When it comes to losing weight one of the first things most people will try is exercise.  Anything from going for a walk to high intensity interval training has been touted by some to help with weight loss.  In this post I am going to introduce recent research that may contradict this notion.

According to recent research, exercise is not the best way to jump start a weight loss program.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, exercise will account for a small portion of your daily calorie burn.  Most of the calories you use in a day is due to normal daily activities. Secondly, exercise can lead to eating more calories than we burn.  Obviously, you will get hungry after exercise. Most people, however, eat more calories after exercise than the amount of calories they used. Third, exercise can lead to slowing down actively in other parts of your daily life (i.e., resting up).  This can negate the overall calories burned in a day.

It is for this reason that in we advocate first starting with implementing a sensible diet over exercise. Creating a nutrition foundation first creates a solid base for building in activity down the road.