"Also remember that weight loss is not the only benefit of exercise."
Weight loss is not part of any benefit of exercise. Though your statement is commonly held as a belief there is absolutely no scientific basis for your statement.
Anyone can easily verify this for themselves: take a chart showing calories in common foods beside a chart showing common activities and how many calories they burn and try to find any scenario where you can out exercise your mouth.
You've acknowledged that you do burn calories during exercise so consequently losing weight IS a benefit of exercise.
It is true that in general one should not depend on exercise only for losing weight. Watching what you eat is the easiest way of managing weight but it is a message often lost on many.
You are completely right it's surprisingly difficult to out exercise your mouth! When you do these calculations just remember to include the basic metabolic rate.
You are also right diet is the most important factor. You've got to eat less than you use.
However exercise causes you to expend more energy and even a small energy deficit will lead to weight loss over time.
Another important factor is that exercise helps to regulate appetite.
I personally think the increased appetite from exercise more than cancels out the benefits to weight loss. I've also read that before but I don't know if there is a really good study to back it up. Don't get me wrong, I think there are a zillion good reasons to exercise but losing weight will never be one of them.
I've seen some very legitimate sources that show that this effect, while technically true, is irrelevant for fat loss in the real world due to increased appetite to build and maintain those muscles and the amount of passive calorie burning with more muscles is negligable.
Weight loss is not part of any benefit of exercise. Though your statement is commonly held as a belief there is absolutely no scientific basis for your statement.
Anyone can easily verify this for themselves: take a chart showing calories in common foods beside a chart showing common activities and how many calories they burn and try to find any scenario where you can out exercise your mouth.