The effect of different dietary practices on weight loss and body composition in adults

This study was carried out to determine the effect of free-day practice on weight loss, body composition and anthropometric measurements in overweight and obese individuals. The study was carried out with 20 female and 11 male individuals aged between 18-65 years who were slightly overweight/obese, who applied to a private nutrition consultancy in Ankara. Individuals who were pregnant or lactating, had any disease that would prevent weight loss, had a psychiatric disease and had a pacemaker were excluded from the study. 16 individuals in the study group were asked to take a one-day break from the diet without any restrictions on a day determined by their dietitian during the 4-week diet, and this day was called a free-day. The 15 individuals in the control group were expected to continue their diets for 7 days a week. In both groups, a weight loss diet was applied between 1700-2500 kcal for men and 1300-2200 kcal for women, with a macronutrient content of 45-60% carbonhydrates, 10-20% protein and 20-35% fat. Food consumption was recorded with the 24-hour reminder technique on the 3rd diet day of each week and the free-day at the end of each week from the study group, while in the control group, food consumption was recorded with the 24-hour reminder technique on the 3rd diet day of each week. Body composition and waist/hip circumference measurements were recorded by the researcher at the first and last interview of the study. While 56.3% of the individuals in the study group were female, 43.7% were male. On the other hand, 73.3% of the individuals in the control group were female and 26.7% were male. A significant difference was observed between the initial (74.7±8.57 kg) and final (73.5±8.39 kg) weights of the women in the study group (p<0.05). When body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (cm) and hip circumference (cm) were compared, there was a significant decrease in the study group for women (p<0.05). For the men in the study group, a significant decrease was found only in BMI (kg/m2) and waist circumference (cm) (p<0.05). In women in the control group, there was a significant decrease in weight, BMI (kg/m2), waist circumference (cm), hip circumference (cm) and body fat mass (kg) values (p<0.05). When a comparison is made between the study and control groups for both women and men; the initial weight (kg), BMI (kg/m^2), waist circumference (cm), hip circumference (cm), waist/hip ratio, body fat mass (kg), body fat percentage (%), lean tissue mass (kg), muscle mass (kg), total body water (L) parameters were not significantly different from final values (p>0.05). In conclusion; it has been observed that 2 different diet protocols applied to individuals caused a similar body composition change. While the traditional energy-restricted diet created a significant difference in waist and hip circumferences especially in women, also a significant difference was found in the waist and hip circumferences of women in the free-day model. Therefore, the free-day model can be seen as an alternative model in the process of weight loss and it's management, as it has similar effects to the traditional energy-restricted diet.