Research
Energy balance
Aerobic exercise alone, without prescribed calorie restriction, produces modest but statistically significant weight loss (approx. 1.6-2.3 kg) in overweight/obese adults over 6-12 months.
If you cannot change your diet, start moderate aerobic exercise (150+ mins/week). You will likely lose 1.5-2 kg over 6-12 months. This modest loss still improves health markers like blood pressure and insulin sensitivity.
GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
6-month exercise programmes were seen to induce a modest weight reduction of 1.6 kg... 12-month AE interventions was found to be 1.7 kg... AE interventions, even in the absence of an associated dietary restriction, seem to be an effective modality of achieving meaningful WL and associated health benefit.
Why this rating
Based on systematic reviews and RCTs, though heterogeneity in exercise modes exists.
Source
Physical activity and obesity: what we know and what we need to know*
Shao-Hua Chin et al. · Obesity Reviews · 2016
DOI 10.1111/obr.12460
narrative_reviewCited 262×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Combining moderate-intensity aerobic exercise with calorie restriction produces significantly greater initial weight loss and fat mass reduction than calorie restriction alone.Strong
- High-dose, high-intensity aerobic exercise (600 kcal/session) without dietary restriction can achieve clinically meaningful weight loss (>3-5%) in young, obese adults.Good
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