Is your workout keeping you fat and sick? Dr. Alison shares how exercise may help with weight loss.
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Let’s get started. So today we are talking about exercise. Does it help with weight loss? What do you need to do to be able to exercise to lose weight? Because you might be wondering if exercise would even help, what type of exercise you need to do. Is it going to help with pounds or inches. This video is for you. So if we haven’t met yet, I am Dr. Alison I am a functional medicine practitioner. I am a wellness advocate with doTERRA and I help women overcome chronic health issues, deal with weight loss, manage their anxiety, sleep through the night so they can feel like themselves again. So today we are going to cover this exercise, help with weight loss. What are your goals with your exercise, how to meet those goals faster and how to make sure they’re the right goals for you, your health and your body and what you can do to speed up weight loss.
So the question is, does exercise help with weight loss? And the answer is yes and no. And there’s a lot of reasons for that. So we burn most of our calories just from being alive, through digestion, reading, heart rate, taking in food, getting rid of food. So exercise actually only accounts for a little bit of what we’re doing and expending as energy for our weight, for our metabolic rate and research shows that people who exercise tend to eat more food as either a reward or because you’re hungrier is a really common issue. So a lot of times really, like, I think I burned like a thousand calories. So I get to have whatever I want. And that actually messes up our rate, our caloric intake and how much we’re eating, how much we’re expanding for that day. We tend to pack on more weight. Sometimes when we’re exercising, I don’t know about you, but our gym is right next door to the best breakfast place on the face of the planet.
So sometimes when I get done with a workout, I’m like, okay, I earned this. I’m going to go get some pancakes and some coffee and well, that’s great. That’s not a bad thing. It doesn’t necessarily help my weight loss efforts or the things that I just did in the gym by reconsidering a ton of calories. Plus you know that I’m getting whipped cream and chocolate chips and a bunch of sugar that I don’t necessarily need, right. And exercise alone isn’t going to necessarily help you meet your weight loss goals because it’s not enough. We still have to focus on food, lifestyle, hormones, stress, all of those things. So that’s another major reason why exercise alone will not help you just lose weight. Right? And then honestly, the theory of calories in versus calories out just doesn’t apply anymore. Our society, our culture, yeah. Are how do you use the way they are now do not respond necessarily to just eat less and move more.
And now, while that’s the typical thing that I hear from my patients where, oh, my doctor said, I just need to lose weight. So he said, eat less. I need to exercise every day, but it’s not working. Maybe you’ve been doing that for a long time. There are too many other factors like obesogens, diabetogenic autoimmune conditions, mold, viruses, bacteria, things that can keep the weight on and it’s not going to help you at all. So don’t get too caught up in the fallacy of calories in versus calories out. You don’t need to look up cupcakes. If you have a cupcake and go, all right, how long do I have to work out to get this out of me? Because that’s not how it works. Your body is going to naturally use that energy for your basal metabolic rate for your daily processes. You don’t have to focus in on a punishment reward system because that’s not going to help you either.
So there’s too many factors. So don’t worry. Now I wanted to title this, I think I already said that, I wanted to title this video “Is your workout making you sick? Is it keeping you fat?” Because a lot of my patients are experiencing this and I really wanted to talk about it because it’s really important. I absolutely hate these new style of gyms where everybody’s wearing a heart monitor and the numbers are up on the board, whether it’s, it doesn’t matter. There’s so much pressure to conform. There’s so much pressure to do better. Be better. People are screaming faster in your face and yelling at you. And it’s just not healthy. It’s not healthy for anyone. Keeping most of my patients sick. Now, some people can handle this and I’m going to say this right now. You might be the person who can get in these high intensity gyms and kill it.
And you feel great and you’re losing weight and you’re stronger than ever. And you probably don’t have the issues that my patients have with auto-immune conditions and anxiety and insomnia and infections. So there’s, there’s kind of two separate groups here. So don’t worry if you’re like, Hey, I’m killing it. And I feel amazing with this workout. Awesome. If you’re trying to lose weight and you don’t feel good and you’re not killing it, then you need to stand up and pay attention. Everybody’s body is so different. So many women have pelvic floor issues and they’re going into these workouts and these gyms and they’re having leakage and everybody thinks it’s funny and it’s not because their body is weak. And if your pelvic floor is weak and the rest of your body is weak, your core is weak. Your low back is weak. When your low back is weak,
Your neck is weak, so if you have migraines, if you have incontinence, if you have low back pain, if you have sciatica, if you have any issues, there’s a bigger issue at hand. Okay. let’s see, what else did I want to say?
