Exercisers move more when they’re not exercising, which keeps weight off. Exercise and weight training has proven to help dieters keep off lost weight. Past research hadn’t given much insight into why exactly this might be, so a new team investigated what might be going on. “They recruited 100 overweight women and had them follow an 800-calorie diet. The women also completed an array of tests to determine their starting body composition, metabolic rate, non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or N.E.A.T. (a measure of how much energy people use to move around without formally exercising), and walking economy. A third of the women were asked not to exercise. Another third began a supervised aerobic exercise program, consisting of about 40 minutes of walking or jogging on a treadmill at a brisk pace three times a week. The final third started supervised upper- and lower-body weight training three times per week.” After losing 25 pounds, the women were put on a diet that would keep them at the same weight and maintained their exercise regimen. Unlike the women who didn’t exercise, “exercising women held closer to their level of N.E.A.T. movement before the weight loss and some women, especially those who lifted weights, increased how much they moved.” The study reveals that the benefits of exercise extend well beyond the time spent working out, which contributes directly to whether weight stays off in the long run.

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