The sedentary among us have all been there. Our clothing gets a little tight around the midriff. So, we start exercising to burn away the extra pounds.

But too often, we don’t lose any weight. The problem: Exercise makes us hungrier. By eating more, we negate the fat-melting effects of all that beneficial exercise unless we’re really steadfast in resisting the urge to eat. Indeed, we might actually gain weight despite all that extra exertion.

Our buff muscles might thank us, but our waistlines will not.

Two studies led by a scientist at the University of Kentucky provide insight about the relationship between exercise and appetite. Researchers divided sedentary, overweight men and women in separate groups that burned either 1,500 or 3,000 calories through exercise each week. Workouts over a three-month period varied in length and frequency.

Regardless of which group volunteers found themselves, the claw-back effect was similar — whether they burned 1,500 or 3,000 calories, the volunteer compensated with 1,000 extra calories in post-exercise eating.

Those in the 1,500-calorie group tended to maintain their girth, while the 3,000-calorie burners shed the fat. But that meant lots of exercise — about 300 minutes a week. Maintaining such a pace, though, isn’t easy for people whose sedentary ways got them in a fat fix to begin.

The studies’ authors noted that the folks who exercised the most had higher levels of leptin in their blood, a hormone that can reduce appetite. That might explain why they didn’t eat even more food despite their more-extensive exercise.

All this reinforces an ugly, unrelenting truth: Losing weight is never a cakewalk.