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Seen At 11: Losing Weight And Overcoming 'The Workout Woe'

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- You work out over and over again but the pounds won't come off.

Is it your imagination? Or, does exercise help some people lose weight and not others?

Many people have been told that the more they exercise the more weight they will lose. But, new research has shown that the equation may not work for everyone.

Indu Persaud told CBS 2's Kristine Johnson that despite exercising regularly he wasn't seeing results.

"It's a little bit frustrating when you don't see the scale going down and you are doing more work," Persaud said.

Dr. Marc Cornier has been studying the effects of exercise on weight loss at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and said that Persaud is not alone in his frustration.

"It comes the end of January, mid-February, and you look at yourself and say, 'I haven't lost any weight,' I'm very frustrated. This happens over and over again," he said.

The reason that it happens is because of the body's energy balance. Energy balance is the relationship between the calories that you consumer and the calories that you burn.

"There is a lot of controversy over exercise as a weight loss tool," Dr. Cornier said.

Researchers found that most people only burn between 200 and 300 calories in a typical 30 minute exercise session. That amount isn't enough to make a difference in your weight, especially if you add a post workout sports drink which can contain enough calories to negate all of your hard work.

Studies have shown that exercise alone can't produce weight loss without a change in eating habits.

"I pretty much knew what the problem is," Persaud said.

Once Persaud started watching his sugar and carbohydrate intake he started to see results. He has already lost 17-lbs.

"It was mostly diet and portion control," he explained.

Dr. Cornier said that if you want to lose weight you need to burn more calories and that a good way to do that is with aerobic exercise.

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