Diet and exercise secret to losing weight fast

The goal of diet and exercise

McMaster University researchers have found that it is possible to reach the elusive goal of gaining muscle and losing fat quickly, but it isn't easy.

For the study, 40 young men underwent a month of hard exercise while cutting dietary energy they would normally require by 40 per cent of what they would normally require.

"It was a gruelling affair," says Stuart Phillips, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster and senior investigator on the study. "These guys were in rough shape, but that was part of the plan. We wanted to see how quickly we could get them into shape: lose some fat, but still retain their muscle and improve their strength and fitness," he says.

This change in diet makes a big difference

The researchers divided their subjects into two low calorie diet groups with one group assigned higher levels of protein than the other.

The higher-protein group experienced muscle gains -about 1.13 kilograms (2.5 pounds) - despite consuming insufficient energy, while the lower protein group did not add muscle.

The high-protein group gained more muscle and lost more body fat.

The lower-protein group at least had the consolation of not losing muscle, which is a predictable outcome of cutting calories and not working out, say researchers.

"Exercise, particularly lifting weights, provides a signal for muscle to be retained even when you're in a big calorie deficit," says Phillips.

The high-protein group lost more fat

Researchers were intrigued because the high-protein group also lost more body fat.

"We expected the muscle retention" said Phillips, "but were a little surprised by the amount of additional fat loss in the higher protein consuming group."

The results showed that the high-protein group lost about 4.7 kilograms (10.5 pounds) and the low protein group only 3.6 kilograms (eight pounds).

The gruelling regime

All of the participants, by virtue of the demanding six-days-a-week exercise routines, got stronger, fitter, and generally were in much better shape. However, researchers caution this regimen is not for everyone.

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