Can Exercise Make You Gain Weight?

Dietician Keri Glassman Explains the Relationship Between Weight Loss and Exercise

(CBS)  One of the most widely-believed concepts in our culture is that if you exercise you will lose weight. But when it comes to weight loss, is this actually a myth? Can exercise actually be keeping you from losing weight?

Registered dietician Keri Glassman appeared on "The Early Show" Thursday to explain the relationship between exercise and weight loss.

Exercise is important, Glassman said, but it may negatively affect your weight loss for three main reasons:

1. Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more.
2. Exercise causes feelings of entitlement. You may want to reward yourself because you worked out so hard at the gym.
3. Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned.

To demonstrate the calorie intake versus exercise principle, Glassman noted these comparisons:


Elliptical training for 44 minutes/500 kcal burned=1 Honey Bran Raisin Muffin from Dunkin Donuts
Kickboxing for 25 minutes and 272 kcal burned=Grande Starbucks café late with whole milk
Jogging for 60 minutes and 470 kcal burned=1 slice (1/6 of cake) of Sara Lee Cheesecake, chocolate swirl NY style
Pilates for 30 minutes and 119 kcal burned=5 pieces of hard candy

So is exercise not worth it?

Glassman said exercise is worth it, if you use it to your advantage. "Good nutrition," she told CBS News, "is primary. Combine that with good exercise habits and you have a powerful combination."

She added exercise does help burn calories -- you just can't eat more because of it. Also, staying active in your daily life, she said, is important.

And since, exercise may trigger hunger, Glassman said, you need to focus on not only the calories you are consuming, but making sure the calories you do consume are going to fill you up. Foods high in fiber, protein and healthy fat, she said, are low enough in calories that you won't be sabotaging your workouts.

Glassman said you can beef up your workouts by doing weight-bearing exercises, too.

"This will help increase muscle mass," she said. "...In conjunction with the calories burned during exercise and being diligent about your diet, you can make a dent in your waistline."

And, Glassman said, don't forget all the other benefits of exercise, such as reducing your risk for cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Glassman recommended these meals to help keep your eating habits in check:

Breakfast:
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp. chopped walnuts
Large glass of water

Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat with avocado, tomato, mustard
Large side salad (romaine, broccoli, carrots, onions) with 1 Tbsp. vinaigrette
Large glass of water

Dinner:
Baked Sweet potato
6 oz. Roasted chicken or halibut
Sauteed spinach with 2 tsp. olive oil
Side salad with 1/3 cup chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and 1 Tbsp. lemon vinaigrette dressing

[mikehoward75]

This article is as ridiculous as John Cloud's piece in TIME. How about we let exercise experts comment about exercise, yes? It is clear that Ms. Glassman is not very well versed in the literature. It is surprising that someone of her education would make such haphazard and misleading blanket statements on the subject.

Let's examine her curious contentions...

Glassman says;
"Exercise is important, Glassman said, but it may negatively affect your weight loss for three main reasons:

1. Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more.
Nice blanket statement - this is mostly false. Review the literature and the vast majority of studies show that exercise DOES NOT increase appetite and in certain cases can blunt it. Even when people eat a little more in response to exercise, it does not match or exceed that of the session itself. It's common sense - going to starbucks for a 400 calorie drink and brownie after 20 minutes on the treadmill isn't going to get you anywhere. If you don't know this than you will stay fat.

2. Exercise causes feelings of entitlement. You may want to reward yourself because you worked out so hard at the gym.
This may be true for some people - these people stay fat. Again, common sense.

3. Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned.

Glassman loves blanket statements. Could we plase define "exercise" Will walking at 2.2mph on the treamill 3 times per week burn many calories? No. You have to look at the type (strength vs. cardio) intensity, duration, frequency, body weight levels, NEAT, EPOC - there are numerous factors to take into consideration when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of exercise and movement. Can you outtrain a crappy diet? No.

This comes down to being consciously aware of your intake and activity levels. If you don't change your diet, you won't be very successful, but to suggest or infer that exercise is keeping you fat is misinformed and TERRIBLE advice.

I wrote a 3 part series on the suject. I'll post them later.

[gosstom]

Obviously, the author, Keri Glassman, has never been to Basic training in either the Army or the Marine Corp. That training makes the fat boys get thinner and the thin boys get fatter. The drill instructors get a particular tingle in their private places when they see the raw recruits get off the busses at midnight. The author should have talked to them about weight control--it would make her blond hair stand on end.

