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Men,
the More You Lose the More Stays Off
For obese men trying
to lose weight, the more pounds they shed the more likely
they are to keep the pounds off, researchers in the Netherlands
report.
In a new study, men who lost the most weight were less likely
to regain the weight than those who lost only moderate amounts,
researchers report in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"Successful body weight loss depended on the starting
situation," Dr. M.P.G.M. Lejeune and colleagues from
the University of Maastricht say in the report.
In the first part of the study, 40 obese men were placed
on a reduced-calorie diet. In addition to cutting calories,
some of the of men also exercised for an hour four times
a week while the remainder did not participate in the exercise
program.
After 6 weeks on a very low energy diet, participants entered
a longer maintenance phase.
About a year later, the Dutch team found that men who initially
weighed the most had kept off the most weight.
Lighter men who were most concerned about dieting and body
weight tended to lose less weight than heavier men who were
less worried about their weight at the start of the study.
Even though lighter men did not need to lose as much weight
to reach their ideal weight, they were more likely to regain
the weight they lost.
The researchers think that the men who experienced a large
weight loss became more motivated than they were at the
beginning of the study to keep their eating habits in check.
Almost incidentally, Lejeune and colleagues report that
these differences were not affected by exercise.
Most doctors recommend a combination of dietary changes
and exercise to lose weight. Regardless of whether exercise
helps with weight maintenance, research has shown that it
improves many aspects of health.
SOURCE: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October
2003.
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: N/A
Net Reference 89
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