The‘ exercise causes weight loss’ myth 95 Is there any need for exercise at all? Despite the points I have just made, I am not building an argument to say that there is no point in exercising when we are trying to lose weight. What I am saying is, do not be misled by the medical advice to eat less fattening food and exercise more as if they were of equal importance. For the reasons outlined above, all I am saying is that we should be putting at least five times more effort into managing our food intake and making good food choices than into certain forms of exercise. Motivation is a scarce commodity, a precious mental energy. When we have only limited motivation to go around we need to make sure we are focusing what we do have in the right direction. When I hear someone say,‘ I really need to lose some weight, I think I’ ll go and join a gym,’ I’ m thinking,‘ That’ s a weight-loss program that is over before it’ s begun!’ This is the worst possible interpretation of the medical advice because when people are doing this they are putting most of their motivation into the least effective, and the more difficult, of the two ways to lose weight. You don’ t need a crystal ball to predict that if you approach losing weight this way round you will give up in demoralized despair soon enough. So what do we do? Because physical activity does make some difference we must increase our energy expenditure. If we choose not to increase our physical activity at all and live a sedentary life, the amount of food intake we have to reduce down to is just too little and boring to be sustainable. It is this psychological impact of boredom that will bring the diet undone. But how do we do it in a way that does not cause overcompensation eating? Physical activity can be divided into two kinds:‘ incidental’ and‘ designated’. Incidental physical activity is what we do in the course of our day as we walk around the house, from the car to the office or from the car to the shops. It is incidental to whatever else we are doing throughout our day.