Would You Still Exercise If It Didn’t Burn Calories? Rethinking Your Relationship With Exercise
Exercise can support your health, strength, endurance, and well-being even when changing your weight isn't the goal.
Maybe you exercise regularly, but part of what keeps you going is the hope that it will change your body. Or maybe you've struggled to stick with exercise because if it isn't leading to weight loss, you're not sure it's doing enough.
If you've spent years dieting, it makes sense that exercise and weight loss might feel almost inseparable. We're surrounded by messages about burning calories, changing our bodies, and exercising to “work off” food.
But what if changing your body wasn't the only measure of what exercise could do for you?
Movement can help you feel stronger, build endurance, support your health, manage stress, spend time outside, connect with other people, or simply do something you enjoy. Maybe you want to keep up with your kids, feel stronger carrying groceries, go on a hike without worrying whether you can manage it, or notice that you just feel better after moving.
The question isn't whether wanting to change your body is right or wrong. It's whether there might be other reasons for moving that matter to you, too.
What If Weight Loss Isn't the Only Measure of Exercise?
This is something I hear often in nutrition counseling.
You might enjoy going for a 20-minute walk but feel like it doesn't count unless you walk for an hour. You might enjoy strength training but think you should be doing more cardio. Or maybe you like yoga but question whether it's a “real workout.”
We've been taught to connect the value of exercise with calorie burning, weight loss, and changing our bodies. But movement doesn't suddenly lose its value because it didn't burn a certain number of calories or lead to a change on the scale.
What else did that 20-minute walk give you?
Maybe you got outside after sitting at your desk all day. Maybe you had some time alone. Maybe your dog got a walk, you caught up with a friend, or you came home feeling a little less stressed.
Those things count, too.
Exercise Can Give You More Than a Change in Your Body
There are plenty of reasons you might choose to move that have nothing to do with changing your size.
You might want to feel stronger or build your endurance. Maybe movement helps you manage stress or sleep better. You might want to be able to hike on vacation, keep up with your kids, or say yes to something active without worrying about whether you can physically do it.
And sometimes you might exercise simply because you like it.
If finding movement you actually enjoy feels unfamiliar, you can read more about this in Reclaiming the Joy of Movement.
You also don't have to stop wanting to lose weight before these other reasons are allowed to matter. You can wish your body looked different and still question whether you want changing your body to be the main measure of whether exercise is worthwhile.
If that feels complicated, my post What If I Still Want to Lose Weight? talks more about holding that desire while stepping away from dieting.
When Food, Exercise, and Weight Get Tangled Together
For many people I work with in non-diet nutrition counseling, exercise and food can become connected, too.
Maybe you feel like you should eat less on a day you don't exercise. Maybe eating more than you planned makes you feel like you should work out. Or maybe taking a rest day leaves you feeling guilty.
Nutrition counseling isn't only about what you're eating. I also help clients look at the rules they've learned about food, exercise, weight, and health and find ways of caring for themselves that aren't dependent on following those rules perfectly.
Three Questions to Rethink Your Relationship With Exercise
You don't need to change your exercise routine to start thinking about your relationship with movement differently. The next time you're deciding whether or how to exercise, consider:
What do I hope exercise will give me besides a change in my body? Maybe it's strength, endurance, stress relief, fresh air, connection, or enjoyment.
Would this movement still feel worthwhile if it didn't affect my weight? Notice what comes up without trying to make yourself answer a certain way.
What kinds of movement support something I care about? Think about what you want your body to help you do in your everyday life, not just how you want it to look.
Exercise Doesn't Have to Change Your Body to Have Value
So, would you still exercise if it didn't change your weight?
There isn't a correct answer.
Exercise doesn't have to change your weight or body size to be doing something valuable for you. It might help you feel stronger, support your health, build endurance, manage stress, connect with other people, or simply give you something you enjoy.
If exercise didn't change your body, what would you want it to give you?
I'm a non-diet registered dietitian in Chelmsford, MA, and I provide weight-inclusive nutrition counseling for adults who want to step away from food and exercise rules and build a more peaceful relationship with food and their bodies.
If you're wondering whether nutrition counseling could help you, book a free 15-minute discovery call. We can talk about what's been feeling difficult and whether working together would be a good fit.
