Energy Balance Dynamics: Exercise, Appetite, Diet, and Weight Control

Individuals seeking to achieve weight loss are encouraged to achieve a negative energy balance, essentially eat less and move more. The complex relationship between energy expenditure and intake is often overlooked, leaving individuals and practitioners underwhelmed by the results of weight loss efforts. Independently, physical activity and diet interventions can yield modest weight loss and when combined have synergistic effects that promote sustained weight loss. Although physical activity benefits appetite suppression, reduces food rewards, and can be considered a gateway to healthy eating, high levels of daily activity are needed to induce weight loss. Diet is an important component to achieving weight loss, and high-protein diets have the potential for supporting weight loss as well. This column will be focused on the benefits of physical activity in reducing body weight, more specifically, the interdependent relationship between dietary intake and physical activity in achieving weight reduction.