“I exercise a lot and I am not losing weight”

This is one of the sentences I hear most, and it almost always comes with frustration. If you train consistently and the weight does not go down, there are several possible explanations, and none of them is that you are cheating.

Exercise burns less than you think

An intense one-hour session rarely goes above 400-500 kcal, which is offset by very little food. Exercise is essential for cardiovascular health, muscle mass and appetite control, but as an isolated tool for creating a calorie deficit it is weak.

The body compensates

After training, hunger increases and, without noticing, spontaneous movement drops for the rest of the day. It is an automatic energy-saving mechanism: the body defends its reserves.

The scale does not measure what matters

If you gain muscle mass and lose fat at the same time, your weight can stay the same while your body composition improves a great deal. That is why in clinic we look at fat percentage and circumferences, not only kilos.

What to do

Organise your eating (especially protein and carbohydrate control), add strength work to your training, increase everyday movement and rule out hormonal causes such as hypothyroidism or insulin resistance. And if it still does not move, consider drug support.