The‘ exercise causes weight loss’ myth 92 It’ s as if exercise interferes with our ability to manage how many calories we are eating! I noticed this on skiing holidays. I would think: surely, given the hours I spend on the slopes each day I can afford to eat the odd doughnut and fries, not to mention enjoy an extra après ski drink or two. Time after time, I found on my return that I had actually gained weight over the holiday despite the increased daily energy expenditure. It is not at all difficult to consume more than we readily burn off. Our mind is looking for every opportunity to overindulge, luxuriate in food and store it – just in case there is a famine around the corner. So, with all this in mind, it is no surprise to find that NAASO tells us:... the results from most studies have demonstrated that participating in regular endurance exercise activities( e. g., brisk walking for 45 – 60 minutes, 4 times weekly) for up to a year without an energy-restricted diet, usually results in minimal weight loss – an average 2 kilograms decrease in body weight compared with a control group. Two kilograms a year! That is only four and a half pounds. From a psychological point of view, people will give up if they are asked to do too much, to make too many sacrifices, over extended time for too little reward. Even when diets work and people are losing weight, they will still give up despite the benefits of feeling slimmer. If you have ever exercised to lose weight and found that it did not seem to make much difference, now you know why. As is commonly reported, I find most of the people I work with who lose weight, can achieve at the very least a modest weight loss of one kilogram( 2.2 pounds) per month, or ten to twelve per year, by simply changing their eating lifestyle. Many lose a lot more. Now you can see why, if exercise alone causes a weight loss of two kilograms per year, I argue that managing our food intake is at least five times more powerful than exercise. For people who do not intrinsically enjoy it( and I think that could be many of us), exercising for 45 to 60 minutes, four times a week is a big ask. It simply requires more‘ self-discipline’, not to mention time