How do calories work? I bike 5 miles, I lose ~120-150 calories. But a small snack can be more than that?

Question

Trying to lose weight and putting it in numbers is demoralizing. I’ve started riding a stationary bike for 5 miles and then doing minor weight lifting after and I maaaaybe lose 200 or so calories. Is that not a good exercise? I’ve been doing this almost everyday starting 2 weeks ago. But it’s starting to feel useless if it’s such a minor amount of calories burnt. Is this a good trend to continue? What am I missing?

Edit: everyone here has been incredibly helpful, and surprisingly consistent with one another. I feel much more confident about what I’m doing and what I need to do. Seriously, thank you all.

In: 209

Answer 1

I believe an unpopular hypothesis on this topic. I used to weigh 475lbs. I currently weigh 194lbs. I don’t believe we burn calories with physical activity and there is some research to support it. The human body is amazing at adapting. When you first start working out, you might burn SOME calories, but with any consistency, your body will account for the increased activity by shutting down other less needed processes (like inflammatory responses.) [Studies examining calories burned by different groups](https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-busts-myths-about-how-humans-burn-calories-and-why) found that when adjusted for lean muscle mass, sedentary office working, long distance runners, and Olympic athletes all burned the same number of calories per day. So yes, exercise can help you burn more calories, but it is the result of the exercise that burns the calories and not the exercise itself.

This research also rings true to my personal experiences, even if largely anecdotal. You don’t lose weight in the gym. You build muscle in the gym. You lose weight in the kitchen. This is not to say that exercise is unnecessary, it most certainly is if you want to look good once you’ve lost the weight, but there’s a reason why they say “you cannot outrun a bad diet.”

Don’t take what I say as gospel by any means, just wanted to share an alternative viewpoint with some science to back it up, controversial or not.