Exercising is Not an Excuse to Eat More

As a personal trainer in based in Glasgow I recommend clients should be exercise 3/4 times per week – consistently. When clients adhere to this regime, they will see a maintenance of their weight, week on week and improvements in their fitness and strength.

We sometimes find that when clients start exercising, they actually start to gain weight or can sometimes stay the same. This can be de-motivating as their goals are normally centred around weight loss. The problem I face as a Personal Trainer is that when a new program is underway clients continue to eat whatever they want as they believe that the exercise alone counteracts this, however this method never leads to a calorie deficit.

Every individual will have their own unique calorie allowance which will depend on their height, age, sex, current weight and activity level. This allowance will then determine how much a person can eat. With the amount of data required to establish this allowance, no two clients will ever be the same and this is where Personal Training really shows its value. We can provide the correct allowances, ensuring clients have a clear target calorie intake – essential for their fat loss journey.

The most common question we come across is “ I’m exercising weekly but why am I not losing any weight?”

To give an example, ‘Sally’ has a BMR of 1500 calories per day and her calorie intake is 1500. Sally will not lose any weight because she is not in a calorie deficit, if anything she may stay the same. Now Sally keeps her 1500 calories per day but also starts taking 1 to 2 personal training sessions. The training increases her expenditure by an extra 800 calories per week (2 x 400 calorie personal training sessions) Sally is only increasing her daily energy expenditure by 114.2 calories per day with those 2 sessions. Even with the new expenditure, if Sally treats herself to a couple bites of chocolate or a glass of wine, or a little bag of chips at the weekend she will actually begin to gain weight while exercising. The issue Sally faces is that she feels she has earned her treats however through indulging in these she has counteracted the personal training sessions and calorie deficit.

When clients are trying to lose weight it so important that they are aware of how much they putting in (calories) because this has a huge impact on the fitness journey. Although they may exercise, the old wives’ tale that suggest they can eat what they like isn’t true.
The best way to lose weight is to determine your unique individual BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) and then use a HRM (Heart rate Monitor) to track calorie output and use an app such as My Fitness Pal to help track input. Using these two methods will seriously increase the chances of weight loss success.

If you would like help calculating your Individual BMR, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via our website or call 07725988144.