If you want to lose weight, change your attitude. A study published a recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that lifestyle modification may be the key to improving weight loss in patients participating in drug therapy for weight control.
Lifestyle modification consists of changing behavioral approaches to food.
Examples include strategies such as setting attainable goals, keeping food diaries, shopping with a list, avoiding fast food restaurants, group therapy, and portion control. Researchers recruited 53 women for the study. They were given the drug sibutramine alone and were advised to follow a low calorie diet and exercise regularly. In addition to drug therapy, patients attended group therapy sessions, were counseled on lifestyle modification and followed the same diet and exercise program as the drug only group. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found the group who only had drug treatment showed the least amount of weight loss.