Research

Mixed

Combining diet and exercise is preferable to diet alone because it preserves fat-free mass and improves cardiorespiratory fitness, whereas diet alone reduces fat-free mass.

If you are losing weight postpartum, combine diet with exercise. Dieting alone might cause you to lose muscle mass, while adding exercise helps maintain your muscle and improves your heart health, making the weight loss more beneficial for your long-term health.

GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
it may be preferable to lose weight through a combination of diet and exercise as this improves maternal cardiorespiratory fitness and preserves fat-free mass, while diet alone reduces fat-free mass.
Amanda Rodrigues Amorim Adegboye et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2013

Why this rating

Based on Cochrane review conclusions, though direct comparison trials were limited (one trial for diet vs diet+exercise).

Source

Diet or exercise, or both, for weight reduction in women after childbirth

Amanda Rodrigues Amorim Adegboye et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2013

Meta-analysis · 14 studiesCited 313×
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