Several methods are used to regulate caloric intake while dieting. These include formula diets or monitoring food intake. Many studies use a fixed formula diet of a low calo

Dieting has certain effects on body composition. Most studies have shown a significant weight loss while on a LCD and VLCD. The amount of weight loss varies widely, along with the composition of the weight. A study by Wadden et al. (1992), using underwater weighing as a means of assessing body composition, found that obese women lost an average of 84% fat mass and only 16% fat-free mass while on a cyclical diet over a six month period. In a second study using total body nitrogen and total body water isotope dilution to measure body composition it was found that fat-free mass accounted for 23% of the weight loss and fat mass 77% when exercise was lacking throughout a ten week, 405kcal/day diet (Kreitzman et al., 1992). Hill et al. (1987) did a study on eight obese women and found that without exercise over a five-week period on an 800kcal/day formula diet the subjects lost 57% of the weight at fat mass and 43% as fat-free mass. These studies outlined above only show the weight loss composition of just using a LCD and VLCD diet. When diet and exercise are combined a lower percentage of fat-free mass is assumed to be preserved while the fat mass is lost (Ross et al., 1995). Hill et al. (1992), also found that in exercising subjects more of the weight loss came from fat and less from fat-free mass than in sedentary subjects. This produced a greater total energy loss in exercising subjects. This same conclusion is stated by Garrow and Summerbell (1995), that at any given weight loss, the loss of fat-free mass is likely to be less in exercising obese subjects than in sedentary ones.

By combining exercise with a low calorie diet may obese women think that it will accelerate weight loss, however it only causes extra fat mass to be lost. The exercise results in the adaptation of fat mobilization and oxidation in the body (Kempen, Saries and Westerterp, 1995). The combination of exercise and a VLCD promotes better dietary adherence. Carbohydrates and proteins are needed in a VLCD or LCD in order to help preserve energy for activities. The protein intake has also proven to be adequate in the maintenance of fat-free mass (Phinney, 1992). Wilson (1990), explains that for obese individuals a diet of 300 to 600 kcal/day with high protein content is recommended to preserve fat-free mass. The experimenter states that this is only recommended for temporary diets lasting no longer than 3 months.

A very low calorie diet causes a large energy deficit. Past studies have found that when energy intake is restricted, energy expenditure decreases, resulting in a decline in the rate of weight los

Some topics in this essay:
Van Gaal, LCD VLCD, Shields Heller, Garrow Summerbell, VLCD LCD, Lerman Burrows, Pronk Jakicic, Xavier Pi-Sunyer, Neil Herling-Iaffaldano, Stunkard Conill, fat-free mass, weight loss, et al, low calorie, fat mass, low calorie diet, calorie diet, obese women, et al 1992, hill et, food restriction, al 1992, hill et al, resting metabolic rate, et al 1995,