So now I have a lot of patients who have very, very similar lifestyles. So if you feel called out, I kind of want to apologize, but don’t worry. I’m not like thinking of just one person. This is what many, many people do. So a lot of people will wake up at 3:00 AM, 4:00 AM, 5:00 AM. They do a super high intensity workout where their heart rate is super high.
Their friends are like, you need to go faster. How come you’re not running? Why are you walking today? You’re being lazy or their trainers telling them that they’re lazy and they’re low on the board and they feel bad and you don’t want to talk about, and then you get done with their workout.
Sometimes they get to go home and collapse for a few hours. Sometimes they go to work. A lot of times they’re going to the drive through that’s right next door. They’re getting a mocha with a banana and a muffin and calling that breakfast. And then by 2:00 PM, they’re dead asleep. They can’t function. And they have to, because we have to go take care of kids and make dinner and finish work and get them to sports and get them home. Like, you know what I’m talking about, right? So they’re exhausted the rest of the day. And then typically they don’t sleep at night or they fall asleep at seven thirty with their face and their dinner plate. And they’re, they have no idea what’s happening. So this is a very serious issue. Your workouts are making you sick. They’re keeping you fat. If you’re struggling with illness, you have to slow down.
And I know that’s really hard to do. If you’ve ever heard me talk, I talk a lot about my health and this as well. High-Intensity high heart rate issues are very, very, very, very bad for people who are sick, who are chronic illness who have autoimmune conditions. You are keeping your body in a constant state of inflammation, which is keeping you fat to keeping you sick. Last year, before I got really, really sick with my ulcerative colitis, I was in the gym. I was hitting it. I would have to take a break every other day or take four days off and go to the gym. Then take four days off because it didn’t click for me because I didn’t know what was going on yet that high-intensity workouts increase your cortisol. And that increases your immune system, which is normally a wonderful thing. That’s why we exercise.
We want to improve our immune system. But when you have an auto-immune disease, it increases the attack on those tissues. And then you get really sick, which is why you had to take that time off. Cause I had no idea that was happening for me. You are exhausting, your adrenals, you’re exhausting. Your neuro-transmitters because your progesterone, your estrogen effect your serotonin and it effects your melatonin. There’s so much at stake here. Like I said, you’re in a constant state of inflammation. You’re limiting your energy reserves. You’re not going to lose weight. You’re not going to improve your energy. And you’re just going to get worse and worse. Trust me on this. The other thing is that you probably eat like crap, to be honest. You’re think you’re eating good or you’re just putting too much inflammatory foods into your body, like dairy, gluten cheese pizza.
And you’re just keeping the cycle of inflammation going. This also applies to over-training. So if you’re the kind of person who’s like, but I take it slow and I work out just fine, but the next day you can’t go up the stairs. And you’re like, yeah, I worked out really good. I can’t even make it up the stairs. That’s over-training and it can also cause inflammation and will also slow down your healing process. So my goal for you would be to get in the gym, whatever you like doing, but make sure that you can walk the next day. Don’t overdo it. My thing that I’ve learned from my body is that I try to keep my heart rate under one 20. And if it goes too high, I just sit down and I take a break and it sucks and it makes my workouts longer, but I’m healthier.
I’m stronger. And I’m more fit because I’m slowing down. So you can do that too. Okay. So what are your goals with your workout? Why are you killing yourself over this? If you are. And because it’s not just about weight loss rates, so there’s a lot of other things at stake. So when I think about people who are working out so hard or intensely that they’re making themselves physically sick, I want to know like, what is your goal? Are you trying to be in the next powerlifter? Are you doing a bikini competition? Are you trying to be the next CrossFit competitor? And you’re trying to take out Katrin Davidsdottir and you’re not going to because she is amazing. Why are you pushing so hard and making yourself so sick? Because there has to be a reason. And it’s not just about weight loss at this point.
