People who participate in a pedometer-based walking program can be expected to lose a modest amount of weight even without changing their diet, with more weight loss the longer they stick with the program, according to a University of Michigan Health System analysis of nine studies.
Participants in the studies increased the distance they walked by one mile to slightly more than two miles each day. At an average pace of three miles per hour, that means the walkers were getting an additional 20 to 40 minutes of activity a day. On average, they lost 0.05 kilograms per week (about 0.11 pounds) for an average total of 1.27 kilograms (2.8 pounds) throughout the duration of the studies.
"The amount of weight loss attributable to pedometer-based walking programs is small but significant," says lead author Caroline R. Richardson, M.D., assistant professor in the U-M Health System Department of Family Medicine. She notes that the analysis ” which appears in the new issue of Annals of Family Medicine ” also indicates that participants tended to lose more weight in the longer studies.
While pedometer-based walking programs are thought of as convenient and flexible for participants, there has been some question in the fitness and medical communities about the health benefits of such programs, Richardson notes. This analysis should quell some of those questions, she says.
"The increase in physical activity can be expected to result in health benefits that are independent of weight loss," Richardson says. "Increasing physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems, lowers blood pressure and helps dieters maintain lean muscle tissue when they are dieting."
Another benefit, she says, is that exercise in general has been shown to improve glucose tolerance in people with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes.
In all, the nine studies involved 307 participants, 73 percent of whom were women and 27 percent men. The lengths of the studies ranged from four weeks to one year, with a median of 16 weeks. All but one of the studies led to a small decrease in weight.
Over a year, the analysis suggests, participants in pedometer-based walking programs can expect to lose about five pounds. While that may only mean a 2 percent to 3 percent reduction in body weight for an overweight person, Richardson notes, the program still can be beneficial. A quicker way to see results ” and possibly to encourage people to adhere to the program longer ” would be to add a dietary program to the walking plan, she says.
The study also found:
* Average daily step-count increases varied from just under 2,000 steps per day to more than 4,000 steps per day across these studies. For the average person, a 2,000-step walk is approximately equal to a one-mile walk.
* The range of weight change for the nine studies was a gain of 0.3 kilograms (0.66 pounds) to a loss of 3.70 kilograms (eight pounds), with an average weight loss of 1.27 kilograms (2.8 pounds).
* Results from the nine studies were "remarkably consistent" and did not vary by the population targeted or the goal-setting strategies employed.
Further studies will be needed to determine the amount of long-term weight loss that can be expected from pedometer-based walking programs, Richardson notes.
вторник, 28 декабря 2010 г.
пятница, 24 декабря 2010 г.
It's OK to Weigh Every Day
Once upon a time there was a woman who went on a low-carb diet and became very interested in what her weight was doing on a regular basis. She woke up every morning and weighed herself. Then she would go to the bathroom and weigh herself again. Then she would weigh again after her shower. Then she'd weigh herself after she put her clothes on. And she would weigh herself finally before she went to bed at night.
Every day it was the same roller coaster ride. When she weighed after going to the bathroom, she knew her diet was working, because she would often weigh a full pound less than what she weighed a couple minutes earlier. That's pretty good weight loss for a couple minutes.
But then, when she put her clothes on and weighed again, she would be horrified and question the whole diet. She had gained 3 pounds!
And, if that wasn't enough, she also started measuring her waist every morning and night. She discovered that her nighttime measurement was often half an inch more than her morning time tape reading. That made her sure the diet wasn't working. But then, by morning, she would be surprised to find her measurement down half an inch, and she would brim with enthusiasm for her great diet.
In the end the woman gave up her diet, went insane, and went bankrupt from all the scales and measuring tapes she had to buy over her lifetime.
So what's the moral of the story? Obviously the woman in this story took measurements too frequently. With all those ups and downs how could any human being stay sane? She was riding the measurement roller coaster.
You've been warned!! If you don't want to end up like this woman, don't weigh yourself any more than once a week.
The Real Point of the Story
If you haven't picked up my sarcasm, let me fess up now. My tongue has been planted firmly in my cheek so far. So what's my point?
Many low-carb gurus will tell you: "Weigh yourself just once a week". But the fact is that most dieters weigh themselves much more often than this. Most weigh at least daily. I just wanted to take a chance here to encourage you. You don't have to feel guilty for frequent weighings. You'll probably be just fine, even if you weigh as often as the woman in the story.
So why do the gurus give this advice? Well, I suspect (and I'm only guessing here) that Dr. Atkins and others got tired of hearing from the small minority of dieters who would
freak out when their weight went up one day. Or they would go to the scale every morning expecting a drop, and not see one for maybe 7 mornings in a row! It was for them as agonizing as waiting at the mailbox every day for a college acceptance or rejection letter or something would be for the rest of us.
