Exercise Testing & Training Facility utilization only. Epidemiological studies suggest that low levels of physical activity and physical fitness are strong and independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease, cancer and all-cause mortality. Inactivity in the United States appears to be a major health problem that is of comparable magnitude to cigarette smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood cloesterol. There are over 40 million adults in the US whose sedentary habits put them at considerably increased risk of morbidity and mortality from several diseases. Exercise has been found to be a very strong predictor of successful weight management once weight loss has been achieved. No studies have compared changes in risk profiles and body composition in people treated by diet plus lifestyle activity vs. diet combined with a traditional exercise program. We hypothesize that patients who are randomized to diet-plus- lifestyle activity will maintain both weight losses and improved risk profiles significantly better than the subjects who receive the diet plus traditional exercise training because the former participants will continue to implement their increased lifestyle activity strategies into their daily schedules. The purpose of this study is to examine whether a lifestyle activity program helps patients maintain weight losses and adhere to the activity program after a supervised weight loss program. Fifty obese women will be randomly assigned to either: 1) control group, 2) diet plus lifestyle activity, or 3) diet plus traditional exercise, i.e, combined strength training and aerobic exercise in a supervised setting. We hypothesize that the women who receive the lifestyle treatment will achieve better weight maintenance and continue to pursue lifestyle activity after the supervised program is over.
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