Men, the More You Lose the More Stays Off

For obese men trying to lose weight, the more pounds they shed the more likely they are to keep the pounds off, researchers in the Netherlands report.

In a new study, men who lost the most weight were less likely to regain the weight than those who lost only moderate amounts, researchers report in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Successful body weight loss depended on the starting situation," Dr. M.P.G.M. Lejeune and colleagues from the University of Maastricht say in the report.

In the first part of the study, 40 obese men were placed on a reduced-calorie diet. In addition to cutting calories, some of the of men also exercised for an hour four times a week while the remainder did not participate in the exercise program.

After 6 weeks on a very low energy diet, participants entered a longer maintenance phase.

About a year later, the Dutch team found that men who initially weighed the most had kept off the most weight.

Lighter men who were most concerned about dieting and body weight tended to lose less weight than heavier men who were less worried about their weight at the start of the study. Even though lighter men did not need to lose as much weight to reach their ideal weight, they were more likely to regain the weight they lost.

The researchers think that the men who experienced a large weight loss became more motivated than they were at the beginning of the study to keep their eating habits in check.

Almost incidentally, Lejeune and colleagues report that these differences were not affected by exercise.

Most doctors recommend a combination of dietary changes and exercise to lose weight. Regardless of whether exercise helps with weight maintenance, research has shown that it improves many aspects of health.

SOURCE: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 2003.

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