In randomised trials, pedometer users walked 2,491 more steps a day than controls (95% CI 1,098 to 3,885), and having a step goal predicted the increase. Walking programmes without a diet produced modest weight loss of 1.27 kg on average.

Across 117 studies, dieting produced more weight loss but exercise tended to remove more visceral fat, and without weight loss exercise still reduced it. Aerobic training carried the clearest effect.

The standard MET assumes a resting oxygen use of 3.5 ml per kg per minute; measured in 642 women and 127 men it averaged 2.6. Correcting for your own resting rate removed the error, and for body weight exercises the energy cost scales with repetitions.

On the same supervised exercise programme, individual fat changes ran from a loss of 3.2 kg to a gain of 2.6 kg. Those who lost less moved less outside their sessions, and in men also ate more; resting metabolic rate did not separate them.

Natural bodybuilders spent 22 ± 9 weeks preparing for a contest. In elite athletes, losing 0.7 percent of body weight a week kept and even added lean mass, while 1.4 percent a week did not.

Every weight-loss method ends in a plateau. A modelling study suggests GLP-1 drugs and gastric bypass push it later by weakening the appetite feedback that diets leave intact, and appetite pushes back harder than metabolism does.

Female physique athletes who dieted to contest leanness showed changes across every immune measure tested, most of which returned during weight regain. No study here identifies a body fat threshold.

A label calorie is a prediction. In a controlled feeding study pistachios delivered less energy than the label factors predicted, and digesting a mixed diet takes 5 to 15 percent of daily energy expenditure.

A meta-analysis of 12 epidemiological studies linked higher coffee intake to slightly lower BMI and waist circumference, especially in men. A Mendelian randomisation study of 93,179 people found no convincing genetic evidence that coffee causally lowers obesity risk.

In a crossover trial of 50 healthy-weight adults, harder-textured lunches were eaten more slowly and reduced energy intake by 26% compared with softer versions. Chewing each portion 40 rather than 15 times lowered hunger, but did not reduce intake at the next meal.

An analysis of 2,045,653 Instagram posts found healthy food most associated with fitness, weight loss and diet, and with vegan, homemade and clean foods. Yet recipes from clean-eating blogs contained the same energy, sugar and sodium as comparable recipes without the claim.

Across 107 short-term fibre treatments, most did not reduce appetite or food intake. Viscous fibres such as pectins, beta-glucans and guar gum reduced appetite more often than less viscous fibres, but effects on intake and body weight were small.

Only eight obesity treatment studies met strict criteria of at least three years' follow-up without continued intervention, and they showed a trend of regain toward pre-treatment baseline. Across 67 studies, behaviours that reduce intake, raise expenditure and monitor the balance predicted maintenance; demographics did not.

Over a 9-year career, an Olympic-level middle-distance runner spent the general preparation phase about 2-4% above competition body weight and body fat with energy availability prioritised, then used an individualised deficit to reach race-season body composition.

In a randomised trial of 100 inactive adults with overweight or obesity, morning and evening exercise both produced modest weight loss, with no difference between timings in resting metabolic rate or physical activity. The authors found no optimal time to exercise.

Hadza hunter-gatherers were more active than Westerners yet spent no more energy once body size was accounted for. In 584 older adults, energy expenditure rose with activity overall but stayed flat in those in negative energy balance.

In 82 elite male athletes measured by DXA, more self-reported sedentary time predicted higher total and trunk fat mass regardless of training time, but not lower lean mass. A study of 82 university student-athletes using bioimpedance found no significant relationship.

In a 12-week trial, untrained adults lifting twice a week on 5:2 intermittent fasting or a 20 percent daily deficit, both with at least 1.4 g/kg protein, gained lean mass, lost fat and gained strength similarly. A review of eight studies found intermittent fasting with lifting generally maintained lean mass.

Calorie-matched rye bread breakfasts suppressed appetite before lunch compared with a wheat bread breakfast, with rye bran giving the strongest effect, and lower hunger persisted into the afternoon. A systematic review lists rye among the few fibres with repeated satiety support.

One eight-week trial in well-trained men found more fat loss with full-body sessions than a split at matched weekly sets. For muscle and strength, the pooled evidence shows no significant difference.