Improved weight and body composition following a structured diet plan incorporating healthy convenient prepared meals

Abstract

Excess body fat is a risk factor for the development of many chronic diseases. Lifestyle measures such as decreased caloric intake and increased physical activity constitute first line treatments to reduce excess body fat.We examined the effects of a DASH‐Style (DS; n=70) diet and exercise or exercise only (EO, n=58) program on cardiovascular risk factors in 128 participants (BMI 22‐40) for 24 weeks. Both groups received an exercise prescription recommending a minimum of 15 minutes of moderate physical activity, 3 days per week and progressing to 45 minutes, 4 days per week by week 12. They also met with an exercise physiologist once weekly for 12 weeks and biweekly thereafter. The DS group followed a reduced calorie eating pattern and incorporated one commercially prepared healthy frozen meal and one other selected grocery item each day for 24 weeks and received dietary counseling from a dietician once weekly for 12 weeks and biweekly thereafter. .After 24 weeks, the DS group reduced body weight (‐18.12 ± 10.66 vs ‐6.33 ± 8.24 lbs, p<0.001), BMI (‐2.90 ± 1.64 vs ‐1.00 ± 1.30 kg/m2, p<0.001), waist circumference (‐7.03 ± 4.53 vs ‐3.08 ± 3.79 cm, p<0.001), body fat percentage (‐5.93 ± 3.93 vs ‐1.64 ± 2.88%, p<0.001) and fat mass (‐18.59 ± 11.31 vs ‐6.01 ± 9.01 lbs, p<0.001) to a greater extent than the EO group.These data suggest that a structured diet plan that combines healthy prepared meals with regular walking exercise can successfully reduce weight and improve measures of adiposity. The convenience of ready to eat meals may improve compliance to a structured program of risk factor reduction