Posted on 04/09/2007 9:15:45 PM PDT by wouldntbprudent
Science Daily — Will you lose weight and keep it off if you diet? No, probably not, UCLA researchers report in the April issue of American Psychologist, the journal of the American Psychological Association.
"You can initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back," said Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study. "We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people."
Mann and her co-authors conducted the most comprehensive and rigorous analysis of diet studies, analyzing 31 long-term studies.
"What happens to people on diets in the long run?" Mann asked. "Would they have been better off to not go on a diet at all? We decided to dig up and analyze every study that followed people on diets for two to five years. We concluded most of them would have been better off not going on the diet at all. Their weight would be pretty much the same, and their bodies would not suffer the wear and tear from losing weight and gaining it all back."
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Interesting. Pass the donuts please.
bump
Diets are for couch potatoes.
So the point is, give up, you are going to be fat all your life?
It never does. If you lower your calorific intake, it only slows down your metabolism, making your body kick itself into a store-all-you-can mode.
Surgical procedures like curtailing the digestive system is known to work, but it is too drastic to be messing around with the body like that.
In humans, fat is stored in fat cells. Liposuction removes the limited fat cells from certain locations of the body, and if the diet that lead to the obesity continues, fat deposition will occur in other, non-intended areas where the fat cells are still intact.
Excercise is the only way to go about safely, provided all other issues are normal.
Any diet that is successful long term has to be a permanent lifestyle change.
Get off your behind and exercise....the only way to keep the goo off
“So the point is, give up, you are going to be fat all your life?”
The article does go on to address exercising.
Which makes sense.
I haven’t ever been able to lose a good amount of weight just by changing diet alone.
I started a program in feb. and have lost 20 lbs., but mostly because I’ve been exercising every day.
Some weeks I took off, ate the same, but didn’t lose a pound if I didn’t move my fanny.
Just dieting does two things...jack and sh+t.
If you just diet and don’t exercise you are just starving yourself effectively. If you exercise and diet you must continue exercising after the diet portion to maintain weight.
Problem is that people want a diet that doesn’t require exercise, and if they do exercise while dieting they don’t want to continue to exercise after they have lost the weight so it just comes right back.
Of course any ‘diet’ is an all encompassing thing; actually a life changing habit.
Your body is amazing and adapts to everything, including a ‘diet’. Thats why it’s good to change it up every 6-8 weeks like when your lifting weights and run.
The gub'ment legislated us all into lives of obesity.
Now when I go to restaurants I can eat only 1/2 what they serve. Didn’t change what I ate, just less. Steaks, ice cream butter, sweets all the good stuff.
Exactly as some others have posted, excersise is the key, and you must continue even after you have lost the weight you wanted. I dropped 35 pounds 4 years ago but the only reason it has stayed off is I workout 6 days a week, plus I am still careful about what I eat. I never did “diet”, I cut the junk out, cut portion sizes and started eating better. I allow myself 1 “cheat day” a week to have a sweet treat or two. But I just plain feel better during the week if I eat right, I can concentrate better at work, etc.
bttt
The keys to weight fat loss (weight is not important - fat is what you do not want, and that goes for general health, clothing size, appearance, etc):
1. Weight training to build muscle mass, which increases your metabolic rate. In addition to burning calories from the activity itself, your body will burn more calories while you are sleeping, sitting, walking etc by having to support more muscle tissue (fat is essentially "inert" - it has very low caloric maintenance costs, while muscle is "expensive" for your body to maintain). Do not worry about bulking up with ENORMOUS muscles, especially if you are a woman. You pretty much have to dedicate your life to weight-training to get anywhere near those gruesome muscle ladies (most of whom are..ahem..chemically "enhanced"). It will not happen by accident.
2. Cardiovascular activity. At least 20 minutes a day, 4 times a week of moderate cardio activity like jogging, cycling, or something else that gets your heart rate up (or 1 hour a day of light cardio activity, like walking). This is not nearly as important as #1, and I know people who eschewed explicit cardio altogether and lost fat.
The amount of food is the least critical ingredient (note that this is not a license to gorge yourself!). Though optimal results depend on proper macronutrient and micronutrient balance, these aren't critical for general improvement.
Assuming of course you even want to lose fat ("weight") or have a general fitness goal. It isn't everyone's cup of tea! Though, if you are one to complain or get depressed about your appearance or health, the above is the approach that works if you want to do something about it.
They didn't examine the effect of exercise.
“Eat Less”
Saves money too! :)
May be just that easy.. without a complete life altering change in the way you live.. or in other words, it may be just that hard.. :(
Gee, my weight got up to 205, and then I decided to lift weights and bicyle about 30 hrs per month, and my weight has remained between 180-185 for five years. Good thing I never read the article.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.