You’ve been working your butt off for weeks at the gym. You’ve got the sweat and sore muscles to prove it. But, for some reason, the scale hasn’t budged. Or worse, the number you see on the dial has been creeping up.
If weight loss, at its most basic level, is a matter of calories in and calories out, it's reasonable to assume it's possible to burn off those extra calories in the gym — and lose weight — without making any diet modifications. But science has begun to show that we might want to examine this mindset a bit more skeptically.
While you may not want to cancel your gym membership just yet, the inescapable truth of weight loss is that exercise doesn't compensate for a poor diet. Find out how many calories you really need to lose weight and what the true benefits of exercise are.
The Best Way to Lose Weight
Regular exercise can prevent or help manage a slew of health issues — from cancer to heart disease to Alzheimer’s and arthritis. But losing a lot of weight isn't chief among exercise's many benefits.