Now, of course, getting strength stronger, right? Improving your lungs and your heart, gaining strength. So you can be more active with your family, improving your immune system, all good things. But why are you exercising the way you are? Because we have to figure out your goals that are realistic for your body, for your health, for your life. So can you just focus on being a little bit stronger today than you were yesterday? And even if you’re not, even if you’re in the down part where your body’s like readjusting or your, how your period or you’re just having a down day is okay too. Like how can you really just learn to manage these goals? Take some pressure off of your body and know that exercise is not the key to dropping 80 pounds, not alone. There’s so much more at stake. Food is, food is so much more important than the exercise.
Exercise is still important, but we have to balance these things. Okay. So what can you do to speed up weight loss? There’s a couple things. So number one is being consistent. Nothing is overnight. You can’t go to the gym one time and lose 50 pounds. You can’t eat a salad one day for lunch and lose two pants sizes, right? You need to stay focused, stay consistent and don’t give up on yourself. The other thing is, don’t reward yourself with food, even though it’s really tempting, like, okay, if I go to the gym every single day, this week, I’m getting a beer and pizza and wings on Friday night. When we reward herself with food, we make food, an enemy and it’s not, it’s not a reward is not a punishment. It is something that sustains us. So think of other ways to reward yourself either with like a massage or a trip to the spa, something that’s going to encourage you, but not related to food.
So exercise of course will help. So I believe that when you start exercising, you just naturally start to take care of yourself. And other ways you make better food choices. You’re maybe you won’t go to the drive through as much. Maybe you start cooking more. Maybe you just start educating yourself more about your body and what your body likes. So be really specific on the ways that you exercise get help and understanding your body, your hormones, all those things, and what exercise would be best for you when it comes to food off the bat. I normally recommend people cut out gluten and dairy products. Those are the two most highest inflammatory topics and types of foods that we can eat. Yes, eating cheese every day. It’s going to keep you inflamed. It’s going to keep your gut upset. Yes. Having cereal for breakfast is not a good thing.
So when you say, give yourself a week or two without these foods, as a trial and see how you feel, okay. I would also start tracking your foods on inner macros on something like my fitness pal. I find most women and some men just aren’t eating enough and not enough protein, not enough calories and not enough fat. So it’s a really good thing to really check this out and make sure that you’re eating enough. Most of my patients, followers are women who struggle with stress, anxiety, thyroid issues, weight gain, chronic illnesses. So the number one thing is getting a blood work done who needs help? What needs helping your body? Is it actually your thyroid? Is there something else going on? Is it your adrenals? We can figure that out through your blood work.
If you struggle with weight on your hips and your thighs, you want to get hormone testing done.
You’re never going to lose weight. If you have low testosterone and low DHEA and your cortisol’s all over the place. So figuring that out will be very helpful. And the same thing with your belly. If you carry a lot of belly weight that might be adrenals and cortisol as well. So we can do a saliva of the test for that. Food sensitivity can be helpful to see what’s keeping inflammation in your body. And food is so personalized that I would never make a general recommendation of, oh, go paleo, go keto, go do this because everybody is so different and the same with exercise. So really just get some help on what would be best for you. And I’m going to throw this in there to stop intermittent fasting, especially if you struggle with weight and insomnia, anxiety, all these things that are chronic illnesses I’ve been talking about.
Most people do better when they do eat more consistently because we’re maintaining a healthier blood sugar level. And again, everyone’s so different. So hang in there and really just try different things and figure out what works best for your body. And then lastly, I would say address why you want to lose weight. I refer many of my patients to therapists because they need emotional support as well. Many of them struggle with eating disorders. Others have issues because their family is attacking them or their friends are picking on them about their weight and they feel bad. And I have a ton of patients who are like, I need to lose a ton of weight, but they’re very healthy and they’re at a perfect weight, but they feel so guilty because someone in their life is making them feel bad. So really it’s a good place to examine why you want to lose weight, address your relationship with food and exercise and keep it in a healthy, loving, respectful way for your body. And if you’re listening for personalized help, I am here to support you. I always offer a free health consultation for you. We take some time to go through your symptoms, your goals, what you’re looking for, what you need help with. So you can schedule online and pick a date and time that works for you. And we’ll meet up and chat about your issues and make this plan to move forward. So thank you for tuning in today and we’ll see you next time.
Okay.
