All of us want to lose weight as fast and as easy as possible, especially if we’re already in the morbidly obese category. Unfortunately many of us have been told that traditional weight loss becomes less effective the heavier we are. We’ve all heard that to lose weight we have to decrease the food we eat (diet) and increase our exercise (energy output). If you’re like me, I “get” the principals, but sometimes my heart was never fully committed. Especially when you’re told that exercise should be 5 days a week for 60 minutes AND you should only eat, certain types of foods that add up to only a certain number of calories a day.
What if there was a scientific study that proved it?
Well, now there is.
Study Details:
A recent study by Dr Bret Goodpaster, University of Pittsburgh takes a direct shot at the assumptions that aggressive diet and exercise won’t work for people with severe obesity. Till now, many professionals have said that the only real solution to severe obesity was gastric surgery. Now before everyone starts jumping up and down – Dr Goodpaster is NOT saying bariatric surgery is unnecessary. Far from it! Dr Goodpaster specifically states in his research paper that it is “quite clear that bariatric surgery should continue to play an important role in the treatment of severe obesity.”
However, his study does show that severe obese people can significantly benefit from more traditional weight loss methods. They can lose weight and keep it off if they meet and stick with certain specific standards identified in the study. In other words, it’s never too late to begin taking positive steps in your life no matter what size you are.
Let’s briefly check out how the study was conducted before we look at the results.
A randomized study was carried out between March 2009 and March 2010. The finalized report was published to JAMA (Journal Of the American Medical Association) October 2010. It looked at the the effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention on weight loss in severely obese adults. Specifically it examined whether adopting a physical activity program in addition to a dietary intervention would promote additional weight loss compared with a dietary intervention alone. In addition the trial looked at whether these changes would differ in African American and white individuals.
If you’re like me, you just want the results, so read on in the next paragraph. If you want all the medical data and details, do the “Google” thing and check out the complete article. (use the article citation at the bottom for search criteria)
Participants of the 1 year study were divided into two groups. One group was started on “diet only”. The other group was started on “diet and exercise”. After the 1st six months the exercise program was added to the “diet only” group. The diet used by both groups has been used in previous trials and shown to result in a sustained 8% to 10% weight loss in 12 months. Energy intake was reduced to 1200 to 2100 kcal/d based on initial body weight. The diet consisted of 20% to 30% fat, 50% to 55% carbohydrate, and 20% to 25% protein.
The Results:
Not surprisingly, the “diet and exercise” group lost more weight in the 1st six months than the “diet only” group. When the “diet only” group started exercising at the six month mark, they began to lose weight at a rate similar to the “diet and exercise” group. Again, – not surprising.
Ok, so the study proves what most of us knew before. Sustain diet and exercise together result in greater weight loss and health benefits than either one by themselves. An added interesting titbit from the study indicates that by allowing people to do their exercise in 10 minute increments through out the day, they were more likely to adhere to the exercise goals and still gain the majority of benefits from exercising.
The real gem contain in this study is not in proving what we already knew, but is found in the very last line of the researchers “comments”. It says, and I quote: “Our data make a strong case that serious consideration should be given by health care systems to incorporating more intensive lifestyle interventions similar to those used in our study.”
The conclusion is a result of the researchers observations that their “intensive intervention” program that include lifestyle education, food choice education, exercise training AND regular ongoing follow-up significantly alters the success rate of participants in a diet or diet/exercise program.
So, if your Health Care System doesn’t incorporate this methodology in their existing obesity strategies, then the only option you have is to search out a business that uses a similar approach or create your own team of advocates that aren’t afraid to utilize an “intensive intervention” program with you over an extended time frame. (how many friendships could withstand that kind of test?)
Article Citation:
Bret H. Goodpaster; James P. DeLany; Amy D. Otto; Lewis Kuller; Jerry Vockley; Jeannette E. South-Paul; Stephen B. Thomas; Jolene Brown; Kathleen McTigue; Kazanna C. Hames; Wei Lang; John M. Jakicic
Effects of Diet and Physical Activity Interventions on Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Severely Obese Adults: A Randomized Trial
JAMA. 2010;0(2010):jama.2010.1505.
Powerful Weight Loss Actions
How to Lose Weight This Year 2010?
