The‘ exercise causes weight loss’ myth 86 we do not ask people to put precious effort into something that, at best, makes only a small difference. We need to focus our effort where we will get the most bang for our buck and this is definitely not with exercise. As you read this you will come to share my concern when you hear people say,‘ Thought I might join the gym because I need to lose some weight’. There are lots of good reasons for joining a gym, but unfortunately weight loss is not one of them. Do some walking maybe, but join a gym – sorry. Let’ s see why. Exercising to gain weight Let me tell you a story about an officer in the army reserves that got me thinking very hard about the role of exercise in weight loss. Let’ s call her Linda. She came to see me about another matter and as I was taking a history I asked her about her activity and exercise as I usually do. Now Linda was 105 kilograms( 230 pounds) and only a little more than 150 centimetres( 5 feet) tall. I did a double take when she replied,‘ Because I like to do triathlons I work out four days a week – usually for 90 minutes at a time. I jog, ride my bike or swim.’ I then asked her how long she had been doing this level of training, to which she replied,‘ Eighteen months’. As I assumed she must have lost weight through such a rigorous exercise program and so must have been even heavier before, I asked her what weight had she been when she began her training on a regular basis. Her response was the biggest surprise of our exchange – she said 85 kilograms( 187 pounds)! What was going on here? How could you gain weight doing even more than the recommended level of exercise? Linda explained how she really enjoyed her carbohydrates – particularly pasta and bread. On closer examination it became apparent that she was still readily consuming more calories than she was burning off even with her commendable level of exercise. Undoubtedly she had obviously replaced some fat with muscle – but the net effect was weight gain.