Dieting and Weight Loss Study
Robin mentioned reading about a meta-study about weightloss programs, and I found an article about it in the scotsman. Basically, it says that diets are useless, and the only useful weight loss comes through more exercise. The article asks, why do we diet, when we just gain the wait back again?
I'll tell you why we do it. The hint comes down in the bottom part of the article, where they are making recommendations. They say:
"AIM to achieve a 600kcal deficit every day. That should equate to roughly a 1/2 lb (0.22kg) loss per week and should be achieved by additional exercise, rather than starvation."
How do you achive a 600kcal deficit daily? I found a nice chart on nutristrategy. For a relatively big person (190 lbs - smaller people expend calories more slowly), 600kcal/day is equivalent to:
- 60 min of jogging (4.4 mph) (4.4 miles)
- 105 min of brisk walking (4 mph) (7 miles)
- 52 min of bicycling (13 mph) (11.3 miles)
- 42 min of vigorous lap swimming
- 105 min of yoga
So you need to jog 1 hour per day, 7 days a week, in order to lose 1/2 lbs per week without dieting. If you keep up this jogging 365 days/year, without a break, you can lose 26 pounds. Well, a little less, because as you lose the weight, you'll be expending fewer calories per minute for the same exercise.
Those of us mortals who can manage 40 minutes of jogging, 3 days a week, most weeks of the year, can look forward to losing about 7 pounds in a year.
So, I wonder, why do we diet?
technorati tags:dieting, exercise
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