1. Plan a balanced diet
The promise of a fad diet remains a promise. Fad diets are temporary and more often than not, deprived you of some important nutrients. Experts in nutrition believe that eating the right quantity and quality of foods coupled with increased activity are the safest way to lose weight. Thus, before you plan for a drastic weight loss program don’t consult your friends, ask the nutritionist for a balanced weight loss program.
2. Avoid sedentary life
Diet without exercise negates its purpose. Losing weight is a simple math, if you eat more than your daily recommended energy and nutrient intake, you gain weight. To shed off the extra calories gained, it is imperative that you increase your physical activity. Choose an activity that will not totally exhaust your energy, because chances are, you will feel pathetic and lose your enthusiasm. Look for a partner for a weekly Saturday morning jog, or you can substitute coffee sessions for a badminton work-out with your friends. Be creative. Make it a fun-filled activity.
3. Learn to read the labels
Nutrition labels are absolutely helpful. Ask the experts on how to read and understand the labels at the back of the food packages. Be wary on the total calorie intake of the food per serving, as well as the amount of fats and sodium content.
4. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
The word itself suggests that breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day. It means “breaking the fast”, from the number of hours of sleeping with an empty stomach at night. We need energy to do the activities for the entire day. They always say that “eat like a king on breakfast, a prince at lunch time and like a poor man at supper”. Unfortunately, most of us do it the other way around. We eat most at dinner time, where our metabolism is slow and can no longer burn the excess calorie as much during the earlier part of the day.
5. Try fruits and vegetables as an alternative snacks
Avoid empty calorie snack. Chips, soda and cakes are loaded with calories and yet do not give us a feeling of fullness. Chances are we take it excessively until we think we are already full.
Losing weight takes a lot of hard work and determination. But, I am pretty sure, if you lose that unwanted pounds, the after effect are endless. It means confidence and positive outlook in life, plus the other health effects such as lesser risks to heart conditions. Be fit. Be healthy this 2010 and it lies in your hands. Get going!
Weight Loss Pills Scams – How You Can Avoid Them
You’re FAT! You need to lose weight! Why can’t you stop eating? You need to go on a diet! You know who you are. You have heard it a million times. But…guess who else has heard it? Those companies whose products are lined up on shelves, claiming a quick fix to your negative body image which everyone seems to be willing to tell you.
What are you going to do? Succumb? Brow beat yourself? Or TAKE CONTROL! There is a lot of money in those diet pills, particularly directed towards the young people. What can you personally do to avoid being taken in by a con artist?
Read…read…read. Familiarize yourself with all the facts. “Just the facts, ma’am”, so goes a movie line. Read the enclosed brochure on any diet pills being offered that catches your eye. Don’t just read the first few paragraphs. They usually are a ploy or a bait and you won’t want to read further. Yet, reading further may save you heartache in the future. After all, it is your health you are concerned about. Right?
Next…research…research…research. The Internet is there for a reason. So are the libraries. Don’t take articles at face value or the TV commercials being promoted by individuals who claim to be doctors. They are in front of the camera strictly for the money being paid them. Would they misrepresent the truth? It is anyone’s guess.
And…lastly…look at the side effects listed. Side effects are there for a dual purpose. First someone experienced them and second, to protect the companies promoting these diet pills. After all, if they weren’t listing side effects and you experienced them, this matter could be before the legal courts.
By reading, researching and noting side effects, you are able to gather needed information in your quest for a healthier you. These pills should have been certified and that some sort of rating is on the package in a reading fashion. Proof that they work would also be in your favor. And be it known, it costs next to nothing to manufacture colorful sugar coated pills.
A quick fix to weight loss? Not really. Nothing a little movement and eating healthy foods wouldn’t cure. Next time someone takes the time to offer unsolicited criticism, ask yourself how YOU feel. Stay away from quick fixes. Those quick fixes could be lasting fixes that you did not bargain for. And they may cost you more than those weight loss pills you paid for as you attempt to undo the damage with the help of the medical profession. Learn to like yourself for who you are and that neat “package” that you were given. If you feel the need for change, than change because YOU felt the need for change and not because some pill poppin’ diet company says you have to change. After all, the reflection in the mirror on a daily basis is the real you. You are who you are and it is YOU that you want to impress.