The majority of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) show only modest weight loss with
exercise intervention alone, and slight increases in weight loss when exercise intervention is
added to dietary restriction. In most RCTs, the energy deficit produced by the prescribed
exercise is far smaller than that usually produced by dietary restriction. In prospective
studies that prescribed high levels of exercise, enrolled individuals achieved substantially
greater weight loss—comparable to that obtained after similar energy deficits were produced …