The weight loss myth behind exercise.

Are you going to the gym to burn that extra weight off? If so, you are using the wrong strategy according to a new article in Vox magazine.

Human beings are highly adaptable to exercise and eating habits. if you have ever been on a diet and did not lose weight even though you are taking calories, your body has adapted in ways you may not understand.

Doing lots of cardio exercises is likely to make you eat more to compensate, rather than to lose weight. Exercise is good for the heart, lungs, and circulatory system however, it is not good for weight loss according to a recent article in Vox magazine.

If you have ever gone on a calorie-restrictive diet to lose and added exercise to it, you will lose weight but it is likely you will also gain most of it back as well.

Science tells us that reducing calorie intake through most diets will also make our body work more efficiently which is why many of us gain weight back. What we eat will also determine our weight, as well as the types of bugs exist in our gut which can also help us keep the weight off and reduce our set weight which is the weight our bodies normally gravitate to.

Intermittent fasting or going on fasts has been known to reduce weight but also change the set weight which may be helpful for long-term weight reduction.

Avoiding processed foods and sugars may also help you keep the weight off. Sugars that are present in most processed foods is not healthy for us and are likely why there are so many people with diabetes. Processed foods are also calorie-dense.

Check out this article in Vox which challenges the idea of trying to exercise the weight off.

Why You Shouldn’t Exercise to Lose Weight, Explained With 60+ Studies

We’ve been taught for years that as long as you hit the gym you can hit the buffet line and still lose weight. But there’s plenty of science out there to prove this statement false.

By Julia BelluzJavier Zarracina

“I’m going to make you work hard,” a blonde and perfectly muscled fitness instructor screamed at me in a recent spinning class, “so you can have that second drink at happy hour!”

At the end of the 45-minute workout, my body was dripping with sweat. I felt like I’d worked really, really hard. And according to my bike, I had burned more than 700 calories. Surely I had earned an extra margarita.

The spinning instructor was echoing a message we’ve been getting for years: As long as you get on that bike or treadmill, you can keep indulging — and still lose weight. It’s been reinforced by fitness gurus, celebrities, food and beverage companies like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, and even public health officials, doctors, and the first lady of the United States. Countless gym memberships, fitness tracking devices, sports drinks, and workout videos have been sold on this promise.

There’s just one problem: This message is not only wrong, it’s leading us astray in our fight against obesity.