Bloomberg: Structured Diet, Exercise Plans Seem to Shed Pounds

[Elmore Furth]

People are looking for the easy answer in dieting to lose weight. It's not easy.
Unfortunately, there is evidence that some overeating is genetically programmed just as some overconsumption of alcohol is genetic.

Overeating may be genetically programmed

SATURDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Two new studies support the notion that structured diet and exercise plans -- and perhaps some free prepared meals -- can help the obese and severely obese lose weight.

Both studies used prepackaged meals in their protocols, with one utilizing the Jenny Craig program. That study was funded by Jenny Craig.

"Physicians should be aware that lifestyle changes actually do work. . . they could refer people to this or another program and be optimistic this is not a magic bullet, people have to adhere," said Cheryl Rock, lead author of the Jenny Craig study, which appears with the other study in the Oct. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Rock reported being on the Jenny Craig advisory board in 2003 and 2004.

Other outside experts also expressed cautionary notes, especially given that such structured plans can not only be difficult to adhere to but also expensive.

"I think we're looking at a best-case scenario," said obesity researcher Rena Wing, author of an editorial accompanying the Jenny Craig article. "Perhaps we need to be studying how to pay for the programs."



Structured Diet, Exercise Plans Seem to Shed Pounds

[Warren Stupidity]

1. " That study was funded by Jenny Craig" - of course. nt

[grilled onions]

2. The Feast Or Famine Syndrome

While for many of us it is a simple case of too little exercise and too much consumption of the foods we love but I have seen several problems with the less then well to do. One issue has to do with eating high on the hog right after check time. Unfortunately it never seems to be a rush in the salad aisle but rather the foods they crave when money is in short supply. So they "reward" themselves with fried chicken,pizza and other foods laden in calories before they have to go back to the beans and rice diet(also a heavy carb diet but they have to eat something).
There are less apt to exercise if they live in neighbors full of gang bangers shooting day and night. they may live in a bldg that has no exercise room nor places to go(that is IF they could afford it).
Their kitchens are less likely to have gadgets/appliances that make cooking good foods easier. I can remember a time when I had to try and cook on a apartment size stove that had two broken "spiders", an oven that did not work, water pipes that froze in the winter and bugs aplenty. It was not conditions suitable for a gourmet meal. I gladly found any excuse to bring home junk food or graze on less then healthy choices.
There are other conditions as well as poor shopping areas, having to tote food home and up several flights of stairs. It's amazing how much weight some produce is!
Granted we can't always make excuses but pre planned meals are a good choice if one is single or money is no object. They need to see both sides of this weighty issue.

[mike_c]

3. do it yourself "structured plans" are just as effective, if not more so....

I say that from experience. LOTS of experience, LOL.

I'm a big guy. Always have been. I haven't always been overweight, but one day, around my fiftieth birthday, I suddenly realized that my weight, which had been creeping up slowly for several years, was REALLY out of control. In my mid-forties I was athletic, a runner and climber. My mid-forties weight was about 190-210, depending on activity level, mostly. I pretty much ate whatever I wanted.

I had some health issues in my late forties and early fifties, and between that and lifestyle issues my weight shot up. I reached 280 lbs by my early fifties. It sucked. I've been working on bringing it down ever since, using "structured diet" and exercise. I do my own diet planning, and the watch words are simply calorie reduction and eating real food-- the two together help me to both avoid overly processed food-like substances and reduce calories. I still eat butter, for example, because it's a real, flavorful fat. I just limit consumption. I figure I eat 1500 to 1800 calories most days. I pay attention. It's not hard, actually.

Exercise helps immensely-- not only does it burn calories directly and indirectly, through increased metabolism, but it makes me feel good. Strength training is the core of my exercise regime-- three days a week, lifting weights at the gym. I'm 55, so strength training is also good for keeping my bones strong and slowing the rate of age related muscle atrophy. The extra muscle mass burns calories faster, even when I'm sleeping. I do cardio workouts too, on the other days, for general fitness.

I'm down to about 225 lbs. That's roughly 55 lbs lost during the last two years, or about half a pound a week. It hasn't been hard to lose the weight at all-- the tough part was, and remains, changing and maintaining my lifestyle to support the weight loss. Structured dieting isn't hard when you make it a lifetime commitment and accept that you won't lose weight overnight. It takes months or years to lose it slowly, through lifestyle changes rather than trying to affect rapid change.

And you really don't need to pay Jenny Craig to tell you how to do it. Shop the outsides of supermarkets. Eat real food. Eat it sparingly. Learn to appreciate quality rather than quantity. Learn to cook, if you don't already. And get as much exercise as you can. If you sustain a regular exercise schedule, it makes you feel good.

[wuvuj]

4. It actually costs less...

...to eat right. Of course you'll have to get away from family or ethnic or advertised processed foods...and maybe even learn to cook. And if you are older...you'll only want to exercise to an extent that you are more flexible and a bit stronger...not get into the no pain no gain baloney.

EVERYBODY wants to SELL you something...while you NEED to just know and do what makes your life better. But this takes some study and willingness to try things and some discipline also.

So you'll have to turn your back on all the hype...and find what really works for you. Unrestrained capitalism is a DISEASE.

You can pay less for food...and be healthier...and lose weight. You can buy a couple of weights and an exercise mat for $25 or so.

You might need to avoid the really stupid people you will be leaving behind....be careful...they are consumer zombies. Leaving zombie land is like quitting cigarettes...it's an ongoing process...you are never THERE...you are always just GETTING THERE.