Can you lose weight with exercise alone? 🙋🏻‍♂️

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I. Is exercise alone enough? 🙋🏻‍♂️

Can you lose weight with exercise alone? Yes, in theory. But there's a catch...

Let's break it down -- If you need to eat roughly 2,000 kcal a day to maintain your current weight, and that's exactly what you ate but also did enough exercise to burn an additional 300 kcal, you would finish that day in a caloric deficit. Do this enough times and boom - weight loss.

However, this rarely works in reality - especially over the long term.

​It's important to remember that what we eat is the main culprit for gaining weight, with exercise having some influence. Calories can be sneaky; unless you take the time to learn where they're coming from, you're flying blind.

You might think you are eating 2,000 calories, but it might be 2,400 one day and 2,200 the next…How much extra exercise are you really willing to do?

There's also an often-unseen side effect of exercising more - feeling more hungry! Sometimes it's done more overtly with an "ahh screw it! I trained earlier" as you reach for a second helping, and other times more covertly with extra snacks and larger portions creeping in.

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Finally, relying solely on exercising to lose weight is bloody hard work to maintain long-term. Exercising purely to burn calories is not the most exciting of training plans.

But don't get me wrong - exercise is still a worthy investment for many different reasons, such as getting stronger, moving better, reducing stress, and getting fitter. However, ideally, it shouldn't be used as a vehicle to burn calories. You can beat in a nail with a socket wrench, but that isn't the best tool for the job.

Yet I still understand the appeal. Going for another run or hitting the gym hard is often "easier" than changing your eating routine. Unfortunately, your weight loss progress will be painfully slow - if it happens without it.

II. Calf Pry or Walk the dog 🐶

You can call it "A-frame calf pry" or "walk the dog"; either way you've got yourself a simple and effective stretch for your calf and hamstrings.

Check out the demo here.

III. Quote to ponder

"If a food is in your possession or located in your residence, either you, someone you love, or someone you marginally tolerate will eventually eat it" - John Berardi

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P.S. If you enjoyed this week's Thursday Three, share it with a friend.

Thanks,

Jamie