Eat less and exercise more?

If only it was as simple to drop weight (and keep it off) as the all too common advice given in this humorous video from Mad TV:

If you're one of the many people struggling with overweight, then I'm certain you've heard that phrase more than once - take in less calories and workout more!

As countless people have found out, this isn't quite the problem solving formula it sets out to be. And in fact, counting calories can cause you a lot of problems in the end (and not really make you lose weight after all)

A recent study and long term analysis from experts at Harvard University was carried out to find the the factors that influence weight gain. The study involved well over 120,000 well-educated people of both genders. All were considered healthy and not obese at the start of the study.

The results, in addition to diet, points to important things regarding exercise, sleep, watching TV, drinking alcohol and smoking. Not surprisingly at all - the things shown in the study goes hand in hand with what's taught and utilized within the 7MW program.

• It's a massive research project and you can read more detailed about it in the June edition of 'The New England Journal of Medicine' if you feel like it. Here are some of the major points:
• Exercise is undoubtedly a very important factor in controlling your weight
• There are definitely good foods and bad foods. Eating more of the good an less of the bad is instrumental in controlling the weight
• By being fairly active and ignoring diet, you can still gain weight
• Minor changes in your eating, exercise and other habits may result in quite substantial changes to your body weight over a period of years
• On average, participants in the study gained a pound a year - adding up to 20 pounds in 20 years
• Drinking your calories and eating french fries and potato chips have huge impacts
• Foods that resulted in weight loss or no gain when consumed in greater amounts: fruits, vegetables and whole grains
• An increased intake of dairy products, whether low-fat or full-fat (milk and cheese), showed a neutral effect on weight
• Weight loss was greatest among people who ate more yogurt and nuts, including peanut butter, over each four-year period. Like you'll learn in the 7MinuteWorkout program - you'll need fat to lose weight!
• The metabolism, which determines how many calories you "burn" at rest, was slowed down with the consumption of refined grains but stayed the same after consumption of whole grains. In other words - you definitely need fiber (again a 7mwo stable truth) and should cut down on the refined stuff!
• In general, people who were having less too few or too many hours of sleep a night tended to gain most weight
• Lots of TV watching = weight gain

Again - there are lots of other interesting things in the study as well, so you will definitely be better off by giving it a read.

Bottom line: Proper eating habits + proper exercising + enough sleep - excessive drink - soda = far better results. Want to see this in action? Join 7MinuteWorkout today!

Oh, and there's also more information on the subject of diet and exercise on the 7mw blog.