Dr. Lam Author of
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Women Stay Lean By Exercising
A new Harvard study of 34,079 middle-aged non-dieting women (average age 54) followed for about 13 years has found that those who started out at a healthy weight (i.e. with BMI of less than 25) who gained little or no weight during the study consistently got the equivalent of about an hour of moderate activity every single day if they had eaten normally (i.e. not on a diet). This adds up to 420 minutes of exercise a week -- nearly triple the 150 minutes (30 minutes, five days a week) currently recommended by most health authorities. Only 13% of the study subjects were able to maintain healthy weights throughout the entire 13-year study.
The study author says that the 2008 federal recommendation for 150 minutes per week, while clearly sufficient to lower the risks of chronic diseases, is insufficient for weight gain prevention absent caloric restriction. For those women who are already overweight -- and that's the majority of adult women in Canada and the U.S. -- it seems even more exercise (i.e. more than 1 hour per day ) is needed to avoid gaining weight .
Only women were studied, so the researchers said it's uncertain whether the results would apply to men. The study author says that men and women often put on weight, partly because their metabolism slows down and that one can eat a candy bar (most have at least 200 calories) in 2 minutes but burning that off requires walking for about an hour.
The new study serves to reinforce the widely held notion that it is very difficult for older women to avoid weight gain if they are to eat normally—i.e. when NOT on a weight-reducing diet.
Source: Harvard University Study
Cardiovascular Training Exercises
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