A new study published in the July 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine has revealed that obese and overweight women need to cut calories and exercise 275 minutes a week more than their baseline physical activity if they are to register weight loss success. The study also suggest physical activity for at least 55 minutes a day, five days a week to lose weight or avoid further weight gain.
The research that was led by John M. Jakicic, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, and contemporaries studied 201 obese and overweight women over a two-year period.
The researchers categorized the participants into four groups depending on how much, how intensely they exercised and how many calories they burned.
The participants where then subjected to eat or drink more than 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day. Various methods were used to make sure that the participants did not deviate from the requirements.
Researchers tracked the participants by talking to them on the phone and having face-to-face conversations. Participants were encouraged to stretch the exercise out over five days during a week, done in at least 10-minute chunks.
At the end of the two-year study, women who had done more physical activity compared with those who did not lose as much weight reported more weight loss almost up to 10 percent.
The study also revealed that most women had problems with retaining the weight loss despite 8 -10 percent average weight loss for women in all four groups. This was after six months. However, most of them regained the weight after the first six months.
The research found out that the 25 percent of women who managed to keep 10% or more of their original body weight off over the two years exercised about 275 minutes a week more over their baseline activity levels.
They also got the most support, completing the most telephone calls from researchers, and said they participated in more eating behaviors recommended for weight control than those who gained the weight back.
The researchers concluded that relatively high level of physical activity is needed to lose weight and keep it off.
This finding will no doubt fuel debate about the current recommendations of up to 150 minute a week.
Source WebMB
A woman should always look good for herself and only then for the others. People get to judge but they din`t get to see the effort hiding behind a fit and well shaped body. In the end we decide what routine is good for us, but at http://www.projectweightloss.com i found out the reason why women should work out daily.
40 minutes a day?
I read with some interest the summary of the study that seemed to suggest that women that exercised 40 minutes a day had the best results. While I have not seen the study, I would bet that the women that exercised more were also the women that watch their diet more than the women that did not. Many women may not lose weight easily eating 1500 calories a day, especially if this is close to the baseline metabolic needs.
I would suggest that diet plays a greater role in weight loss because it take a net loss of 3500 calories less then the body's needs to lose a pound of weight (hopefully fat). That equates to 500 pounds less a day ideally by a combination of less calories in and some more calories burned in exercise.
I think one possible issue with focusing on exercise (that the article seems to) is one cannot easily exercise off 500 calories a day and make a life style change that is needed to affect a lasting weight loss.
I just posted on my latest results entitled, "Melting the fat, Techniques that work" here: http://leananmean.com/http:/leananmean.com/melting-the-fat-techniques-that-work/
Regards,
John W. Zimmer