Four Low-Tech Slim-Down Strategies

You know that you're supposed to reduce your calorie intake and up your exercise. You've stocked the fridge with celery, raw cauliflower and cottage cheese and bought a new pair of sneakers for inspiration. But perhaps you should also consider throwing away the alarm clock or getting a dog. Check out some recent studies that offer other habits to help you shed pounds.

Catch those z's

Getting more sleep doesn’t just help the bags under your eyes, it may reduce the saddlebags around your hips, too. Research presented in October at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity conference suggested that there's a correlation between short sleep time (five to six hours) and being overweight.

The Quebec Family Study tracked 740 men and women for several decades, monitoring their nightly sleep, body fat and blood levels. Those who reported sleeping just five to six hours had lower than predicted levels of leptin, a hormone involved in weight management, than normal sleepers (six to eight hours). "Leptin decreases energy intake and increases energy expenditure," explains Angelo Tremblay, professor at Laval University in Quebec. This means we eat less and burn more. Lower levels of leptin could cause the opposite effect (eating more and burning less), leading to weight gain.

These findings are consistent with a study out of Chicago that found the same results with leptin. That study also found that sleep deprivation causes an increase of the hormone ghrelin, which produces cravings.

We all know that our body shapes reflect what we eat—and how much we exercise. Are we also defined by our sleep habits? Tremblay offers a qualified yes: "It seems to be important for everyone to get enough sleep in order to regulate hormones that are important to energy balance."

The ideal dose of exercise

Of course the extra sleep you’re getting may cut into the extra exercise time you need to add to your schedule, according to a two-year-long study of overweight women that looked at the impact of various "doses" of exercise. This is the longest study to date that has examined how the duration of exercise affects weight loss. All of the women were instructed to reduce their calorie intake to 1,200-1,500 calories per day with 20 percent to 30 percent dietary fat. They were also told to burn a certain number of calories each week (moderate being 1,000/week, vigorous being 2,000/week) using a prescribed intensity of aerobic exercise, based on their fitness levels. The women then reported how much time per week they exercised to reach their goals.

It may come as no surprise that the researchers found that those who lost the most weight exercised the most—270 to 300 minutes, or about five hours total, a week. "This should be the amount for anyone interested in maintaining significant weight loss," says the lead investigator of the study, John Jakicic of the University of Pittsburgh. Basically, the more calories you burn, the more weight you lose. And the longer you exercise, the more you burn.

Now, the only problem is figuring out how to motivate people to stick to such an active schedule. "It is an uphill battle," Jakicic acknowledges.  

Crank the tunes

An iPod might be one way to keep yourself moving up that hill. A pilot study suggests that listening to music during exercise helped women lose more weight and stick to their exercise and diet regimen. In the study, women who ranged from moderately obese to overweight were asked to walk on their own two days a week and walk with others one day a week. Over the course of the 24-week study, half of the women were given a CD player and told to listen to music (DJ's choice); the other half had no music. In the end, those who had the music adhered to the exercise regimen and the general program (attending meetings, turning in food diaries, hitting calorie goals each week) and as a result lost significantly more weight. They lost an average of 16 pounds per person, as compared to 8 pounds for the other group.

What is it about the tunes? "We're not certain, but our sense, based on what the women said, is that it motivated them to stick with the exercise," says Christopher Capuano, professor of psychology at Farleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. "Music distracts you from the perceived physical exertion. The positive emotions associated with music probably substitute for the negative emotions associated with exertion and make it easier to continue and get through it."

So stop thinking about those 300 minutes of sweat, and start thinking about 300 minutes of "Born to Run" karaoke.

Walk a dog

If music doesn't get you walking, maybe your neighbor's pooch will. In a study at the University of Missouri-Columbia, researchers had subjects walk a dog 10 minutes a day three days a week, building up to 20 minutes a day five days a week. By the end of a year, the dog walkers lost an average of 14 pounds—more than other major weight-loss plans.

Researcher Rebecca Johnson, an associate professor of nursing and director of a program that examines human and animal interactions, says, "We all know that walking is good exercise, but what we have been unsuccessful in doing is getting people to walk—and continue walking. The dogs in our study provided sufficient motivation for this." One participant said, "The dogs make me a better person." Another said to the study dog, "You always make me feel better." As Johnson notes, "This is something that cannot necessarily be derived from a treadmill, weight machines or even just walking alone."

Get those tails wagging.