Wearing a Weighted Vest May Help Maintain Weight Loss 2 Years After Dieting, New Study Finds
We all know that losing weight is one thing, but keeping it off? That's the real mountain. Most of us have felt that frustrating boomerang effect after months of hard graft. In fact, many studies indicate that long-term weight loss maintenance is particularly difficult to achieve. But what if there was a way to support the metabolism and increase the chances of keeping the weight off?
That's exactly what a group of researchers set out to explore, not with obscure diets or another app, but with something surprisingly simple: a weighted vest. They hypothesised that your body has a kind of internal weight sensing system (called the gravitostat), and if you can keep it 'tricked' into feeling heavier, you might avoid the usual metabolic slowdown that leads to weight regain.
While this is a very new area of study, and more research is needed, here's what the researchers found, and what it could mean for the way we think about sustainable weight loss.
The researchers of the pilot study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, aimed to explore whether wearing a weighted vest during a weight loss programme could help older adults with obesity maintain weight loss over the long term, possibly by preventing the usual drop in metabolism that leads to weight regain.
The study methods included:
18 older adults with obesity and osteoarthritis took part in a 6-month weight loss programme using meal replacements and dietary counselling.
Half the group also wore a weighted vest up to 10 hours a day during this time, with the vest weight gradually increased to match the amount of weight they lost.
No participants wore the vest after the 6 months, but researchers followed up 24 months after the start of the study to measure weight and metabolic rate.
Both groups lost a similar amount of weight during the first 6 months (about 10-11 kg).
At 24 months, the vest group had regained only half of their lost weight, while the non-vest group regained all of it.
The vest group also showed much less of a drop in resting metabolic rate, which may have helped prevent the weight regain.
Wearing a weighted vest during dieting may help the body feel heavier, activating a system called the gravitostat that helps regulate weight and metabolism. This could be a promising tool for improving long-term weight loss success, especially for older adults or those unable to exercise.
But before we get too excited, larger studies are needed before this becomes a general recommendation for people trying to lose weight. The study was small, plus, while wearing a vest for a workout or a walk is feasible, for 10 hours a day is a little bit of a stretch.
You may find it more comfortable to include a weighted vest in your workouts, or for your walks. Another study has shown that doing so can increase your energy burn by as much as 40%. However, if you're curious to find out more about what it's like to wear a weighted vest all day, our writer did exactly that, and detailed his experience. You can read all about it here:
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