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Moderate Exercise Helps Women Become Weight Losers
Most of us, when we go through exercise routines, seem to feel that we have to work out at a high level of intensity for the exercise to be beneficial. Well, if you’re a woman and you have trouble maintaining a high-intensity level but still want to enjoy the benefits of working out, I may have some good news for you.
  According to study results published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, exercise of moderate intensity can be just as good as vigorous exercise for reducing weight in women who normally are sedentary. In addition, a different study by the Women’s Health Initiative suggests that intense exercise has no advantage over moderate exercise when it comes to preventing breast cancer.
  For a two-year period, 201 sedentary, overweight women in a university-based weight control program were monitored in groups based on estimated energy expenditure of 1,000 or 2,000 kilo-calories per week and exercise levels defined as either “moderate” or “vigorous.” Moderate exercise duration was defined as 150 minutes per week, and vigorous exercise was defined as 200 minutes per week. All of the women in the study group were asked to restrict energy intake to 1,200-1,500 kilo-calories per day and dietary fat to 20 percent to 30 percent of total energy
intake.
  The average age of the women studied was 37 and average body mass index (BMI) was 32.7. Without going into a lot of complicated numbers, suffice it to say that when the results were tallied, the women who exercised moderately lost about as much weight as those who exercised more intensely.
  One of the best things you can do is also one of the simplest: walking. Walking four or five days a week at a moderate-to-brisk pace gets your blood pumping, your muscles conditioned and your respiratory system flowing evenly. It also can help you lose weight if you adhere to a regular walking regimen.
  Eating the right foods — and the right amount of the right foods — also is critical to maintaining proper health and body mass. Getting yourself down to the weight you should be and keeping yourself there is an ongoing challenge. Establish a proper exercise and dietary program for yourself, working with a certified personal trainer and/or a licensed nutritionist when necessary. And don’t forget your doctor’s role in this. Regular physical checkups should be part of everyone’s personal health agenda.

Mackie Shilstone is Ochsner Clinic Foundation’s performance enhancement expert. He is the author of two books, Lose Your Love Handles (Perigee Books) and Maximum Energy for Life (John Wiley & Sons). He can be reached at 842-9110 or through his Web site, www.mackieshilstone.com.

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