Best weight loss method - diet or exercise?

The well known truth about making weight loss success is maintaining the difference between calories consumed and calories burnt through metabolism and physical activity.

You can hear everywhere that the best way to lose weight naturally is through diet and exercises.

The group of doctors from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana held a study that showed no difference between losing weight through diet plus exercises and dieting alone.

What we found was that it did not matter whether a reduction in calories was achieved through diet or burned everyday through exercise.

- Dr. Leanne Redman said.

Thirty-five overweight but otherwise healthy adults — 16 men and 19 women — completed the 6-month study. Twelve were assigned to a diet-only group; they reduced their calorie intake by 25 percent. Twelve were assigned to diet plus exercise; they reduced their calorie intake by 12.5 percent and increased their exercise by 12.5 percent. The remaining 11 subjects made no significant diet or exercise changes.

Redman and colleagues found that the diet-only group and the diet plus exercise group lost roughly the same amount of weight, albeit by different means. They lost about 10 percent of their body weight, 24 percent of their fat mass and 27 percent of their abdominal “visceral” fat — the deep internal fat linked to heart disease risk.

The sudy showed that both of the methods worked and people shed their pounds.

Of course you may think that physical activity is not necesaary anymore - if so, that's vary bad thought.

As the researchers point out, regular exercise can improve aerobic fitness and lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. This is your overall health enhancer.

The study also found that exercise did little to tone specific areas of the body. Fat was reduced consistently across the whole body and not more in any one trouble spot. The specialists concluded that every person has an individual way to store fat that cannot be overrided by weight loss. So we need specific exercises to work upon our problem zones.

Can we lose weight without exercising? Here are opinions from a message board:

I recently underwent a pretty major weight loss - I lost 50 lbs. in a year and 4 months. And I will honestly say that I lost the first 35 of them with no exercise whatsoever. I was lucky enough to stumble upon LA Weight Loss which taught me to eat right, in the right proportions - and never to feel hungry. I really do beleive that you need both, to maintain the weight loss and for heart health, etc. - but based on my own experience I can't help but agree that the weight loss part can certainly be done without exercising - it's all about what you eat.

I HAVE DONE DOZENS OF DIETS, AND IM NO SPORT OR EXERCISE FAN,AND I'VE LOST A LOT OF WEIGHTS ON THESE DIETS ESPECIALLY ATKINS. MY ONLY CONCERN IS THE HEALTH ISSUES DISCUSSED SO MUCH ABOUT TAKING ATKINS OVER A LONG PERIOD...AND THEN THEY SAY ITS FOR LIFE! AS I SAID I'VE LOST THE POUNDS WITHOUT THE EXERCISE, BUT WHEN I HAVE VENTURED INTO A ROUTINE OF BRISK WALKING EVERYDAY, I FELT MUCH MUCH BETTER AND LIGHTER TOO !

Via http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17278353/