The key to losing weight is eating less. Exercise may be good for you, but it doesn’t really have much impact on weight. Right?

It is a question that plagues all who struggle with weight: Why do some of us manage to keep off lost pounds, while others regain them?

Now, a study of 14 participants from the “Biggest Loser” television show provides an answer: physical activity — and much more of it than public health guidelines suggest. On average, those who managed to maintain a significant weight loss had 80 minutes a day of moderate activity, like walking, or 35 minutes a day of vigorous exercise, like running.

….“The findings here are important,” said Rena Wing, a psychiatry professor at Brown University and a founder of the National Weight Control Registry, which includes more than 10,000 people. The food eaten “is the key determinant of initial weight loss. And physical activity is the key to maintenance,” she said.

Poof. Another piece of conventional wisdom about weight loss is now turned on its head. Maybe. Gotta replicate first, though. Damn scientists.

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