So you're currently on your new program for losing weight. Restricting your calories, working out 5 to 6 times a week and making sure to get at least 5,000 steps per day tracked by your pedometer. Everyone has been telling you, don’t worry about the small portion sizes and reduced food intake, all the exercise you are doing will help decrease your appetite so it should not be an issue.

I know losing weight is hard. I hate to break it to you, but exercise does not have an effect on appetite. People usually don’t compensate or only partially compensate for energy expended during exercise. Some studies have actually found that people will out-eat their exercise, because they have the attitude, “I exercised today and I can eat that cookie.” I'm warning you, you can always out-eat the calories you have burned during exercise. To burn 220 calories from a large cookie, you would have to wash your car for 1 hour and 15 minutes. That is a lot of activity to have to do for one measly little cookie.

If anything, exercise will actually increase your appetite. This is actually an artificial increase in appetite as it is often psychologically related, resulting in the “since and therefore” syndrome: Since I have worked out, therefore I can eat that. Exercise is great to get you more fit and conditioned and to help you keep your LDL is low and HDLs are high, but it will not decrease your appetite. However, the one thing it will do is keep you from eating since you are too occupied to eat while you're exercising. Enjoy the burn without changing your appetite!