Just discovered this Meta-Analysis paper about Nutrition and Exercise Interventions to Improve Body Composition for Persons with Overweight or Obesity Near Retirement Age.

I’m nowhere near retirement age, but my logic is that if the results of the study are valid for people aged 55-70, then it’s described effects have to be much more accelerated for younger people.

My interest was peaked because my current challenge is getting leaner: reducing body fat and increasing muscle mass. All my life I have been more or less chubby, so I decided to conquer my body. More on that later.

The gist is that aerobic training does the minimum effect of reducing body fat, while energy restriction + a high protein diet + combined exercise does the maximum.

> Overall, the most effective strategy for nearly all outcomes was combining energy restriction with resistance training or mixed exercise and high protein.

For me, that’s a sign I’m on the right track, as I’m currently doing 4 strength workouts a week + 4 running sessions (usually light run but I also do a tempo and long run weekly), plus I’m using MyFitnessPal to get awareness of my calorie intake and especially on protein intake on a daily basis.