I’ve had a few patients recently tell me they don’t know why they can’t lose weight, even though they’ve been fairly active for a long time.
To me, this is a straightforward question. But it often surprises people because we’ve spent years swimming in mixed messages about weight loss. One of the persistent misunderstandings in the current zeitgeist is that the right kind of exercise is the key.
It isn’t.
Yes, the old calories in, calories out idea is broadly true, but some under-the-hood factors matter more over the long run.
The Real Drivers: Hunger, Stress, and Sleep
The essential problem with using exercise as a weight-loss tool is that our bodies naturally increase hunger signals in proportion to activity level. More exercise → more hunger → more eating.
On top of that, stress and sleep issues can push people to eat for comfort outside of true hunger signals and can disrupt our basal metabolic rate — the bulk of our everyday calorie burn, just to keep us alive.
Since BMR makes up most of our “calories out,” the real key shifts to intake and satiety. In other words:
How do we get full, and how do we stay full?
What Actually Increases Satiety
Protein, fiber, and water — in that order — do the heavy lifting for satiety.
This is why both major “diet camps” end up being partially right. Keeping fat intake somewhere around what’s needed for hormone synthesis (roughly 20–30% of total calories) is ideal. Carbohydrates can be kept relatively low, as long as you have enough for energy and daily functioning.
Unsurprisingly, properly built salads and soups can work well because they activate stretch-receptor satiety signals. But that’s not the only option anymore. There are now high-fiber, resistant-starch breads, bagels, and even rice prep methods that make fullness and blood-sugar stability easier than ever.
Protein remains the keystone, though. It directly triggers the big satiety hormones, leptin and ghrelin. Ideally, each meal should have a solid source of protein; snacking on chips alone just won’t trigger fullness in the same way.
So… Is Exercise Useless?
No — exercise is fantastic for almost everything except weight loss. It helps a little, but the bulk of the challenge is increasing awareness around intake, hunger cues, and general wellness.
Practical Tools That Actually Help
Track Your Intake (Even Briefly)
Apps like MyFitnessPal can give you a more objective sense of your true calorie intake. Many people do well through the week but “let loose” on one or two days. If you keep tracking on those days, you’ll often see how the weekly average ends up far higher than your “good day” calories — and that’s enough to stall progress.
We are very good at taking in a large number of calories at once, so consistency really does matter.
Know Your Numbers
If you’re curious about specifics, look up a TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator online. Let’s say it gives you 2500 calories/day. Eating about 500 calories below that each day should yield roughly one pound of fat loss per week, assuming everything else is stable.
Just remember: water weight moves much faster than fat. Don’t let normal day-to-day scale fluctuations derail you. Trust the intake tracking, use measurements, or average your weight over a week or month to get a clearer view.
Dunbar Acupuncture And Wellness 