Healthy Lifestyle and Cardiac Rehabilitation for Weight Loss

Abstract

Purpose of review: Considerable current interest is directed at pharmacological agents for producing significant weight loss. However, healthy lifestyle choices can also lead to clinically meaningful weight loss and improvements in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.

Recent findings: In this review, we summarize the recent research from our PROmoting Successful Weight Loss in Primary CarE in Louisiana (PROPEL) randomized controlled trial and review previous data on the potential benefits of cardiac rehabilitation and exercise training (CRET) programs to produce weight loss and improvements in CVD risk factors. Although obesity medications are becoming extremely attractive for secondary and even primary CVD prevention, high-intensity non-pharmacological therapies with healthy lifestyle choices reviewed herein can also lead to substantial health improvements in patients with obesity, including improvements in body weight and other body composition parameters as well as overall CVD risk.

Keywords: Cardiac rehabilitation; Cardiovascular disease; Healthy lifestyle; Obesity; Prevention; Weight loss.