14 DAY TRIAL // We’re constantly told that, if we want to lose the extra pounds we’ve been complaining about since forever, we should get a gym subscription and start sweating all the fat off. We’re also told we’re to eat healthier but, whether we know it or not, the two don’t really seem to go hand in hand in real life, as a new Time piece reads, since working out not only does not lead to weight loss, but might actively contribute to weight gain.
The idea is that, by working out, we burn calories and, this way, lose weight. However, in order for this to work, we must make sure the number of calories ingested is actually lower than that of calories burned, which is the one aspect we’re always overlooking. Working out also makes us hungrier and that leads to the temptation of eating more or having a high-calorie snack afterwards, the Time piece says, citing recent research.
If we also add to the equation the fact that many women feel the need to reward themselves after a hard session at the gym, then we can understand why humanity is now faced with an obesity epidemics, trapped in a situation it apparently can find no way out of. Exercise as the best method to lose weight is purely a myth, reads the Time article, unless it is also accompanied by a very strict diet that monitors calorie intake very closely.
“The basic problem is that while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn’t necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.” reads the Time article. Moreover, the compensation effect can kick in right after a workout, which means the calories we’ve just burned are washed away with a muffin – because we “deserve” it.
“All this helps explain why our herculean exercise over the past 30 years – all the personal trainers, StairMasters and VersaClimbers; all the Pilates classes and yoga retreats and fat camps – hasn’t made us thinner. After we exercise, we often crave sugary calories like those in muffins or in ‘sports’ drinks like Gatorade. A standard 20-oz. bottle of Gatorade contains 130 calories. If you’re hot and thirsty after a 20-minute run in summer heat, it’s easy to guzzle that bottle in 20 seconds, in which case the caloric expenditure and the caloric intake are probably a wash. From a weight-loss perspective, you would have been better off sitting on the sofa knitting.” Time says.
To see all the arguments that seem to support the theory that working out is actually inefficient in terms of weight loss, go here.