Wellness Wednesday

Dieting and High-Intensity Exercise Helps Reduce Risk of Weight Regain
Researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham have found through research that the best way to keep off the weight is a continued regimen of high-intensity workouts and a well-balanced diet.

As often brought up and discussed as a main topic on this blog, obesity is an epidemic of epic proportions in America, and one that is often overlooked or brushed aside in regards to its importance and impact on other health issues by many Americans. For the 65% of people who lose weight from dieting, they will regain the weight they lost (and often more) within three years. This makes keeping the weight off just as much of a priority for researchers and physicians alike, when trying to help patients on their journey to a healthier self. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham conducted research aimed at trying to find the best way to increase the metabolism that people lose when they begin to diet.

 

The researchers, with the knowledge that moderate-intensity exercise reduces the slowing of metabolism, looked to see if high-intensity exercise would have a similar effect. This form of exercise includes a short bout of maximum effort exercise, followed by a few minutes of active recovery (i.e. sprinting on the treadmill for a short time and then walking). The results of their research when reviewing other studies, was that people who performed 20 minutes of high-intensity interval exercise lost the same amount of weight as those who performed 60 minutes of moderate exercise. This finding, when coupled with diet, not only answers the question of how to help keep the weight off, but also answers how to do so in a world where finding 20 minutes to exercise is a lot easier than finding 60 minutes.