The purpose of my blogs is to pass on great information that is helpful to everyone. I found this article by Greg Fulton, and have found it to be very helpful regarding weight loss. You want to know how to lose weight? How to burn calories? This article is for you.

Weight Loss Strategies Not Hitting Home With Americans

By Greg Fulton
WebMD Medical News
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Oct. 12, 1999 (Atlanta) -- More than two-thirds of American adults are trying to lose weight or maintain their current weight, but their strategy for weight control is probably ineffective, according to a study published in the Oct. 13 issue of the The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study found that few Americans were combining recommended caloric reduction with a minimum of 150 minutes of physical activity per week to lose weight. Instead, researchers found that most people concentrated on reducing the amount of fat in their diets, which is a common misconception of proper dieting.

"We know that a diet strict on calories leads to weight loss. Reducing fat is healthy, but for weight loss, it doesn't matter if you eat chocolate chip cookies or steak all day, what's important is reducing the overall calories to what your body needs to produce energy," says Ronna Bakst, who is a clinical dietician at the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center in Durham, N.C. Bakst reviewed the study for WebMD.

The study's results were based on a telephone survey of 107,804 adults. Conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it shows that 64% of men and 78% of women were either trying to lose weight or to maintain their current weight through diet and exercise.

But the survey found that only about 20% of men and women were combining reduction of dietary calories and fat with moderate exercise. Researchers specifically found that fewer people were approaching weight control by combining just caloric reduction and exercise. Less than half of all men and women were exercising at recommended levels.

"The research didn't tell us whether people don't know about effective means or knew about them but were unable to reach the goals," the study's lead author, Mary K. Serdula, MD, MPH, tells WebMD. Serdula is an epidemiologist with the CDC's Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Last June, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published the nation's first federal physician guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of overweight or obese populations. In addition to focusing on caloric reduction and exercise, the guidelines cover goals for weight loss that precede considerations for prescription drug use or surgery.

"There are ballpark figures people can use for calorie reduction," says Bakst. "Current weight multiplied by ten roughly equals the calories needed to maintain weight. Subtracting five hundred from that allows for weight loss."

In February, the Federal Trade Commission published a set of voluntary standards for the consumer weight loss industry, aimed at standardizing advertising claims and including information on the risk factors of being overweight and the difficulty of maintaining weight loss.

"There is a lot of attention on this aspect of health care," says Serdula. "We know that entering the '90s, about 55% of all Americans were overweight or obese. The rates have been increasing steadily, and we know the inherent risk factors."

Serdula says overweight people are at risk for high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke. The NIH guidelines add gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep and respiratory disorders, and some cancers to that list.