Important and useful news about weight loss and the Metabolic Syndrome came out this month in Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics (volume 33, No. 3, Sept. 2004). This journal is very respected by practicing endocrinologists.
In case you're wondering, if you suffer with these things then you have the metabolic syndrome:
This article summarizes a much research about effective treatment and if you want to read the entire article then click here. If I had to tell you one thing to do to treat all 5 problems (after reading this and other recent research and treating thousand of patients and doing my own research) it would be this:
In the article, you'll see that they recommend 45 to 60 minutes of walking per day. Most people walk somewhere between 15 and 20 minute miles so this equates to about 3 miles per day.
This also agrees with other research that shows that most people would not continue to suffer with obesity if they did 1500 to 2000 calories of exercise per week. At the average goal body weight, most will burn about 100 calories per mile walked so this equates to about 15 to 20 miles per week (or 2 to 3 miles per day of walking).
One warning: my experience and the research does not support bicycle riding or weight lifting or any other exercise as being as effective as walking or jogging.
The other very important factor...KEEPING A RECORD is shown over and over again to make a huge difference in how well people lose weight. There are many things to keep track of but the most important thing to record (by this recent article and in my experience) is the thing that does the most good for weight loss and health: how many miles walked per day.
Hope the article and summary have helped. If you have questions, feel free to call me (251-625-2612) or email (charles@runels.com or http://TempleRepair.com).
Sincerely
Charles Runels, MD