For some people, spending an extra hour at the gym is easier than turning down that second piece of cake. But what does (extra) exercise do for your body weight and fat percentage?
In any case, it's not as simple as you might think.
Burning calories
If you want to lose weight, that is: burn more calories than you take in, you would think that if you follow your exercise schedule ever and keep eating the same, you should lose weight. In theory, that is. Because in practice this works a little differently.
To the gym
Research shows it doesn't work that way. When 81 overweight women were asked to go on the treadmill three times a week (30 minutes at a time), the expectation was that they would lose weight. After all, they were maintaining the same diet they were following before.
Gaining weight instead of losing it
One thing was certain: the women who participated in the study got in better shape. But oddly enough, exercising did not help them lose weight. Nor did the women appear to have lost inches around their waists, nor did they have a reduced fat percentage. In fact, 70% of the participants gained weight during the study period. And that weight was mainly in body fat.
Exercise and eating
The researchers do not dare make any firm statements since they do not know exactly what the women ate during this period. It could be that they moved less than usual outside of their sporting activities or that the extra exercise caused them to eat more.
Exercise and eat healthy
But the conclusion is clear: exercising alone won't make you lose weight. That doesn't mean you can't do it; exercise is incredibly important for your health. Even more than being "thin" or weighing "little. Some sports make you grow muscle, which outweighs fat. No matter what the scale says, if you want to improve your health you will have to exercise AND eat healthy.
This article was written by Merel (23), who recently started her first job and is quietly but surely breaking away from her (beer-filled) student life. Together with her roommates, she is trying to get some peace and regularity in her rich social life through the NewFysic method.
Photo:
Trust "Tru" Katsande via
Unsplash
