MY COMMENT:    Have the Atkins people looked at this?   I find it interesting that weight loss was identical in the study groups- one high protein and one meat free.   Which diet do you suppose has the potential for additional health problems?

“…a natural fibre found in sea kelp – stops the body from absorbing fat better than most anti-obesity treatments currently available over the counter.”  -

Could this be the Japanese secret for remaining so thin?

Resistance training conserves fat-free mass and resting energy expenditure following weight loss.

MY COMMENT:  Wouldn’t it be nice if this turns out to actually be true? Don’t ever forget, however, that a healthy diet and regular exercise will never be replaced.

While this concept is popular in dieting guides, there is no scientific evidence that any of the foods claimed as negative calorie foods, are such.  Celery, a commonly cited negative calorie food,  actually requires only about 10% of its calorie content to be digested (due to the thermic effect)^[.

The consumption of grapefruit, another commonly cited food, leads to weight-loss simply by taking up space in the stomach that might otherwise go to higher calorie foods. -wikipedia.com

This means that the more fat you carry, the larger your deficit can be,
without catabolized non-fatty tissues (muscle).

Example: A 200 pound man with 20% bodyfat carries 40 pounds of fat, thus
he can maintain 40×31 calories = 1240 calorie deficit per day, without
losing muscle tissue.

Example: A 200 pound man with 5% bodyfat carries only 10 pounds of fat,
thus he can only maintain 10×31 calories = 310 calorie deficit per day.

This is assuming you are sedentary. Adding physical activity will likely
increase the body’s rate of fat oxidation.

My point is simple: the bigger and fatter you are, the bigger your
deficit can be. Large, obese persons can maintain large deficits. The
leaner you get, the smaller your deficit should be.

One more point: eating under your BMR will not INITIALLY halt weight
loss, but if you continue to eat a very low amount of calories for a
prolonged period, your body will fight back

-exerpt from
http://caloriecount.about.com/clarify-maximum-calorie-deficit-ft91383

MY COMMENT: I’ve never seen that 31 calories per pound of fat burned
every 24 hours figure, however the whole theory makes sense- one ideal
calorie deficit does not fit all sizes.

This would be one quick way to take the guess work out if you are a
calorie counter.  You just need to get a body fat assessment (and I can
do that!).

Remember when referring to a calorie deficit, we are talking about a
certain calorie level below what you were doing to maintain your current
weight- including level of calorie intake balanced against total
calories expended.   Go too low or too crazy with exercise and you’ll
drop more lean tissue than you want.

Conclusions: Despite similar effect on fat losses, combining CR (calorie restriction) with exercise increased aerobic fitness in parallel with improved insulin sensitivity, LDL cholesterol, and diastolic BP. The results lend support for inclusion of an exercise component in weight loss programs to improve metabolic fitness. -Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise

COMMENTS: This study split subjects into 3s- controls, a group that reduced calorie intake by 25%, and a combination group with 12.5% reduction in calories combined with a 12.5% increase in physical activity. The findings support previous research- you don’t accelerate fat loss by adding exercise when caloric deficits are the same, however the added benefits are significant. Other research has found that weight loss is more likely to be maintained in those who continue to exercise.

The average dog owner gets more exercise walking their pet than someone with a gym membership -Telegraph.co.uk

MY COMMENT: The study found dog walkers spending an average of 5 hours 38 minutes walking their dog- above the ACSM threshold for achieving significant weight loss (250 minutes per week).

These preliminary results show that low vitamin C status is associated with reduced fat oxidation during submaximal exercise. Low vitamin C status may partially explain the inverse relationship between vitamin C status and adiposity and why some individuals are unsuccessful in their weight loss attempts. -nutritionandmetabolism

MY COMMENT: Vitamin C is cheap and readily available. It would be worth a try to at least take a 500mg supplement daily. Interesting to note “an inverse relationship between vitamin C status and body weight and waist measurements . Also that it was a supplement and not real food that effectively corrected the deficiency and improved fat metabolism.

This does not mean Vitamin C is a weight loss pill- only that it may help you burn fat if your diet is dificient.