—————————————————————–
Weekends are dieter’s worst nightmare

Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.

Jul. 8–ST. LOUIS   This probably won’t come as a big shock, but science now has proven that weekends can wreak havoc on your waistline.

That’s the conclusion of Washington University researchers, who found that even people on strict diet and exercise programs lose weight more slowly than expected because they eat more on weekends. The findings are in the advance online publication of the journal Obesity.

Past studies have shown that people tend to gain weight during holidays, particularly between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. This is the first study to monitor daily body weight, calorie intake and calorie expenditure for several weeks throughout the year. The verdict: People don’t need a holiday to eat more; they tend to do it every weekend.

“We thought weekends would present a problem for some people attempting to lose weight, but the consistency of our findings before and during the interventions was surprising,” said Dr. Susan Racette, the study’s first author and an associate professor of physical therapy and medicine. “Subjects in the diet group lost weight during the week, but over the weekend, they stopped losing weight because they were eating more.”

The researchers followed 48 adults ages 50-60 who took part in the CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy) study. The study is designed to determine whether taking in fewer calories over an extended period can slow or reverse disease and aging.

“But rats don’t have weekends the way people do,” Racette said. “On weekends, human lifestyle patterns can be very different. People have social events, parties to attend, and if they have children who play sports, they might be at fields all day long, relying on concession stands for food.”

Those in the study were divided into three groups: One lowered daily calorie consumption by 20 percent, another increased physical activity by 20 percent and a third did not change lifestyle habits. Even though all three groups were tracked closely for a year, some didn’t realize they were eating significantly more on weekends.

“It was surprising how consistent the findings were,” she said. “We also were surprised by the dramatic way in which weekends continued to slow weight loss throughout the course of the study.”

Before the study started, researchers found that the participants consumed less than 35 percent of their calories from fat during the week but increased that to an average of more than 36 percent on Saturdays. Following such a dietary regimen would have led to an annual increase of 9 pounds on weekends alone.

When participants were asked either to cut calories or increase activity by 20 percent, the pattern remained the same. Those in the calorie restriction group ate more on Saturday while those who boosted their exercise ate more on Saturday and Sunday. As a result, the first group stopped losing weight on weekends while the second group actually showed weight gains.

“People on diets often don’t lose as much weight as we would expect, and this finding helps to explain why,” Racette said.

As the study moves into its second phase, researchers now recommend that participants weigh themselves daily to be more sensitive to their weight fluctuations, particularly on weekends. For everyone else, Racette recommends moderation and careful planning to avoid weekend pitfalls, including packing healthy food if you’re running errands, eating a little something before a party, and packing a light lunch to take to your kids’ games.

“Planning ahead can’t be emphasized enough,” she said. “In addition, paying closer attention to portion sizes can enable a person to enjoy the weekend without sabotaging weight-control efforts.”

——————————————–

To lose weight even on the weekends, check out the diet plan I used to lose 80 pounds in 8 months here.

Besides burning calories, exercise helps your brain stick to a diet.  Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh studies overweight adults for two years, and found that the participants who didn’t follow a 3-hour-per-week exercise plan ate more than the 1,500 calories per day the study allotted.  The reverse was also true – sneaking in extra snacks sabotaged their workouts.  You need diet AND exercise to maintain long-term weight loss.  Both actions serve as reminders to stay the course, reinforcing your fat loss goals and drive.