Maximizing Your Results: The Synergy of Exercise and New Diet Medications

Recent diet medications are facilitating weight loss. So, does this indicate we can cease exercising? Health authorities assert otherwise. There exists an extensive list of advantages to engaging in walking or visiting the gym, and weight reduction isn’t necessarily the foremost.

“Physical activity benefits everything from cognitive and mental health aspects, such as averting neurocognitive ailments like Alzheimer’s, to cardiovascular advantages including lowering mortality rates from heart diseases, preserving vascular function, and enhancing lung capacity and performance,” stated Christina Dieli-Conwright, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“Regular exercise can even enhance the digestive system, affecting gut motility, digestion, and the gut microbiome. … Mood disorders, anxiety, sleep issues, fatigue, pain — I struggle to identify a bodily system that does not gain from exercise,” she continued.

However, while exercising aids in weight reduction, it is not a magic solution, she warned.

“From a historical perspective, the assumption surrounding exercise and weight loss is somewhat misguided. Exercise on its own doesn’t usually create a sufficient caloric deficit to trigger weight loss,” she explained.

Why is that? To begin with, on average, exercise can expend between 200 to 700 calories per hour, whereas consuming the equivalent calories can occur in just a few minutes.

Additionally, many of us seem to struggle with accurately tracking our intake compared to our calorie expenditure.

As reported by the Centers for Disease Control, over 73 percent of Americans are categorized as overweight or obese. Concurrently, nearly half of all adults met activity recommendations for aerobic exercise throughout the year, with almost a quarter adhering to guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.

7 to 15 Weekly hours of exercise significantly diminish cancer risk, as per a 2019 study

Healthcare professionals indicate that both physical activity and sustaining a healthy weight are crucial factors in promoting overall health and longevity.

“Given that the influence of weight reduction on diabetes regulation and risk is more substantial than that of exercise, but for other factors like heart disease and life expectancy — they appear to be about equivalent,” remarked I-Min Lee, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Chan School and faculty of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In 2019, Lee co-authored a study concerning physical activity and cancer susceptibility, suggesting that seven to 15 hours of exercise weekly can notably reduce the risk of seven cancer types. This benefit diminishes with an elevated BMI, yet still presents an enhanced risk outlook for six cancers: colon, breast, kidney, myeloma, liver, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“Mood disorders, anxiety, sleep issues, fatigue, pain — I struggle to identify a bodily system that does not gain from exercise.”

Christina Dieli-Conwright, T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Lee advises individuals eager to initiate a workout routine to begin with manageable steps.

“This way, you achieve minor benefits,” she stated, “and it’s also incredibly motivating, because if it’s a feasible amount and you succeed, it may inspire you to elevate your efforts.”

And augmenting efforts is advantageous for all, she emphasized. A suitable approach, per Lee, is to endeavor to expand your routine by 10 minutes — regardless of what it entails. If you currently walk for 20 minutes a day, escalate that to 30 until you reach or surpass the recommended 150 minutes of exercise weekly.

Edward Phillips, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at HMS, and the founder and director of the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, concurs.

“If I inquire how easily someone believes they could incorporate a bottle of water in the morning or afternoon to combat dehydration, they would respond, ‘That’s not elusive.’ If they commence doing that, and also incorporate a five-minute walk following lunch, which is both highly beneficial and simple to achieve, then when I follow up with them three weeks later, they’ll say, ‘I’m consuming more water. I feel better. And by the way, the five-minute walk has transitioned into a ten-minute walk.’”

Phillips also hosts the WBUR podcast “Food, We Need to Talk,” which delves into health and fitness. He noted that when patients don’t observe variations on the scale, they require concrete incentives to persist with exercising — and there are evident motivators.

“Individuals require a compelling narrative to enact changes that can lead to meaningful health improvements,” he remarked. “Exercise empowers greater functionality. It facilitates getting out of a chair with ease. You can sit down and get up with more comfort. … And when a peer suggests, ‘Let’s go downhill skiing this weekend,’ and you’re thinking, ‘I haven’t done that in years,’ you can say, ‘I could give it a shot, because I’ve been working out.’”

Dieli-Conwright noted that partaking in any activity a couple of times weekly that elevates your heart rate is beneficial.

“You’ll gain more value from a combination of aerobic and resistance training,” she stated. “The rationale is that aerobic activities will challenge the cardiorespiratory system more than weight training will. That type of exercise is excellent for muscle strength. However, incorporating both will target glucose metabolism, which is crucial for managing high and low blood sugar levels, diabetes control, and similar issues.”

She also pointed out the significance of interjecting movement into prolonged sitting time or inactivity.

“Once every hour, stand up for two to three minutes, or just do some squats, or take a brief two-minute stroll, or ascend and descend the stairs a few times. This can also assist in managing glucose levels, thereby mitigating diabetes risk,” she explained.

However, Dieli-Conwright stresses that establishing a routine around exercise is essential.

“We are all aware that obesity is extremely detrimental. It leads to numerous additional co-existing health issues, particularly heart disease and diabetes. Nevertheless, there exists a wealth of overlooked data supporting the idea, which I often term, and others refer to, as being fit and fat,” she mentioned, essentially indicating that one can be overweight yet metabolically healthy.