S. Wopereis¹, M.C. Dessing¹, Dagmar J. Smid¹, Johanneke E. Oosterman¹, Regina J.M. Kamstra¹, Iris M. De Hoogh¹, T.J. van den Broek¹, M. Caspers¹, F.L.P.W. Jagers¹, C.I.R. Braem², U.S. Yavuz², H.J. Hermens², P.H. Veltink², W.J. Pasman¹

¹Research group Microbiology and Systems Biology, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Leiden, The Netherlands; ²University of Twente, Dept. of Biomedical Signals and Systems, Enschede, The Netherlands.

suzan.wopereis@tno.nl

Background: Personalizing lifestyle interventions improves adherence and intervention outcomes, including weight loss. There is however limited understanding of individual drivers and effects of weight loss. We investigated the relation between weight loss and metabolic resilience, as a sensitive measurement of personal metabolic health, and continuous monitoring data, as a measure of a person’s lifestyle behavior and health.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed within 61 people with overweight or obesity that followed the personalized SLIMMER intervention. A standardized mixed-meal test was conducted at baseline and at t=6 months to assess metabolic resilience. Participants received an activity tracker during run-in one month before start of the intervention to measure physical activity, heart rate and sleep. Mean changes over time during run-in and during 6 months of intervention were tested and correlated with individual weight loss.

Results: After 6 months average body weight loss was 4.7 kg (p < 0.001, -4.9% of body weight). Step count, moderate and vigorous physical activity increased before the intervention (1667 steps/day, p<0.001, 38.6 minutes/week, p<0.05, 65.6 minutes/week, p<0.05, respectively), but declined during the intervention (-465 steps/day, p<0.05, -28.6 minutes/week, p<0.001, -22.0 minutes/week p<0.05 respectively). Estimated mean resting heart rate (RHR) correlated moderately with weight loss before (ρ=0.46, p<0.05) and during the intervention (ρ=0.53, p<0.01). Metabolic resilience improved only in persons that were prediabetic (p=0.014) and not in persons with normoglycemia at baseline (p=0.110).

Conclusions: Participants increased physical activity especially during the run-in period, which declined during the intervention itself. RHR positively correlated with weight loss, suggesting that participants with a greater fitness achieved more weight loss. Metabolic improvements as a result of the achieved weight loss was only observed in prediabetic persons.