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The benefits of exercise are well known — for body and the mind. Usually, we feel better. We even think and learn better.
But what if we exercise and also gain weight?
A new study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that the phenomenon is not only possible, but it can occur fairly easily. The study, “Predictors of fat mass changes in response to aerobic exercise training in women,” found 81 women who were told “that they would be joining a fitness study and would exercise in order to improve their aerobic endurance. The scientists asked the women not to change their eating habits in any way,” according to the New York Times.
After 12 weeks of exercise, some women had lost weight, but others had gained weight.
The study could not determine why this occurred, but the New York Times reports they did discover something else important: “But looking deeper into their data, they discovered one interesting indicator: Those women who were losing weight after four weeks of exercise tended to continue to lose weight, while the others did not.”
Or, as the study states: “Change in body weight and fat mass at 4 weeks were moderate predictors of fat loss, and may potentially be useful for identification of individuals who achieve less than expected weight loss or experience unintended fat gain in response to exercise training.”
The bottom line according to Glenn Gaesser, “a professor of nutrition and health promotion at Arizona State and senior author of the study: ‘What that means in practical terms is that someone who wants to lose weight with exercise' should step on the bathroom scale after a month. If at that point your weight remains stubbornly unchanged or has increased, ‘look closely at your diet and other activities.'”
I’ve been overweight for 10 years and tried so many things. Different things work for different people and I was lucky enough to find one that worked for me. I lost 25 pounds in one month without any exercise and it has been a life changer. I’m a little embarrased to post my before and after photos here but if anyone actually cares to hear what I’ve been doing then I’d be happy to help in any way. Just shoot me an email at oceanflowers82@gmail.com and I’ll show you my before and after photos, and tell you about how things are going for me with the stuff I’ve tried. I wish someone would have helped me out when I was struggling to find a solution so if I can help you then it would make my day
For me, it seemed like I needed to add something to raise my metabolism. I am normally a low metabolism person, and losing weight, even with aerobic exercise, is slow and difficult. One thing that helped me was the brown seaweed product that came out several years ago. It doesn’t seem to help everyone, but it does help me. I found it at http://healthy-vitamins.me/garden-of-life/fucothin.php but I think you can buy it in most stores. Just a thought. The other thing that helps me is writing everything down. For me, that seems to be key.