Is There a Formula? With all the fad diets over the years that have promised dramatic weight loss only to leave people disappointed, it's hard to believe that there can be any formula for losing weight. Indeed, there isn't any single weight-loss regimen that works for everyone, but different regimens work for different people. For the best results, focus on the strategies most likely to work for you, which will depend on the main cause of your obesity, the severity of your problem, and the presence of associated health problems, such as diabetes, hypertension, or depression. Doctors who treat people for obesity have found that, by planning their treatments around these factors, their patients stand the greatest chance of losing weight and keeping it off.
Eat Less or Exercise More
Someone who has been obese since childhood and whose parents are obese has a strong genetic predisposition to obesity and is unlikely to lose much if any weight simply by going on a diet and joining a health club. Though diet and exercise are important, it may be necessary to work with a doctor and employ medical strategies such as weight-loss medication or gastric surgery.
On the other hand, those who are overweight mainly because of environmental factors -- that is, they have found it possible to lose weight through diet and exercise, but are influenced by the easy availability of high-calorie foods and have trouble finding time for physical exercise -- might benefit from a different tack. If this is your situation, you stand a good chance of losing weight through a deliberate program that involves changing your eating and exercise habits.
Underlying all approaches to weight loss is the basic goal of shifting your energy balance so that you use more energy (calories) than you take in. In fact, a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) review of popular weight-loss regimens concluded that the most successful ones were those that effectively reduce calorie intake. In other words, to lose weight, you need to shift your energy balance toward energy use. For weight maintenance, the balance shifts back somewhat so energy intake equals energy output. However, if the balance shifts too far in the direction of energy intake, the process of weight gain will begin again.
Source: LHJ.com - Ladies’ Home Journal online
