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Does when you eat and exercise matter? Differences in eating and physical activity patterns in overweight and obese adults

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Despite current recommendations and guidelines on the treatment of overweight and obesity, little is known about what patterns of energy intake or expenditure are ideal for weight loss. The present study examined patterns in energy intake and expenditure and explored whether those differences were associated with weight loss.

Methods

Self-monitoring data on energy intake and expenditure, along with minutes spent in exercise, were obtained from 90 overweight or obese adults (mean BMI = 38.0) enrolled in two behavioral weight loss programs. Energy intake and minutes of daily exercise were self-reported and energy expenditure was obtained from the Caltrac accelerometers that were provided to participants.

Results

On weekends (Friday through Sunday), participants consumed more calories from breakfast (271 vs. 241 kcals/day; p < .01), dinner (605 vs. 547 kcals/day; p < .001), and alcohol (59 vs. 27 kcals/day; p < .01), as well as total daily calories (1669 vs. 1520 kcals/day; p < .001) and expended fewer total calories (2515 vs. 2614 kcals/day; p < .01) than on weekdays. Higher caloric intake on weekdays was associated with less overall weight loss (r = −.29, p < .01) and was marginally associated on weekends (r = −.19, p = .051).

Conclusion

This investigation found evidence that while eating patterns clearly contribute to daily energy intake on weekdays and weekends, they may not necessarily contribute to weight change. At the end of the day, what may be most important is regular self-monitoring and total caloric intake on both the weekdays and weekends.

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Notes

  1. The statistical power for the main analyses ranged from 0.66 to 0.99, with effect sizes ranging from 0.2 to 0.7.

  2. The attrition rate was in line with other BWLPs [32] and is a common problem in weight loss treatment [33]. Reasons for dropout were not known and could be due to factors, such as the time commitment required, life circumstances, decreased motivation, or dissatisfaction with their progress.

  3. The total possible number of self-monitoring entries that could be submitted in study one was 12 weeks and in study two was 20 weeks, as both studies also included an orientation and/or a screening visit. The last week of each study’s weight loss program was not required, as the final class took place on the first day of that week and no entries were required to be submitted after the final class. There was also an additional week included in study two due to a break that occurred during the treatment period.

  4. Study two’s compliance was lower than study one’s due to the longer duration of treatment, as self-monitoring frequency has been shown to decrease over the course of treatment [34].

  5. We used a 5 % cutoff because it is commonly included in the range for “successful” weight loss due to its demonstrated health benefits [2].

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for helping improve the paper through their insightful and valuable feedback. We would also like to thank Dr. Richard Anderson (Bowling Green State University) for his statistical expertise and assistance with some of our analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA

    Debra A. Hoffmann

  2. Department of Psychology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Robert A. Carels

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  1. Debra A. Hoffmann
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Correspondence to Debra A. Hoffmann.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Hoffmann, D.A., Carels, R.A. Does when you eat and exercise matter? Differences in eating and physical activity patterns in overweight and obese adults. Eat Weight Disord 21, 91–98 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-015-0214-z

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