Browse: Home / Obesity / Stop “exercising” and lose more weight

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Better Body Chemistry School
  • Book a health conversation
  • Speaking query
  • The “Big” Spoons
Header image

BBC

Small things can make a big difference to your health

advertisement

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Free Resources
    • 31 days to Better Body Chemistry
    • Willpower Report
    • Weight loss e-course
    • Better Body Chemistry for Expecting Moms
    • The ups and downs of insulin resistance
    • Candy Floss Boards
    • Weight tracker
  • Library
  • Shop
  • Lucky dip
  • Sound bites
  • Buy me a coffee
  • Contact

Stop “exercising” and lose more weight

Posted by Dr Sandy on in Obesity | 6718 Views | Leave a response
Pin
WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More
Tweet
Share

Exercising is designed to create a calorie deficit, which should mean stored calories get used and whalla……… thinness – but this often doesn’t happen

Share Button

Click to listen to the audio…

If you want to lose weight – exercise LESS

thinking about ice cream

Exercising is designed to create a calorie deficit, which should mean stored calories get used and whalla……….. thinness – but this often doesn’t happen

The fitness industry’s dirty little secret…

EXERCIZING does not equal WEIGHT LOSS.

Don’t let this information, deter you from getting off the couch.

EXERCISING does equal BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY. 

So I am not saying, don’t do it.

But BE WARNED, the odds that the all those extra pounds melt away as you sweat on the treadmill – is rather slim.

Of course, that leaves the question WHY NOT ?

Powering up an exercise session

We ALL KNOW – fat is where excess calories are stored.  It follows, that some of those calories, should be shared to make you GO, if a calorie deficit has been created.  Whalla………..exercise should lead to thinness.

But this premise is based on the assumption, that you are EATING LESS and MOVING MORE.

NEWSFLASH…..

Exercisers EAT MORE !

Now this response is physiological, this is why, every gym has a juice bar, to allow exercisers to grab  a MUCH NEEDED, post exercise SNACK.

Flunking calorie maths

The calorie equation is somewhat deceptive, because…

calorie maths is complicated

Burning calories is HARD WORK.

HARD WORK !

Unfortunately, the amount of exercise you need to do to burn off that coke you just drank, is FRIGHTENING.  And, often times when you get yourself to the  “FAT BURNING ZONE” – your brain begins to panic.

It gets all STRESSED OUT.

hungry exercising neuron

And, it does what a stressed body must do…..

It goes into SURVIVAL MODE.

Survivors have spare calories

Since in a world without supermarkets, fast food joints and pantry cupboards – SURVIVAL depended on having fat stores, your hormonal switch flips to FAT STORING MODE.

So post exercise, you transition into FAT STORING MODE…..

Eat more….

Your appetite is supercharged, thanks to this biological signal.

exhausted exerciser contemplating a reward

And if you’ve just done a serious exercise session, there is a psychological signal too, you tell yourself…………

YOU DESERVE IT.

So you tuck into a chocolate fudge sundae.

Mmmmmmm….

Eish !  The brain and body concur, leaving you healthier, but NOT SKINNIER.  This is what a group of researchers from Cornell Food & Brand Lab discovered.

A walk in the park

The team invited employees from the university to enjoy a free lunch.   The catch, to get the free lunch, they needed to show up wearing a pair of takkies……and take a 1 mile walk,  around the campus.

Half the ladies were told the walk was FOR FUN, the other half, were told the walk was AN EXERCISE session and encouraged to GET MOVING !

NOTE :  To make the walk, genuinely FUN, the walkers in the FUN group, listened to cool music on an mp3 player, whilst being out and about in the fresh air. 

Fun times…

At the end of the walk, the ladies completed a questionnaire to assess

  • How fun it was
  • How taxing it was

No surprises…..

assessing the walk

The walkers who listened to music, had FUN and found the walk, untaxing.  The dedicated exercises, has a whole lot less FUN, but did not actually feel overtaxed by their exercise session.

Lunch is served

What happened at the  all-you-can-eat buffet  “REWARD” was eye opening.

Behind the scenes, the walkers plates were weighed and their dessert and beverage choices scrutinized – allowing the researchers to calculate CALORIES IN.

The calorie count….

regular calories consumed by walkersThere was not much in it, when it came to dishing up lunch.  Both groups served up and ate, similar amounts of calories.

But there was difference when it came to dessert.

hedonic calories consumed by ealkers

DEDICATED EXERCISERS ate more PERIOD.

And they tended to choose the more decadent (calorie laden), chocolate pudding, rather than the “healthier” option, which was an applesauce.

Oops….

You DERSERVE IT….

If you’ve exercised, your sugar gremlin WILL whisper…

“You did a good job – exercising is SO IMPORTANT for good health.   Good deeds should ALWAYS be REWARDED.   You deserve/need a REWARD. Go on – INDULGE”

This very logical thought pattern, can end up sabotaging your weight loss effort.