And some people really probably can't put things in perspective, and are probably better off weighing only once a week. But I have a hard time believing this involves anything more than a small minority of dieters.
How can you tell which group you are in? Well, weigh yourself every day and see if it drives you crazy.
Let me now tell you how weighing just once a week can actually drive you more crazy than weighing once a day.
How Weekly Weighings Can Backfire
Suppose you are losing a pound a week, but your weight normally fluctuates 4 pounds depending on the level of fluid retention you have. So suppose your average weight is 180 and your weight fluctuates between 182 and 178. When you lose a pound the next week you will weigh 179, and your weight will fluctuate between 181 and 177.
Now suppose you weighed just once each week. The first week you weighed and the scale read 178 (the bottom end of your normal fluctuation at that time). And the second week you weighed and the scale read 181 (the top end of your normal fluctuation a week later). What will you think then? According to the scale you've gained three pounds! You waited all week, and you found out you gained three pounds. You would be understandably disappointed.
But if you had weighed daily, perhaps you would have seen something like this: 178, 180, 182, 181, 179, 178, 177, 181.
Now that 181 reading has some context. Sure your measurements that stand exactly 7 days apart say that you gained 3 pounds in 7 days. But let's look at the context. Both readings were aberrations. The first reading was unusually low, and the second unusually high. There's really nothing to worry about here, and the readings are consistent with ongoing weight loss.
In this case, then, weighing every day is clearly superior to weighing once a week. In fact it might be the difference between sticking to a diet that's working and getting discouraged and giving up.
Every day it was the same roller coaster ride. When she weighed after going to the bathroom, she knew her diet was working, because she would often weigh a full pound less than what she weighed a couple minutes earlier. That's pretty good weight loss for a couple minutes.
But then, when she put her clothes on and weighed again, she would be horrified and question the whole diet. She had gained 3 pounds!
And, if that wasn't enough, she also started measuring her waist every morning and night. She discovered that her nighttime measurement was often half an inch more than her morning time tape reading. That made her sure the diet wasn't working. But then, by morning, she would be surprised to find her measurement down half an inch, and she would brim with enthusiasm for her great diet.
In the end the woman gave up her diet, went insane, and went bankrupt from all the scales and measuring tapes she had to buy over her lifetime.
So what's the moral of the story? Obviously the woman in this story took measurements too frequently. With all those ups and downs how could any human being stay sane? She was riding the measurement roller coaster.
You've been warned!! If you don't want to end up like this woman, don't weigh yourself any more than once a week.
The Real Point of the Story
If you haven't picked up my sarcasm, let me fess up now. My tongue has been planted firmly in my cheek so far. So what's my point?
Many low-carb gurus will tell you: "Weigh yourself just once a week". But the fact is that most dieters weigh themselves much more often than this. Most weigh at least daily. I just wanted to take a chance here to encourage you. You don't have to feel guilty for frequent weighings. You'll probably be just fine, even if you weigh as often as the woman in the story.
So why do the gurus give this advice? Well, I suspect (and I'm only guessing here) that Dr. Atkins and others got tired of hearing from the small minority of dieters who would
freak out when their weight went up one day. Or they would go to the scale every morning expecting a drop, and not see one for maybe 7 mornings in a row! It was for them as agonizing as waiting at the mailbox every day for a college acceptance or rejection letter or something would be for the rest of us.
And some people really probably can't put things in perspective, and are probably better off weighing only once a week. But I have a hard time believing this involves anything more than a small minority of dieters.
How can you tell which group you are in? Well, weigh yourself every day and see if it drives you crazy.
Let me now tell you how weighing just once a week can actually drive you more crazy than weighing once a day.
How Weekly Weighings Can Backfire
Suppose you are losing a pound a week, but your weight normally fluctuates 4 pounds depending on the level of fluid retention you have. So suppose your average weight is 180 and your weight fluctuates between 182 and 178. When you lose a pound the next week you will weigh 179, and your weight will fluctuate between 181 and 177.
Now suppose you weighed just once each week. The first week you weighed and the scale read 178 (the bottom end of your normal fluctuation at that time). And the second week you weighed and the scale read 181 (the top end of your normal fluctuation a week later). What will you think then? According to the scale you've gained three pounds! You waited all week, and you found out you gained three pounds. You would be understandably disappointed.
But if you had weighed daily, perhaps you would have seen something like this: 178, 180, 182, 181, 179, 178, 177, 181.
Now that 181 reading has some context. Sure your measurements that stand exactly 7 days apart say that you gained 3 pounds in 7 days. But let's look at the context. Both readings were aberrations. The first reading was unusually low, and the second unusually high. There's really nothing to worry about here, and the readings are consistent with ongoing weight loss.
In this case, then, weighing every day is clearly superior to weighing once a week. In fact it might be the difference between sticking to a diet that's working and getting discouraged and giving up.
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