Exercising Is Not the Right Approach to Lose Weight... There Is Only One Effective Solution

SadaNews - There is ongoing debate about the impact of physical activity or exercise on weight loss and maintenance. This question is particularly relevant for those who have lost weight after a standard treatment regimen using new weight loss medications.

Doctors need to know how to help their patients avoid regaining lost weight after stopping medication. Should the focus be on exercise, or on calorie restriction? Patients often struggle to maintain both approaches long-term, which is why doctors prefer to suggest the most effective option, according to the website "Psychology Today."

In a review of 32 randomized controlled trials involving 4,774 participants suffering from obesity, the average weight loss among those who engaged in a regular exercise routine was minimal compared to the control group that did not exercise (about two kilograms only).

Researchers concluded that the effect of exercise on weight loss was modest. Current evidence suggests that while exercise is important for cardiovascular and bone health, it is not an effective means for achieving significant weight loss.

Why can't you lose weight by exercising?

It has been shown that increasing activity does not necessarily lead to an increase in daily calorie expenditure or weight loss. For this reason, most exercisers lose less weight than expected for the effort exerted. Why? Our bodies have developed complex compensatory mechanisms to balance "the energy required for muscle contractions" during exercise with "the energy available for other vital biological processes."

Additionally, muscles have evolved to be efficient so that they do not waste a lot of valuable calories. Studies have shown that our bodies retain at least a quarter of the calories we might expect to expend during exercise.

In short, our bodies have developed mechanisms to protect us from wasting too much energy that may be crucial later for our survival. Unfortunately, due to these mechanisms, contemporary humans who consume a lot of calories daily consistently fail to burn off the excess calories through movement. Human biochemistry has evolved to prevent us from wasting energy during exercise.

According to recent research that analyzed data from 1,754 adults, "more movement burns more energy," but the data also revealed a surprising outcome: with each individual exercising, the total calories burned were not as expected for the physical effort. Most participants burned around only 72 percent of the expected calories based on their activity level.

So how can you get rid of excess weight?

Exercise is not the solution; rather, your diet is the most important factor. Body fat releases significant amounts of inflammatory proteins into the bloodstream. Researchers recently conducted an investigation to see whether diet or exercise was more effective in lowering inflammatory protein levels in overweight or obese women. After 12 months, scientists concluded that the greatest weight loss and significant decrease in inflammatory protein levels came from following a healthy diet alone, not from exercising.

Therefore, if you want to strengthen your cardiovascular system and enhance your bone health, look for an exercise you enjoy and stick with it. However, if you wish to lose weight, the evidence firmly indicates that calorie restriction is the only correct and scientifically proven dietary intervention that will achieve your goal.