More Exercise Is The Key To Sustain Weight Loss

Though experts are in agreement that regular exercise is essential for good health, but results a new study adds some more effort to it! 275 minutes of weekly exercise is what obese and overweight women require to lose weight and more importantly to keep the pounds off, the study suggests.

While, in short term all those exercising seemed to benefit from it, but to sustain weight loss regular exercise becomes more important, the study led by John Jakicic, chairman of the Department of Health and Physical Activity at the University of Pittsburgh finds.

Researchers enrolled over 200 obese and overweight women in a weight loss program between 1999 and 2003.

All women were recommended to follow a diet falling between 1,200 and 1,500 calories and were assigned to one of the four exercise groups.

While the first two groups were required to burn almost 1,000 calories a week, members of the first group were put to moderate exercise, whereas, the second group was into vigorous exercising.

Similarly, the other two group were to burn an equivalent of 2,000 calories a week, the first doing moderate exercise while the second put into vigorous exercising.

“About 30 minutes a day, five days a week, of brisk walking should burn about 1,000 calories,” Jakicic said.

At six months line-up, nearly all women (from all groups) lost an average of 8 percent to 10 percent of their body weight. However, by the end of the second year, the women had regained on average about half their lost weight.

Interestingly, 26.5 percent women maintained a weight loss of 10 percent or more of their body weight at the end of the second year. A deeper look revealed that these women exercised an average of 275 minutes a week, the equivalent of burning 1,835 calories, the researchers found.

Women who exercised regularly were more likely to keep off weight than those who exercised less, Jakicic said.

"The short-term and the long-term results show even though we got weight loss, we still had this gradual regain," Jakicic said.

"You don't have to go out there and run real hard to be successful at this," Jakicic said. "You just have to do enough exercise to burn these calories," he recommends.