Devices such as pedometers or walking routines help obese people get healthy by facilitating weight loss. You must burn more calories than you consume to lose weight; this is called a caloric deficit. One pound of fat has about 3,500 calories, so you must have a caloric deficit equal to 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb. of body weight per week. Create the caloric deficit by eating fewer calories, exercising more or a combination of the two.
Pedometer to Increase Daily Steps
Obese and overweight middle-aged women who recorded their steps with pedometers increased their number of steps by 36 percent compared to a group with no pedometers, according to a study conducted by Sebely Pal from the School of Public Health at the Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia. After 12 weeks, the data showed no significant difference in weight loss or percentage of body fat between the two groups, but the pedometer group had a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure.
Mandometer to Decrease Food Consumption
The mandometer is a computerized, portable scale developed at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm that helped obese children and adolescents lose weight more successfully than standard treatments in a trial involving 106 obese participants between the ages of 9 and 17. After 12 months, the mandometer group had significantly lower body mass index and body fat scores, as well as significantly higher levels of good cholesterol than the control group. The mandometer provides real-time feedback comparing how fast you eat to the ideal speed programmed into the mandometer by a food therapist.
DASH Diet and Exercise to Reduce Blood Pressure
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet combined with exercise results in larger blood pressure reduction and greater vascular improvements than the diet alone according to a randomized, controlled trial conducted by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina. The study involved 144 overweight or obese unmedicated patients with high blood pressure who either followed the DASH diet alone or combined it with an exercise program. The group with exercise reduced its collective blood pressure by 16.1/9.9 mm Hg, while the diet-only group had a blood pressure reduction of 11.2/7.5 mm.
Brisk Walking for Fitness
Brisk walking lowers blood pressure and increases fitness in morbidly obese patients and requires little cost or training. Patients achieved a maximum heart rate by walking for 1 mile at a self-imposed brisk walking pace. Walking for 30 minutes at 50 percent effort reduced blood pressure in morbidly obese patients for at least four hours, but walking for a longer time at a higher intensity did not enhance that effect, according to information from the American College of Sports Medicine. The extra effort required to move the patient's weight causes the cardiovascular system to work harder.
References
- "BMC Public Health"; Using Pedometers to Increase Physical Activity in Overweight and Obese Women: Sebely Pal, et al.; August, 2009
- "British Medical Journal"; New Eating Device Retrains Dietary Habits and Helps Children Lose Weight; Julian Hamilton-Shield, et al.; January, 2010
- "Archives of Internal Medicine"; Effects of the DASH Diet Alone and in Combination with Exercise; J.A. Blumenthal, et al.: January, 2010
- Medline Plus: Tips for Weight Loss; 2009
- American College of Sports Medicine: Brisk Walking Lowers Blood Pressure, Increases Fitness in Obese; 2008
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