Take a two-week break from dieting to lose more weight

Excellent news!

Take a two-week break from dieting to lose more weight

Excellent news!

In news that will delight those of us who can't seem to stick to a healthy eating plan for too long with succumbing to sweet treats, it looks like taking a break from your diet could actually help you lose more weight...Researchers from the University of Tasmania say that slimmers who take a two-week break from dieting have a higher chance of keeping the weight off long-term, the Telegraph reports.The small study, published in the International Journal for Obesity, suggests that adopting this on-off approach may help those of us who fail to stick to a strict diet long-term. So, in other words, pretty much all of us.To conclude this, the team asked 47 obese participants to adopt a diet that cut their calorie intake by a third. Roughly half of the volunteers dieted continuously for 16 week. The other half instead were asked to diet for two weeks, before taking two weeks off – repeating over a 30-week period so that they cut calories for a total of 16 weeks, too. And, lo and behold, those who had dieted intermittently saw better results. They not only lost more weight, but regained less of it after the experiment ended. The team believe the intermittent dieting method may help combat the body's "famine reaction" to restricted eating, which ultimately makes it harder for us to lose weight and can even cause weight gain.Study author Professor Nuala Byrne said, "When we reduce our energy (food) intake during dieting, resting metabolism decreases to a greater extent than expected; a phenomenon termed "adaptive thermogenesis" – making weight loss harder to achieve."This 'famine reaction', a survival mechanism which helped humans to survive as a species when food supply was inconsistent in millennia past, is now contributing to our growing waistlines when the food supply is readily available."The team has concluded that intermittent dieting may be more effective than continuous weight loss plans."It seems that the 'breaks' from dieting we have used in this study may be critical to the success of this approach," added Dr Byrne. "While further investigations are needed around this intermittent dieting approach, findings from this study provide preliminary support for the model as a superior alternative to continuous dieting for weight loss."

In news that will delight those of us who can't seem to stick to a for too long with succumbing to sweet treats, it looks like taking a break from your diet could actually help you lose more weight...

Researchers from the University of Tasmania say that slimmers who take a two-week break from dieting have a higher chance of keeping the weight off long-term, reports.

The small study, published in the International Journal for Obesity, suggests that adopting this on-off approach may help those of us who fail to stick to a strict diet long-term. So, in other words, pretty much all of us.

To conclude this, the team asked 47 obese participants to adopt a diet that cut their calorie intake by a third.

Roughly half of the volunteers dieted continuously for 16 week. The other half instead were asked to diet for two weeks, before taking two weeks off – repeating over a 30-week period so that they cut calories for a total of 16 weeks, too.

And, lo and behold, those who had dieted intermittently saw better results. They not only lost more weight, but regained less of it after the experiment ended. The team believe the intermittent dieting method may help combat the body's "famine reaction" to restricted eating, which ultimately makes it harder for us to lose weight and can even cause weight gain.

Study author Professor Nuala Byrne said, "When we reduce our energy (food) intake during dieting, resting metabolism decreases to a greater extent than expected; a phenomenon termed "adaptive thermogenesis" – making harder to achieve.

"This 'famine reaction', a survival mechanism which helped humans to survive as a species when food supply was inconsistent in millennia past, is now contributing to our growing waistlines when the food supply is readily available."

The team has concluded that may be more effective than continuous weight loss plans.

"It seems that the 'breaks' from dieting we have used in this study may be critical to the success of this approach," added Dr Byrne.

"While further investigations are needed around this intermittent dieting approach, findings from this study provide preliminary support for the model as a superior alternative to continuous dieting for weight loss."

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