Shed flab now, stay fit later

Washington: If you have been delaying your plans to hit the gym to cut the flab, think again. A new study has revealed that the key to long-term weight loss and staying in shape is to lose weight quickly, not gradually, in the initial stages of obesity treatment.

Successful weight loss in obese individuals is defined as a reduction of 10 per cent or more of initial body weight maintained for at least a year, the study, conducted by Lisa Nackers and colleagues at the University of Florida, revealed.

The study examines the link between the rate of initial weight loss and long-term maintenance of lost weight by looking specifically at whether losing weight at a slow initial rate results in larger long-term weight reduction and less weight regain than losing weight at a fast initial rate.

The authors analysed data for 262 middle-aged obese women who took part in the Treatment of Obesity in Underserved Rural Settings (TOURS) trial. The women followed a six-month lifestyle programme encouraging them to reduce their calorie intake and increase their moderate intensity physical activity to achieve an average weight loss of 0.45 kg per week.

They were then supported for a further year with an extended care programme involving contact twice a month in the form of group sessions, telephone contact or newsletters.

The team split the women into three groups according to how much weight they lost in the first month of the intervention.

The findings show that women in the 'fast' group lost over 0.68 kg per week; those in the 'moderate' group lost between 0.23 and 0.68 kg per week and women in the 'slow' group lost less than 0.23 kg per week in that first month.

The authors then analysed the women’s weight loss at six and 18 months, as well as weight regain, if any.

Fast weight losers lost more weight overall, maintained their weight loss for longer and were not more likely to put weight back on than the more gradual weight losers, a University of Florida release said.

In particular, women in the 'fast' group were five times more likely to achieve the clinically significant 10 per cent weight loss at 18 months than those in the 'slow' group and those in the 'moderate' group were nearly three times more likely to achieve this milestone than women in the 'slow' group.