Exercise physiologist reveals the reasons why eating less isn’t helping you lose weight

Why you SHOULDN’T count calories: Exercise physiologist reveals the reasons why eating less isn’t helping you lose weight

  • We have always been told that to lose weight you need to eat less food 
  • According to one exercise physiologist the truth is far more complex than this  
  • ‘Just because calories count, doesn’t mean you should count your calories’ 
  • He has revealed the best ways to achieve the body of your dreams 

We have always been told that to lose weight you need to eat less and exercise more – but according to an exercise physiologist this simply isn’t true. 

Australian Drew Harrisberg told Body+Soul that although weight loss involves achieving a calorie deficit it’s a lot more complex than just that.

He explained that the average person only burns a few hundred calories during a workout, which means that throughout the day it can be easy to outdo the calories that have been burnt in the gym.

‘Just because calories count, doesn’t mean you should count your calories,’ he told the publication.

Australian Drew Harrisberg told Body+Soul that although it involves achieving a calorie deficit it’s a lot more complex than just that

So what makes exercise an effective way to lose fat if it’s not about the calories you burn?

Drew said exercise triggers a variety of other physiological mechanisms that affects how your body utilises fuel.  

‘Exercise stimulates your body to burn more than you store, long after your workout is over. Yep, let that sink in. So, most of the benefits of exercise occur outside of the gym,’ he said.

One thing exercise improves is insulin sensitivity which plays an important role in carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism.

'Just because calories count, doesn’t mean you should count your calories,' Drew said

‘Just because calories count, doesn’t mean you should count your calories,’ Drew said

Drew explained that exercise triggers a variety of other physiological mechanisms that affects how your body utilises fuel

Drew explained that exercise triggers a variety of other physiological mechanisms that affects how your body utilises fuel

Insulin helps to promote fat storage and inhibits fat burning which means you want to have low insulin levels to achieve your ideal physique. 

This means the more sensitive you are to insulin the less of it you will need to lose weight which results in the ability to burn more body fat. 

Those who are wanting to gain muscle will be happy to know that this is another aspect of the body that exercise helps to stimulate.

'Exercise stimulates your body to burn more than you store, long after your workout is over. Yep, let that sink in. So, most of the benefits of exercise occur outside of the gym,' he said

‘Exercise stimulates your body to burn more than you store, long after your workout is over. Yep, let that sink in. So, most of the benefits of exercise occur outside of the gym,’ he said

According to Drew more muscle equates to a higher resting metabolic rate which means your body naturally burns more energy.

Gaining extra muscle means you will also be able to burn extra body fat and you are also increasing your glycogen storage capacity, which means you can soak up more glucose from the carbohydrates you eat.

Another benefit exercise provides is that it improves ‘nutrient partitioning’, which means it sets you up to store carbohydrates as glycogen rather than converting them simply to body fat.

Insulin helps to promote fat storage and inhibits fat burning which means you want to have low insulin levels to achieve your ideal physique

Insulin helps to promote fat storage and inhibits fat burning which means you want to have low insulin levels to achieve your ideal physique

‘100 grams of carbs on a day when you are sedentary and your glycogen stores are full to the brim will be metabolised very differently to 100 grams of carbs after a hard full body workout when you’ve depleted some glycogen and improved your insulin sensitivity,’ he said.

He further explained that all calories aren’t created as equal and context is key. 

The reason exercise is such an effective fat-loss tool, is that it sets up your body to outilise the calories that you consume.

Although being in a calorie deficit is important for fat-loss he said it doesn’t mean you should be counting the calories you burn and consume. 



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