Research
Energy balance
High levels of physical activity (>= 60 minutes/day or >= 2000 kcal/week expenditure) are critical for the long-term maintenance of weight loss, whereas physical activity alone has limited benefit for inducing initial weight loss.
Use diet to lose the weight, but use high-volume exercise (>= 60 minutes/day of brisk walking or equivalent) to keep it off. If you struggle with time, break exercise into short 10-minute bouts throughout the day. Aim to increase your daily step count by 2000 steps initially, progressing to 6000-8000 extra steps after significant weight loss.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Physical activity appears to be critical for long-term weight management... weight regain (following weight loss) was reduced by engaging in high levels of physical activity, >= 60 min/d of brisk walking.
Why this rating
Based on multiple RCTs and observational studies (National Weight Control Registry).
Source
Lifestyle Modification for Obesity
Thomas A. Wadden et al. · Circulation · 2012
DOI 10.1161/circulationaha.111.039453
narrative_reviewCited 566×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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