I exercise and can't lose weight

By Brent Fairbanks

On 2/5/2011

Are you one of those people who are working out all the time and still can't seem to lose the weight that you want? You're not alone, this is an issue for many people seeking to solve their weight problem using the physics of inertia. (Thats a fancy way of saying exercise.) What you have discovered through imperical evidence is proof positive that there is more to it than just exercise.

I can hear the personal trainers (the unscrupulous ones) getting ready to throw rocks at me. Those who have purchased exercise tapes, gym memberships, invested in personal trainers, can start hating me right now as well. Why you ask, because I am about to tell you the truth.

Are you ready to hear "the truth?, can you handle the truth?" Here we go, are you sitting down? Please do for this startling revelation. Exercise IS NOT AN EFFICIENT WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT. There I said it and you can start your snickering right now. Everybody knows that if you want to lose weight that you must exercise it away, right? Wrong!

The human body is one of the most amazing machines that I have ever studied. Our bodies are so incredibly efficient at processing and using fuel (food). Your body is capable of processing and storing thousands of calories in a matter of minutes. Just look at the stored energy (calories) that are in that fast food meal you just ate. The piece of the puzzle that you are missing here is just how many calories you are burning when you exercise.

Do you find yourself thinking that you need to go out and walk around the block to "burn off" that dinner? What you really need to do is purchase a heart rate monitor that will show you just how many calories you burn for a given workout. I thought that my treadmill work out was incredibly strenuous and I must be burning at least a thousand calories.

What I discovered was thoroughly depressing. My treadmill workout is 30 minutes at 4 miles per hour and an elevation of 12 percent AND carrying 6 pound hand weights. When I am through with this workout I can barely stand, breathing hard, and am completely soaked in sweat (nasty thought). After my workout I glance down at the heart rate monitor where I fully expect to see about twelve hundred calories burned. I burned a whopping 180!

An 8 ounce cup of whole milk has more calories in it than 180. So, that gives me about 360 calories of burn per hour of intense pulse pounding exercise. Just think to yourself how many hours you were working out for? If I do an intense hour and a half gym session I might just about cover that hamburger I had for lunch. Oh yes, remember that since you eat every day you would also need to work out like this every day. Is that realistic?

What is the answer here? It is significatly easier to lose weight by not consuming calories in the first place than it is to try to work them off after the fact.

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