The NYTimes has a new wellness blog, by Tara Parker Pope (of the WSJ). It has an interesting title to the latest article, called “And now, the Exercise-Resistant dieter“.
This is another instance where scientific terms such as “not statistically significant” really throw normal people for a loop (see statistical power)–and create implications that take people away from simple conclusions, in this case, that people prescribed exercise who don’t lose weight often eat more (and balance out the increased exercise with less activity elsewhere in their life).
Its really hard to get statistically significant evidence with a small trial. If you take away the statistical mumbo-jumbo, on average, the people who lost weight (when prescribed a 500 calorie exercise regimen) ate 400 less calories a day than those who didn’t, increased intake of 270 calories for those who gained weight, and decreased intake of 130 in those who lost weight. Given that initially starting an exercise program can cause initial increases in lean weight from energy getting stored in the muscle, this is a pretty easy dietary change which combined with exercise leads to weight loss.
Here’s her take (emphasis mine):
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