Change of diet and exercise for better results

Many weight loss programs say you should focus on diet change first, then exercise. But now new research says that for the best effects you should do both at the same time. Most people know that the key to keeping weight under control and being in good health is to eat well and exercise regularly. But millions have difficulty doing so, or even deciding which of them to do first. It can be particularly useful to start both at the same time. But, if you have to start with one, consider starting with physical activity first. Diet experts examined published studies on making more than one change in health habits and found conflicting results. Additionally, not many have seen what happens when people try to change more than one health habit at the same time. So they decided to do their own research on the effect of changing diet and exercise together. Furthermore, they also wanted to see a particular group. People who say their lives are too busy, they don’t have enough time to think about how to change their diet and exercise. They thought that if they could find something that worked for this group, then it might work for others too.

The study recruited 200 participants aged 45 years or older who were not exercising regularly and did not eat very healthy.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of four telephone counseling groups. One group had phone sessions with a trainer who helped them make diet and exercise changes at the same time. A second group received telephone training that encouraged changing their diet first and not addressing exercise until a few months later. While a third group received training that advised in reverse. Exercise first, change diet later. The fourth group acted with more control. They were not given any training on diet and exercise. But they did receive advice on how to manage stress. Success was compared to this group.

The four groups were followed for 12 months…

The US national directive ensures that for a regular healthy diet, you should eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day and ensure calories from saturated fat are less than 10% of your total intake. The US national guideline suggests for regular exercise, doing at least 150 minutes per week of moderate activity. For example, walking for half an hour on 5 days a week. Better results will be when diet and exercise can be addressed at the same time. The results showed that those who started with dietary changes did well in meeting national dietary guidelines, but did not meet exercise goals. The group that started with the exercise changes did a good job. Both exercise and diet goals. But the most successful group was the one that changed diet and exercise habits at the same time. Despite the challenge of making several changes to a hectic lifestyle. The two lifestyle changes, diet and exercise, present different challenges for busy people. Diet changes are probably easier to manage on your schedule because you don’t have to find extra time, as you have to find time to eat. And that one type of food has just been replaced by another. However, finding time to exercise for 150 minutes a week in a busy work schedule is more than a challenge. Even the most successful group, the one that managed to achieve both the diet and exercise changes together, struggled with the latter. At first, the physical activity goal was left behind. But over the course of a year they finally reached 150 minutes a week of regular moderate activity.

Telephone advice could be a key factor

The style and quality of training is probably a key factor. Researchers say this may help explain the high retention rate of participants in the study. The trainers met with the participants at the beginning of the study. They then called each of them once a month during a telephone training session that lasted no more than 40 minutes. Sometimes only 10 to 15 minutes. Trainers provide advice and support on diet and exercise. Telephone counseling seems to be a good option for people with a certain lifestyle. It is convenient and flexible. It can provide personalized counseling to help people whose schedules and pressures make it very difficult to change lifelong habits. These health behaviors are not things that change over a six-week period. These are things that people deal with all their lives. So developing ‘touches’ of advice and support in a cost-effective way is increasingly important. They also point out that the participants in the study were not actively trying to lose weight, they just wanted to develop healthy habits.

The team now plans to repeat the study with participants who are actively trying to lose weight.

In another recent study with overweight but otherwise healthy volunteers, researchers have found that aerobic exercise, such as running, walking, and swimming, is better at burning fat than resistance or weight training.