The Fred Hutchinston Cancer Research Center in the United States published in the Journal of the Adacemy of Nutrition and Dietetics the results of a survey of 123 women aged 50 to 75, overweight or obese? and who kept a sedentary pace of life.
The volunteers were divided into two groups. One would follow a calorie-restricted diet for a year, while the other would follow a diet combined with exercise. Both groups were instructed to keep a food diary, noting what they had eaten, the times, the amounts, and even the manner in which they had been prepared.
According to Dr. Anne McTiernan, who directed the studies, “this is the first time to measure the impact of a series of self-control behaviors on body weight. With regard to weight loss, randomized controlled trials comparing different diets found that restricting total calories is more important than diet composition. Therefore, the specific objective of our investigation was to identify behaviors that collaborated with the main goal of restricting calories ?.
1 ? Write down the calories consumed
The results showed that most women had maintained a diet that contained between 1200 and 2000 calories daily. However, volunteers who kept an honest record of what was being consumed lost an average of 2.7kg more than those who did not record their consumption.
The researchers say this is because, by transcribing what is being ingested in a diary, the information becomes more? Visible? for those trying to lose weight. This makes the person better control the total number of calories at the end of a day, making sure that they do not exceed a predefined limit.
2 ? Do not jump? meals
Research has also shown that women who admitted? Skipping? meals or eating at random times ended up losing on average 3.6kg less than the others.
Eating always at the same times, the researchers say, conditions the body to work at these times, which means it will not save calories in order to preserve the proper performance of its functions.
3? Avoid restaurants
Volunteers who ate in restaurants at least once a week also lost less weight. On average 2.2kg less than those who ate only at home, especially at lunchtime.
The difference is related to the fact that eating at home has a greater control of food ingested daily, which encourages a more balanced diet.
The results, at the end of twelve months, indicate that participants lost on average 11% of their body weight when starting the diet.
The conclusion, according to Dr. McTiernan, "is that for those trying to lose weight the main advice based on this study is to keep a food diary so that they can more easily meet their daily consumption goal."
The Key to Burning Fat (April 2024)
- Diet, Fitness, Diets, Losing Weight
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