The best way to prevent weight regain after you've worked so hard to
lose it...
A new study has shown why it's so difficult to prevent weight regain
following several months of dieting.
A research team, based at Maastricht University, showed that just ten
weeks on a very low-calorie diet actually reduces the number of
fat calories your body burns each day. This post-diet drop in fat oxidation
could explain why many people find it such a challenge to prevent weight
regain.
A group of 40 overweight men took part in the study. They were divided
into two groups.
• Diet only.
• Diet plus aerobic exercise.
During the first six weeks of the study, subjects in both groups were
given a very low-calorie diet providing just 500 calories daily. From
weeks 7 to 10, they gradually increased their food intake.
The men in the exercise group completed three sessions per week, consisting
of walking and underwater exercise. Each workout lasted for around one
hour. The table below shows you what happened in both groups following
10-12 weeks of diet and exercise.
TABLE 1. Changes in body composition following 10-12 weeks of diet
and exercise.
|
Group
|
Fat Loss
|
Muscle Loss
|
|
Diet
|
- 28 lb
|
- 5 lb
|
|
Diet plus exercise
|
- 28 lb
|
- 6 lb
|
As you can see, both groups lost roughly the same amount of fat and muscle.
However, tests showed that the subjects who didn't exercise had
a reduced capacity to burn fat, both at rest and during exercise.
This post-diet decline in the number of fat calories used as energy offers
one explanation as to why it's so easy to put weight back on after you've
lost it. The good news is that exercise serves to completely "block"
this decline, which could help you prevent weight regain.
There are two important points you can take from this study.
• Low-intensity aerobic exercise (such as walking) performed three
times per week has little effect on the rate at which you lose
fat. A combination of weight training and interval
exercise is a far more effective way to train if you want to lose
fat faster.
• The benefits of low-intensity aerobic exercise are more apparent
when you're trying to keep the weight off. The exercise doesn't have
to be particularly vigorous or demanding. Just three hours of walking
each week appears adequate to prevent the post-diet decline in fat oxidation.
Reference
van Aggel-Leijssen, D.P.C., Saris, W.H.M., Hul, G.B., &
van Baak, M.A. (2001). Short-term effects of weight loss with or
without low-intensity exercise training on fat metabolism in obese
men. American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 73, 523-531
|