me_irl

Exercise doesn't lose weight. Weight is 99% controlled by diet. Exercise will make you not feel like shit so you don't use food as a dopamine hit. Which is why moderate exercise is better for weight loss. If your workout is making you feel like shit, that might be good for fitness and performance, but it still won't lose weight faster, and now you are eating more to support recovery.

So there are two pathways exercise can impact weight.

Exercise -> psychology -> diet -> weight
Exercise -> calorie consumption -> weight

The first one just happens to be more impact because the second one does almost nothing at all. Any useful pathway has to hit diet because that's 99% of weight (at least of the factors you have control over).