Did you start exercising to lose weight? How’s it going? Chances are, you’re looking more “toned,” you have more energy, you’re sleeping better a night, aches and pains have subsided, you have more confidence, and maybe your clothes fit better.  But the scale hasn’t budged.

Don’t cancel your gym membership or fire your trainer, blame it on human biology.  In a study done by Herman Pontzer and others, the energy expenditure of traditional hunter-gatherers in Tanzania was compared to the energy expenditure of sedentary Westerners.  Surprisingly they found that all people, no matter where they’re from or how active they are, burn about the same amount of calories in a day.

What does this mean for you and your weight-loss goals?

The truth is, you can’t burn off the excess calories from a bad diet regardless of how many 2-a-days you log at the gym. If you’ve been in the gym for a while, you know this.  You’ve seen the regulars there day after day attending all the classes, sweating all over the ellipticals and treadmills, deadlifting and squatting heavier and more impressive weights with their trainers. And still only couple experience real transformation. What sets these outliers apart is that they made changes to their diet.  Maybe they eliminated that one vice: soda, fast food, alcohol, desert, or processed carbohydrates. Maybe they began tracking everything they ate. Maybe they followed a specific diet. The point is, they did not do it with exercise alone.

Evidence points toward obesity being a disease of gluttony rather than sloth.

—Herman Pontzer

This doesn’t mean exercise can’t help support your goals.  Cardiovascular exercise and strength training will help you maintain a healthy body weight and avoid weight gain (especially weight gain that comes with age).  Both also improve your health and your quality of life (probably high up on list of reasons you started exercising).

What cardiovascular exercise can do for you:

• Improves memory and focus
• Strengthens heart and lungs
• Elevates mood and helps alleviate anxiety
• Reduces the risk of high BP, diabetes, and other chronic and often preventable conditions
• Helps control blood sugar
• Helps maintain a heathy weight
• Boots energy all day long

What strength training can do for you:

• Increases basal metabolic rate by increasing lean muscles mass (burn more calories all day long)
• Preserves muscle that is otherwise lost with age (3-5% each decade after age 30)
• Strengthens bones
• Reduces risk of falls and injury
• Decrease pain and tension especially from overuse and muscular imbalances
• Improves your appearance as posture and “tone” improve
• Helps control blood sugar
• Boots self-confidence

So keep hitting the weights and breaking a sweat in addition to fixing your nutrition. You’ll be on your way to reaching your weight-loss goals!

Need help figuring it all out? Email me!

Alicia Cross is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach, and Yoga Instructor with more than 15 years’ experience working with clients in classes and one-on-one.  She is a yogi, meditator, vegan, and lifter of heavy things. If you’re ready to discover the strength and peace that comes from within, email Alicia@AliciaCrossTraining.com.

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Exercise is as Good for the Brain as it is for the Body