Getting Fit – Uncovering the Truth about Weight Loss with Statistics

Editor’s note: the post was written by both David Parsons and Madison Harris (a friend of mine)

“Fad diets” have become more and more popular in recent years due to Americans’ obsession with being “beautiful” – which in today’s terminology means being upwards of five-foot-six and being without any excess body fat. These fad diets range from logical to downright bizarre, including anything from the mundane counting of calories to the exclusion of anything but carbohydrates from one’s daily meal regimen.

A popular diet in today’s culture – as well as one of the more logical ones – is the South Beach Diet. It consists of three “phases,” which assist the dieter drop those extra pounds and – more importantly – keeps them off. The First Phase of the South Beach Diet limits the dieter’s intake of carbohydrates and fats for two weeks – that means no potatoes, fruit, pasta, bread, corn, and carrots – among other foods. A deal-breaker for some, this phase of the South Beach Diet also prohibits alcohol; however, snacking on protein- and fiber-rich foods is highly encouraged.

The Second Phase is very similar to the First, but more lax about the dieter’s intake of carbohydrates. Alcohol, dark chocolate, and crabmeat are permitted, as long as they aren’t eaten in excess. This phase continues until the dieter has reached his desired weight, at which time the dieter progresses onto the Third Phase – a long-term diet that lasts the remainder of the dieter’s life. Though the dieter is encouraged to follow essentially the same plan as in the first two phases, the dietary restrictions are at the dieter’s discretion; the goal of this phase is to keep off the pounds lost in the Second Phase.

Overall, the South Beach Diet is logical. Unlike other fad diets, it doesn’t eliminate a food group completely, providing the dieter with the essential vitamins, minerals, proteins, and sugars needed for a healthy lifestyle. Also unlike many other diets, the South Beach Diet is not for those with short-term weight loss goals; it is a lifelong commitment to eating right. The encouragement of snacking helps to curb hunger pangs and cravings that are so prevalent with other diets, helping to prevent binge-eating.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, is the “Cabbage Soup Diet,” which lasts for seven days and typically only provides short-term results. During the seven day dieting period, the dieter eats nothing but soup, with a few variations throughout the week including fruit juices, vegetables sparsely throughout the week, and a potato the second day of the diet. Bread and carbonated beverages are prohibited. This diet generally provides the dieter with quick results.

We would not recommend this diet for anyone, even those desiring a quick weight-loss solution, due to the lack of calcium, protein, and healthy fatty acids. The swift results of the diet are due mainly to a lack of calories. In addition to the lack of nutrients this diet provides, cabbage soup is very high in sodium, which could lead to a dangerous rise in blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

More varieties of food during the course of the diet would help to make this diet safer and healthier for the dieter, allowing the diet to be used for longer periods of time, providing a potentially long-term weight solution.

As much of a “quick fix” as dieting may appear, without a proper exercise routine, the dieter’s efforts may fail to reach fruition. We have examined three methods of exercise to see which is the most effective for maintaining a consistent exercise routine and keeping those extra pounds off. Although it was impossible to conduct the research in a double-blind manner, each subject was randomly assigned into one of three groups to receive one of three treatments. Fifty-one subjects were assigned into the “Short-Bout Group,” which received instructions to exercise five days a week in ten-minute-long stints at convenient points throughout the day. Forty-eight subjects were assigned into the “Short-Bout Plus Group,” which received the same instructions as the Short-Bout Group, but also received motorized home treadmills. The remaining forty-nine subjects in the study were assigned to the “Long Bout Group,” which received instructions to exercise five days a week, with the length of exercise sessions progressing from twenty to forty minutes per day in one long bout. The differences in length of exercise sessions as well as the presence or lack thereof of a treadmill was the factor which prevented the study being conducted in a double-blind manner due to the fact that the subjects would obviously know who was assigned to each group.

The groups were assigned by random assignment (I got the information for the subjects from another source). We alphabetized the subjects and assigned a number from 000 to 147, giving a total of 148 subjects overall, and were chosen by using a table of random numbers, beginning with line 114. The first 10 subjects chosen for Group Three (Long Bout Group) were subjects numbers 029, 091, 041, 056, 037, 103, 049, 061, 079, and 078.

After conducting a significance test against the null hypothesis that there is no difference in the mean weight loss between short and long bouts of exercise, we reached the conclusion that neither length nor duration of exercise sessions provides a significant impact on weight lost.

Long Bouts of exercise, provide the person exercising with a weight loss ranging anywhere from approximately 3.4 kilograms to 8.2 kilograms. Short Bouts of exercise provides the person exercising with a weight loss ranging anywhere from approximately 3.3 kilograms to 4.1 kilograms. These results do not differ significantly from the long bout results. This means that there is no single way a person should exercise, as long as you are trying your best to be healthy and exercise properly, you should loose the weight you want. In other words: try to find the best way to exercise and the best foods to eat with the money you have, you do not have to pay several hundred dollars for a special program or a personal trainer.

In conclusion, one should remember that there is no “miracle solution” to weight loss – there is no magic pill or magic formula; it takes DEDICATION to an exercise regime and a balanced diet to lose the weight and stay in the shape that you want; unless you are just looking for a quick fix.