I'm exercising more but I'm gaining weight. What gives?

So, recently a newspaper published an article discussing the fact that exercise makes you put on weight because after people exercise they consume large amounts of high carb food. Lord help me!

There are two big reasons why we exercise. To increase fitness or to lose weight- sometimes both. Some of us exercise for fun, but that's another story. However, the first two reasons which I've mentioned shouldn't be confused. The following rules apply:

• If you are trying to lose weight, don't increase your daily calorie intake by consuming excess calories such as energy drinks, recovery meals, or carb loading. This will only prevent weight loss.

• If you are training for performance and aren't concerned with weight loss, you need to supplement your diet in order to fuel the extra work you are doing and maintain concentration/performance during your chosen activity.

Marathon runners consume energy drinks and energy gels during races to keep themselves fully fuelled so that their performance doesn't deteriorate during the race. The same principle applies during their training season. Footballers drink energy drinks during their game for the same reason-but they're not trying to lose weight. Athletes tend not to have body fat so they can’t survive without supplementing their diets. If you do have body fat you don't need to supplement your diet. The fat around your body provides the extra energy you need to survive, the same way a polar bear survives hibernation throughout the winter. It doesn't eat anything but it lives off of its body fat for months at a time. Humans are capable of the same mechanism. It's this process which results in weight loss.

To lose weight through exercise you must either keep your diet exactly the same or lower your calorie intake which will result in even quicker weight loss. Don't take an energy drink with you on your runs as this defies the logic of the activity. Don't drink a recovery drink after your workout otherwise this will also prevent weight loss. Weight loss is about creating an energy deficit so that your body collects the energy that it needs to survive from the fat which is stored around your body-not the food you eat. You must be consuming fewer calories than your body requires to survive on a daily basis so that the only place you can get the extra calories to make up the difference is your fat resources.

When you commence a new fitness regime, if weight loss is your goal, don't start eating porridge or muesli because you think they're the healthy option. They are high calorie options for people who are going to be performing a great deal of activity throughout the day. You're likely to consume 3 times as many calories through eating these cereals as you would have if you had stuck to your cocopops or cornflakes (see my previous article on cereals). You're probably only going to be sitting at your desk all day so eat a light breakfast and avoid snacking until lunchtime. If you must snack, eat some low calorie options to tide you over such as crunchy vegetables or a low calorie fruit like an apple.

Weight and fitness are two different things which are not to be confused. Here's a simple rule:

• If you're overweight-you eat/drink too much.
• If you're unfit-you don't do enough exercise.

Don't fool yourself by saying that you're overweight because you don't do enough exercise and don't pretend that you're unfit because your diet is bad. It's quite possible to be very fit and overweight. It's also quite possible to be underweight and very unfit. Your diet should be related to your lifestyle. If you don't do any exercise, you shouldn't eat very much. Gains in body fat mean you are eating/drinking* more than you need.

When you consume more fuel than you need it's stored as body fat. If you consume fewer calories than you need, these calories are taken from your body fat. It makes no difference if you run a marathon every day or not. It's about how many calories you expend vs. how many calories you consume.

Below is an example of a weight loss day:

Calories in - Calories out = Change in weight

2500 calories consumed - 3000 calories burned (2500 to survive plus 500 for exercise) = -500 calories

There are 9 calories in a gram of fat so 500/9 = 55.5 grams of fat lost in the above example. 20 days of this will result in over 1kg of weight loss.

So if weight loss is your goal, instill some discipline in yourself and forgo the extra "treats" that you've earned through exercise.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/does-running-make-you-fat-2368442.html

*in my experience many overweight people who believe they are eating the right amount aren't considering their alcohol intake which in some cases can be as much as 1000 calories most nights of the week.