The latest on exercise and weight loss

I gave a presentation to an auditorium full of people several years ago about exercise and how it helps you stave off the effects of aging. One of the things I mentioned is that exercise helps you "lose weight," because if you are exercising regularly you are probably burning up more calories than you consume. It's a very generalized statement, of course, because how much weight you lose depends on how much you exercise, how hard you exercise and how much you eat prior to and after exercise. After the talk was over, a woman came up to me.
"I'm not losing any weight!" she said.
She was about 45 years old and looked like she was 20 or 30 pounds heavier than she should be for optimum health. But she looked like she had a lot of energy, and her eyes were wide and bright and she was smiling.
"How often do you exercise?" I asked.
"Every day!" she said.
"Hard?"
"Running!"
"Are you sleeping well?"
"Never better!"
"Appetite's good?"
"Great. Low fat. Fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish."
"Health's good?"
"Excellent! I never get colds now!"
"Then what are you worried about?"
What my conversation points out is that people who exercise don't always lose weight. But you will lose fat. When you exercise, you are burning fat, but you're also building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. So when you climb on the scale, you won't always see a big difference.
What you will see is a leaner, firmer body, as well as many other benefits, such as improved circulation and heart and lung functions.
I will write more about how exercise helps you lose weight (hint: it has to be combined with reduced calorie consumption), but for now understand that the benefits from exercise reach far beyond weight loss. Don't get hung up on weight loss. Exercise, and be satisfied knowing that you are losing fat, even if the scale says you're still the same weight.