why you can’t lose bodyfat with exercise

Photo by Victor Freitas on Pexels.com

All these people are losing bodyfat by working out, so why can’t you? Exercise can increase hunger so people tend to eat more on days they exercise, which negates the calories they burned. People also underestimate how many calories they’ve burned during a workout. Unless you’re very overweight, unfit, and work really hard during a 60 minute exercise session, it’s unlikely you’ve burned 1000 calories with that one workout.

The less you weigh, and the more fit and active you are, the fewer calories you’ll expend. For example, I’m 5 feet tall and weigh around 100 pounds; after a grueling 1 ½ hour lower body workout with weights, some plyometrics, and a 10 minute cooldown, my tracker shows I’ve only burned 350 calories. My friend who is a 5’2 and weighs 115 pounds, trained with me, only burned 300 calories! The reason she expended fewer calories than I did is because she runs marathons so her body is more efficient than mine. While you may think you’re burning 600-1000 calories, you may only be expending 300-800 calories per workout.

If you’re exercising twice a week, and burning about 500 calories a workout (that would be a hard session), and are eating about the same calories as you usually do, it’s going to take at least seven workouts, about a month, to lose one measly pound. This is why it’s really important to be consistent with exercise, and do some sort of exercise for 30 minutes every day. This also explains why exercise, in combination with reduced calories, and better food choices to fill you up with fiber and nutrients, results in substantial fat loss.