 2019 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Corby K. Martin et al, researchers found that people who lost the least amount of weight than expected were those who thought that trading behaviors was acceptable. For example, people felt that if they had undertaken an hour’s worth of exercise, then it was fair enough to eat a doughnut later. Researchers found that those people who avoided compensating for their exercise with an extra snack were the ones who were able to lose weight. Most impressive, the difference was small - only about 100 calories difference. 

2. You Overestimate How Much Energy Is Expended During Exercise 

One of the misconceptions surrounding exercise and weight-loss is the result of people overestimating how much energy is actually used up as a result of exercise. Our total energy expenditure comprises of our sleeping metabolic rate, diet-induced energy expenditure (how much energy we use up to break down food) and activity-induced energy expenditure, such as when we exercise. 

Yet, a 2013 study found that about 60% of our total energy expenditure is actually used up by our sleeping metabolic rate. Meanwhile, physical activity only actually accounts for approximately 10% -30% of our daily energy expenditure. What this means in practical terms, is that in order for weight to be lost, greater emphasis and attention needs to be given to what is being consumed rather than simply to how much exercise you are doing.

3. You Underestimate Your Food Intake

Most people who try to lose weight use a calorie calculator, often online, to help them to determine how many calories they have consumed, as well as how much energy they have used based on the amount of exercise they have undertaken. However, in most cases the numbers are incorrect.

In general, people tend to overestimate their activity level and how many calories they burn during their exercise. By overestimating this number, rather than losing weight, many people will simply find that their weight is maintained. As research by Kevin Hall showed, creating a significant calorie deficit from exercise alone is extremely difficult, requires the process to be undertaken over a long period of time and is dependent on people not giving in to compensatory behaviors.

Another common error in calorie-calculating is underestimating how much you have actually eaten. Most people have a tendency to underestimate how much food they have consumed and therefore, their calorie intake is actually higher than they have recorded. Similarly, people often fail to include all the food and drink they have consumed in one day. A single square of chocolate may not seem like a lot, but those are calories that need to be factored in to your daily calorie intake if you want to lose weight.

4. You Don’t Drink Enough Water

Drinking plenty of water is an important part of losing weight. For one thing it helps to suppress your appetite, which helps to reduce the likelihood of overeating. It’s also important to ensure that you drink sufficient water when exercising, as workouts can cause you to retain water. 

Another important aspect of drinking plenty of water is to ensure that you remain hydrated. When you become dehydrated your body starts to struggle to work properly, particularly the kidneys. Instead, the body uses the liver to help provide the additional support it needs. In turn, this causes the liver to have to work harder, which leads to more fat being stored instead of burned off.

Summary 

Exercise is an important part of healthy lifestyle. It provides a range of benefits to our health and making sure that we are getting enough exercise is important for our mental as well as our physical health and wellbeing. However, exercise alone is not sufficient to help us lose weight.

Exercise plays an important part in weight-loss, however focusing on exercise alone will not lead to the predicted or desired weight-loss many people would expect. If you want to lose weight, then the evidence suggests that you need to be combining exercise with dietary restrictions. Equally important is ensuring that what you do eat is healthy and nutritious and that you are providing your body with plenty of water in order to stay hydrated.

If you want to lose weight, then you need to ensure that you continue to maintain a good level of physical activity throughout the day. Whether that’s walking around the house, fidgeting while you work or taking the stairs instead of the lift, all those small acts of physical exercise will help contribute towards your energy expenditure. Most importantly of all, avoid engaging in compensatory behaviors. Your reward for all your exercise is the weight-loss and a healthier version of yourself.

Ashley Halsey is a professional writer at Lucky assignments and Gum essays. She has been involved in numerous projects throughout the country, working on creating high-quality online content. When not writing, Ashley regularly attends business training courses and enjoys learning about the latest research. A mother of two children, Ashley enjoys traveling and reading in her spare time. 

Read Related Articles