"Our data suggest that losing weight is more challenging and involves a greater need for interventions if the exer-cise is not done at a certain time of the day," said Dana Small, an assistant professor of medicine and of exercise science and sports medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the lead author of the study.

The researchers found that the odds of success in the long term were higher for people who attended four 45-minute group sessions each week, during which they learned about the science of weight loss. Many participants reported that sticking to a specific time helped them better control their eating and keep their physical activity up to date.

For those who struggle to find a convenient time for reduslim exercise, Small suggests scheduling it for the middle of the day or toward the end of the day to make it easier to fit into your schedule.

(This is also why experts suggest forgoing early morning workouts — unless you’re training for something specific like a marathon or an Iron Man, in which case early morning workouts might be necessary.)

Also, make sure you’re getting enough sleep, because sleep deprivation also has been shown to hinder weight loss. In particular, six hours of sleep has been linked to a higher likelihood of shedding weight. So if you’re finding it hard to get a good night’s rest, find a workaround (like drinking tea or hot water before bed) that helps with sleep quality.



"If you have trouble sleeping, it’s essential to find a way to fall asleep that doesn’t undermine your efforts to lose weight," Small said. "There are sleep medications available that may be helpful for those who have chronic insomnia, but if you’re trying to lose weight, do not take any medications that involve sedatives without medical advice."

Easy Ways to Lose Weight

Interested in learning more about how you can lose weight without exercise?

A group of scientists is trying to stop the "run-ski-run" approach to physical activity, said Jonathan Geleijnse, a senior researcher in the department of geriatric medicine at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands.

The problem? It just doesn’t work. There have long been assumptions that aerobic exercise is the key to burning fat, but that has been overly simplified, Geleijnse said, because "just walking is not