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Diet, exercise or both: How much can you expect to lose?
If you’ve struggled with weight issues, you likely have also struggled with what to do to lose it.
After all, what’s the best way to go about losing weight? Diet advice is so plentiful, embarking on a good plan isn’t as easy as it seems.
Do you have to diet? Is exercise alone enough? And, how much can you reasonably expect to lose?
When it comes to weight loss it seems like we all have more questions than answers.
Luckily, for us, there are researchers that spend their days looking into this sort of thing, and here’s what they’ve found…
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The answers to your weight loss questions
The researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center split 439 women into four groups:
- The first group used exercise only with a goal of 45 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise per day, five days a week
- The second group used diet only with a goal of 1,200 to 2,000 calories a day, depending on their starting weight, and fewer than 30 percent of daily calories from fat
- The third group participated in both exercise and diet (with the same goals as above)
- While the final group served as a control group and didn’t change their diet or exercise
So, which group benefitted from the highest amount of weight loss?
Group number three… The women who exercised and made changes to their diet achieved significantly higher weight loss than either strategy alone.
In fact, the women who both ate less and exercised more lost an average of nearly 11 percent of their body weight in just one year. So, for example, if you weigh 180 now, in one year of following the exercise and diet guidelines above, you could reasonably expect to lose 19.8 pounds.
This was far higher than the weight loss in the diet only and exercise only groups where they saw an average loss of only 8.5 percent (or 15.8 pounds) and 2.4 percent (or 4.4 pounds) respectively and the control group who lost an average of less than a pound.
And, according to the researchers, the loss of over 10 percent of their body weight in the diet plus exercise group gave them the added benefit of decreasing their risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
In other words, you get the biggest bang for your buck by combining diet and exercise.
Putting it to work
In this particular study, the women reduced the number of calories they ate by cutting fat intake and boosting the consumption of low-calorie foods and, of course, worked in regular, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise into their days.
Sound like something you can do? Of course! You don’t have to be an extreme athlete…
Just walk, ride a bike or use the cardio machines at your gym. Remember to start slowly and work your way up to that 45 minutes per day goal.
And, there’s one more thing that might help…
The researchers also found that the women who lost the most weight and body fat kept a food journal, writing down everything they ate and drank with the exception of water and no-calorie drinks. Keeping a food journal holds you accountable for your food choices and lets you see immediately where you might be slipping up.
So, now that you know the key to losing the weight you want and how much you can expect to lose, it’s time to get started. Set your own goals, get a journal ready and begin the journey to a healthier, slimmer you.
Source:
- Diet plus exercise is more effective for weight loss than either method alone — Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
By Dr. Adria Schmedthorst
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