Katie said that people often have a misconception that they can exercise and not change anything about their diet and, ultimately, they'll lose weight. But, as we've reported on in the past (countless times, at that) unhealthy habits can still burden your weight-loss goals even if you're working out. Some studies show that when people only incorporate training into their lives, the weight they lose isn't very significant. It also could be that they "just get hungrier and eat back those calories," Katie said.
In order to lose fat, you need to be in a caloric deficit and expend more calories than you're eating. In fact, you could very well lose weight without exercise, though experts recommend that incorporating both is the most effective way to lose fat in general. Plus, it would be very difficult to create that caloric deficit just by working out and not focusing on diet. As Ashleigh Kast, NASM-certified trainer, told us in a previous interview, "the amount of working out you need to do in a week without addressing food to maintain that caloric deficit can be very stressful." Here are seven fat-loss basics you should know.