Working Out Won’t Make You Thin?

Running

Despite all the diet mumbo jumbo that overwhelms women on a daily basis, weight loss is a rather simple formula: burn more calories than you eat. The end.

How do you burn those calories? Duh, you workout. You run, you swim, you blade, you work so hard your shirt is soaked with sweat and you smell like one of the guys asking you for money on your way to class. It’s brutal and it’s annoying, but you gotta do it if you don’t want all those late night pizza runs to stick to your booty.

But a new study from LSU has proven that exercise may not help us lose weight after all. In fact, what it does do is make us all hungrier so we end up consuming all those calories we just worked so hard to burn…and end up with the same results we would have had if we had simply stayed home and watched Real World Cancun on the couch.

According to an article in Time Magazine, which cited the exercise study, “Whether because exercise made them hungry or because they wanted to reward themselves (or both), most of the women who exercised ate more than they did before they started the experiment. Or they compensated in another way, by moving around a lot less than usual after they got home.”

Well, that’s interesting. Everything we’ve been taught from nutritionists/doctors/The Biggest Loser has been wrong? I don’t need to smush myself into a sports bra 5 days a week and run in place for 45 minutes in a basement gym?

Part of me wants to jump for joy at this news (“NO MORE 6am WORKOUTS?! WOOOO!”), but I can’t shake the little guy in the back of my head that’s telling me about all the other health benefits of working out.

But, thinking about how much my legs hurt from my Spin class yesterday, that little guy is easily silenced and the urge to jump for joy (which I can’t do, due to said intense pain) returns once more.

What do you think of these findings? Do you see some truth? Would you stop working out?

Rose says:
Thu, 6th Aug 20093:57 pm

After taking an amazing nutrition class last semester at a university that’s really paving the way in nutrition research, I learned that you cannot lose weight simply by exercising. It’s really common sense when you look at the full picture. When you eat more calories than you need to, you will gain weight. When you eat less, vice versa. Exercise can help control your physical urge to eat and maintain your weight. Unfortunately, others will allow themselves to eat more since they already “worked the calories off”. It is a little known fact that after heavy exercise, your metabolism will dip and become slower for a period of time.

This is not to say that people should not exercise. It is an integral part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, both for physical and mental wellbeing. What we can take from this study is that exercise paired with a healthy diet that does not exceed our caloric needs is a good way to maintain or lose weight.

I’d also like to point out that meat and dairy industries everywhere are not going to appreciate this very public announcement. They have been pushing exercise as a method for weight control for a very long time. It will be interesting to see what kind of pseudo-studies they come up with to counter these findings.

Alisha says:
Thu, 6th Aug 20095:20 pm

As a Bachelor of Nursing student, I hope that everyone realizes the countless other benefits of excercise, increased cardiac function, stabalized blood pressure, increased libido (although I know some of us don’t need that , and others, not to mention it’s stress relieving effects.
And while no, if you eat more calories than you’re burning, you will not lose weight, noone can deny how resistance trainging and toning of the muscles will change the shape and look of your body, sometimes it is even possible to go down a pantsize with weight training alone. Healthy balance of diet and watching the calories eaten, and excercising to increase the calories burned, and you will lose weight, even though I understand how often people will think they can make up for their terrible eating habits with a quick trip to the gym. Pretty sure everyone quickly learns that won’t work out.

Liam says:
Thu, 6th Aug 20096:34 pm

Is this a joke. Okay I know a thing or two about dieting and excercise. The people who did this study didn’t dig deep enough. OF COURSE you’re going to be a little hungry after a work out because you just burned off calories, probably more than what you ate. THE ONLY reason those women don’t lose weight or gain it back is because they keep eating shit! Just because your metablolism just rose and dipped doesnt mean you can go and stuff your face with a double cheeseburger.

Girls always think “Well I just burned 300 calories, as a reward I’ll go eat this whole tub of ice-cream!” and they wonder why they don’t lose weight.

Erin says:
Thu, 6th Aug 200910:18 pm

I don’t know for me personally, I lose weight when I eat less. Fair and square. I have definitely noticed I gain more definition in my body by lifting weights, but I feel like any form of cardio is not the factor that aids in weight loss, it’s the food. Just me though…

Amy says:
Fri, 7th Aug 20092:09 am

Now I’d just like to know why some people can eat whatever they want and stay model-thin and some people eat normal, moderate amounts and are obese!

morgan says:
Sun, 9th Aug 200912:38 am

i can eat mostly what i want and stay my weight but that’s due to my metabolism, and probably due to the fact that i was born 3 months early at around 2 pounds, i think everyone is different, but ‘rewarding’ yourself is not a tub of ice-cream, people need to find something that makes them feel good just like chocolate or they’re basically depleting their workout

Carolyn says:
Sun, 9th Aug 20091:59 am

How god damn hard is it to lose weight????? You just have to consume less calories each day. Instead of eating 2000 calories, eat 1500. How hard is that you fat pigs? The amount of calories you consume are the only factor which determine how much weight you gain/lose. People need to read a book or something.

Slappy Slapchops says:
Sun, 9th Aug 20092:48 pm

“A NEW STUDY FROM LSU”

Just a heads up, but one study from a tier 2 research university doesn’t make it gospel. How many other studies do these results contradict? If you exercise and eat healthy you WILL lose wait, not to mention the myriad of other positive effects associated with an active lifestyle. FFS people no wonder the rest of the world views us as lazy slobs…

Plus the author’s spin classes are a form of high intensity interval training keeps the body burning up fat cells through the following 24 hours and is proven to be THE most effective way to drop weight. They are tough but they work so suck it up and be proud that you are making an effort to take care of yourselves.

Madison says:
Tue, 11th Aug 200911:22 am

What about the fact that exercise is an appetite suppressant?