[rf35]

Roger that! I ate more food faster, much of it loaded with fat when I was in basic and I graduated weighing less than I ever had in my adult life. I dropped 4 inches from my waist and had a net loss of 5 pounds (gained muscle offset the fat weight loss).

[bjsth]

First of all we need to eat in order nourish our bodies; secondly, we need to exercise because that is what the human body was designed to do, not sit around watching tv and playing on the computer. As long as we balance standard-sized, nutrient-dense meals and snacks, with an active lifestyle, including a structured exercise program, a healthy body composition can easily be achieved. All this hype about weight - it's body composition that matters more. Weight is a mere reflexion of what we weigh on this earth and can fluxuate several pounds +/- during the day. We need to remember that most of us eat way too much. Cut down the portions. It is calories in vs calories out. Our bodies want to remain at a constant weight to maintain homeostasis. Of course, whether dieting or exercising, our body is going to crave food. When you are hungry - You should eat. Deprivation of food, whether intentional or not, leads to binging on unhealthy foods. Lifestyle matters as well as alcohol consumption and sleep deprivation which often leads to intense cravings for high fat, high carb foods.

Her article concerns me because there is very little calcium or vitamin D in the example - she should have included some dairy or added a calcium/vitamin D supplement to that. In fact, I would probably feel very deprived if thats all I ate and I don't think I could possibly ingest sufficient nutrients to fuel my active lifestyle and physical demands. Refer to WWW.MYPYRAMID.GOV for more info on standard serving sizes and healthy food options.

[SunDog8259]

She is spot on. Great abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym, as the saying goes. I reached my goal weight by eating more and exercising less. Exercise is only a temporary appetite suppressor, I work out while fasting and find it can raise blood sugar.

I do eat whole foods only (meat, eggs, fish, berries and nuts)and eschew anything processed including the so called 'lite' or low-fat stuff that's loaded with sugars or starch. Just read the ingredient labels-- it can be an eye opener. Whole foods don't need an ingredient list a mile long.

[Hosheen]

The very first point is wrong. Exercise can alleviate hunger feelings. I have personally been in the fitness business for over 30 years and have trained thousands of people. All of them, when they felt hungry could do a little light exercise, drink some water, and then go about their normal business without eating again.

It is true that no amount of exercise will make you lose weight. You have to control your caloric intake to keep it below the calorie expenditure. That's not higher math or even long division.

[motonail]

I think it is different for everyone with hunger feelings. Do you follow the clients you train around all day- maybe you think they 'go about their normal business without eating again' but really they don't. Re watch the video where she has to make sure people aren't eating candies, etc and don't know it.

[danishmuzaffar]

the best thing i know is the green tea which is best for body and weight you can use it 3 times a day and then you will figure out the best shape after couple of months

http://www.bodybuildingmantra.com/

I can tell you I lost more weight by changing my eating habits.
Low carb foods, low fat. More apples, more salad, more non-fat yogurt. Snack on cucumbers instead of pretzels. Jogging on the tread mill helped but lifting weights did nothing to trim my waistline. I didn't eliminate all carbs but instead of 3 slides of challah (bread) only 1 slice.

Ken S

[motonail]

so true-Ken S. Thanks for the snack tips!

[flagwavrblue]

This article is good except that it is full of falsehoods. Remember: get your information from a reputable source and get out there!

1. Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more.

WRONG. Exercise directs the blood supply away from the stomach to aid working legs and arms leading to reduced hunger pangs. After exercise many people aren't able to eat for 20-30 minutes or even longer.

2. Exercise causes feelings of entitlement. You may want to reward yourself because you worked out so hard at the gym.

WRONG. Exercise is a great motivator to help you keep eating healthy. After all, why jeopardize your hard won gains with indulgences?

3. Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned.

WRONG. It depends on the exercise, intensity and duration. To make a blanket statement such as this is just wrong.

[motonail]

I disagree- this piece is not "full of falsehoods"-it brings up many good points that may be sabotaging a person's efforts to lose weight. The closing point she makes is, "don't give up exercise" and reminds us to be aware of what we are eating if we want to lose weight.

[garthorama]

The people that gain weight because of excercise, arent really excercising then. They must have broke a sweat and then called it day and went onto rewarding themselves with fatty foods.

[hologram5]

Yes, muscle weighs more than fat.

[docpeter1953]

I hope you don't mean a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat.

Muscle is more dense than fat.