What they didn’t mention was this little nugget of truth: weight training is superior to any form of exercise for long-term fatburning. I would get rather bored walking for 75 minutes every day, as the study suggests. However, weight training for just 45 minutes to an hour per day, three days per week, and walking for 45 minutes to an hour daily would meet or exceed the exercise requirements deemed necessary for long-term success.

Note that the difference among the study group who “exercised less” or none at all: 1.8 pounds over 18 months versus 26 pounds over 18 months!

Make Special Note of the Motivation Factor

Did you notice that the researchers used one-on-one contact in the form of email (along with some phone calls) for motivation? Also, note that only 13 out of 154 people were able to maintain the exercise protocols.

First, we use one-on-one email coaching, or “eCoaching”, in my M-Power Fitness Program. Click the link to sign up for M-Power today.

Second, the reason that so few people stay on programs like this is two-fold: boredom, and a lack of a larger purpose. The boredom is easy to solve: break up the workouts as I suggest above. Do weights, then walk, then perhaps some bodyweight exercises, hiking, tennis, etc. The issue of purpose is covered in the first four M-Power Audios, which come with the M-Power Fitness Program.

Without that gigantic reason WHY, we cannot achieve long-term success. With that giant why — a purpose so great it compels you to move toward it — you can succeed at anything.

That includes shedding bodyfat!

NEW YORK (Reuters) — People who consistently engage in high levels of exercise over the long haul are the most successful at losing weight and keeping it off, a new study shows.

Among a group of overweight men and women participating in an 18-month weight loss program, those who were still getting 75 minutes of exercise daily a year after the program ended had lost 26 pounds, compared with 1.8 pounds for people who were exercising less.

But only 13 of the 154 people who completed the study were able to sustain this level of activity, Dr. Deborah F. Tate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and her colleagues found. “Strategies are needed to help participants maintain high levels of activity over the long-term,” she and her colleagues conclude in a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The researchers initially assigned 202 people to either a high physical activity group who aimed to burn 2,500 calories per week (equivalent to a 75-minute walk daily) or standard behavioral treatment, including 30 minutes of exercise daily, equivalent to 1,000 calories per week.

Twelve and 18 months later, people in the high activity group had lost significantly more weight than those in the lower activity group.

Although the participants in the high activity group were able to sustain the 2,500 calorie per week exercise goal during the 18-month study, their activity level declined once treatment ended, which resulted in no between-group differences in activity or weight loss at 2.5 years.

However, a small subgroup of people who stuck to the 2,500 calorie per week exercise regimen after the 18-month treatment period ended maintained a significantly larger weight loss than those who didn’t exercise as much.

People who maintained high levels of exercise were also eating fewer calories and less fat.

The researchers believe that their e-mails, mailings and phone calls to study participants for the initial 18 months of the study were successful in helping them to reach exercise goals; continuing to stay in touch may have helped them sustain this level of activity.

[jB]