So…………..whatever you do.

Don’t exercise

Instead..

  • Go dancing.
  • Listen to your favourite music while riding the bicycle.
  • Go sightseeing.
  • Take a walk on the beach
  • Go rollerblading.
  • Play a round of golf.
  • Go shopping.

Think HAVE SOME FUN while moving, rather than DO SOME EXERCISE.

Having FUN means the exercise session IS YOUR REWARD, so you are less likely to seek a high calorie foodie reward afterwards.  It’s fun to outwit a sugar gremlin. Click here if you would like more strategies to help Tame your Sugar Gremlin.

If you MUST exercise

If the idea of exercise being FUN is a foreign concept, then make sure you send a memo to your sugar gremlin, letting it know that you have a policy of not REWARDING exercise with munchies.

And when you leave the gym…………

DON’T STOP AT THE JUICE BAR !

the juice bar at the gym

It’s not there for your benefit.

Share Button
Is it fun or exercise? The framing of physical activity biases subsequent snacking. Marketing Letters  (2015) 26 : 691–702. Carolina O. C. Werle, Brian Wansink, Collin R. Payne.

Further reading

old person dancing

Dancing is the best exercise for oldies

Looking for an exercise programme that’ll help you age gracefully, a dancing class is a great option. You get the usual cardiovascular benefits plus brain gains

caveman wiggling his toes on the couch

It’s HOW you sit, not THAT you sit, that matters

Modern hunter-gatherers don’t move more than the average Westerner – so lack of energy expenditure is not to blame for modern man’s weight problems.

man exhausted after exercising

How to make exercise FEEL GOOD even if you’re a couch potato

You know exercise is good for you. But, it doesn’t FEEL good. So, you don’t do it. But exercise can feel more tolerable if you do things in the right order.

 

This is one of the 31 tips & strategies, in our free, zero-to-one weight loss course, for more tips & strategies enrol NOW….
enrol is zero to one course

 

Stop “exercising” and lose more weight
Pin
WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More
Tweet
Share
Posted in Obesity | Tagged calorie maths, calories, couch, dessert, exercising, fat, fat burning, fitness industry, fun, sugar gremlin, weight loss

Sugar gremlins are REAL

Connect with us

facebook you tube pinterest 40 google plus 40 Linkedin

willpower report
  • Popular
  • Featured
  • Recent
  • asprosin the sugar plum fairy

    Why sugar levels are high despite NOT eating

    20011 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    19320 views / Posted
  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    18913 views / Posted
  • chewing gum relieving postoperative ileus

    A stick of chewing gum gets the gut going after surgery

    16670 views / Posted
  • carbonated water bubbles fill you up

    Fizzing up the water flattens your appetite

    15443 views / Posted
  • sun extracting cholesterol

    Make sure you have your “annual” check-up in the summer time

    / Dr Sandy
  • sending your kid to bootcamp won't stop childhood obesity

    Moving more won’t stop your kid from getting fat

    / Dr Sandy
  • cholesterol at the scene of the accident

    Bone cells are stiffening up your arteries not cholesterol

    / Dr Sandy
  • brain size the problem in ADHD

    Are kids with ADHD just acting according to their brain age

    / Dr Sandy
  • plastering the blood vessel with calcium

    Calcium supplements are building bones and breaking hearts

    / Dr Sandy
  • sandman whipping up a fall asleep potion

    Hot eyes fall asleep faster

    / Dr Sandy
  • HOT or COLD – which is better metabolically speaking ?

    / Dr Sandy
  • A eye healthy diet should include eggs

    / Dr Sandy
  • It’s official – you cannot out run a bad diet, your biology won’t let you

    / Dr Sandy
  • corona virus sporting his beautiful crown

    How to overcome long covid sooner rather than later

    / Dr Sandy

RSS Recent posts

Dr Sandy Dr Sandy Evans, PhD

Located in Johannesburg, South Africa

Book an appointment with Spoonful of Science using SetMore
Disclaimer : The stories and articles are provided as a service. Dr Sandy's opinions are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.
 
 

Connect with Dr Sandy

facebook 40
you tube 40
pinterest 40
google plus 40
linkedin 40
meetup 40
 

Categories

Featured posts

  • asprosin the sugar plum fairy

    Why sugar levels are high despite NOT eating

    20011 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    19320 views / Posted
  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    18913 views / Posted
 

©2011-2022 Spoonful of Science

Menu

  • Meet Dr Sandy
  • Disclosure/disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Comment policy
  • Contact
Redirect Stakk
Thank You

Beat your SUGAR CRAVINGS, using biology, NOT psychology

Download our FREE REPORT entitled, "How to get the Willpower you Need to Trump Sugar's Power"

  • Do you have a sugar gremlin ?
  • Discover the biology behind sugar gremlins
  • Learn about the 10 weapons you can use to TAME YOUR SUGAR GREMLIN

Get instant access

Pin
WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More