“The most common arguments against using exercise to control weight are that calories from diet dwarf those spent on physical activity and that exercise increases hunger and fatigue, thus supposedly causing us to compensate by eating more and becoming couch potatoes after we exercise. A two-mile walk burns about 100 more calories than sitting, but that refreshing Coca-Cola afterward contains 140 calories. However, studies show that people who exercise more don’t necessarily compensate by eating more and they usually don’t become less active for the rest of the day.5 It is untrue you can’t lose weight by exercising. Instead, weight loss from exercise is much slower and more gradual than weight loss from dieting. Over the course of a year, walking an extra two miles a day can potentially lead to five pounds of weight loss. In addition, exercise definitely helps prevent weight regain following a diet, and likely plays a major role in preventing weight gain in the first place.6”