Priya Desai
Areas of focus: Approachable fitness, home movement, recovery, and stress-friendly self-care.
15 articles on WeightFAQ
- strength training
- muscle preservation
- body composition testing
- HIIT for weight loss
- creatine and body composition
- exercising with pain
About Priya Desai
Priya Desai is a WeightFAQ staff writer covering exercise, fitness, and the body-composition side of weight loss. She has written about strength training, HIIT, running, and the best time to exercise, alongside guides to preserving muscle during a deficit, sarcopenic obesity, body recomposition, and creatine. Her body-composition-testing piece walks through DEXA, BIA, and Bod Pod for readers who want more than a scale number, and her articles on plantar fasciitis and fibromyalgia address exercising with pain. Priya writes for readers who want to train usefully without gym pressure or hype.
Articles by Priya Desai (15)
- Golf for Weight Loss: 18-Hole Kcal Cost, Walk vs Cart, and the 19th-Hole Read
A walking-carrying 18-hole round burns ~800–1500 kcal at 4.3 MET per Ainsworth 2011, and Farahmand 2009 documents ~5 years longer life in Swedish golfers than matched non-golfers — this guide has the carry-vs-cart math, a 6-week ramp, and the 19th-hole honest read.
- Daily Step Count for Weight Loss: The Honest Target, the 10,000-Step Myth, and What the Dose-Response Data Actually Shows (2026)
The 10,000-step target is a 1965 Japanese pedometer marketing figure, not a physiologic threshold. The real mortality-benefit dose-response tops out near 7,000–8,000 steps/day for adults under 60 and 6,000–8,000 for adults 60 and over (Paluch 2022 Lancet Public Health). For weight loss specifically, a sustained ~2,000-step-per-day increase above baseline is the smallest signal that reliably moves body weight, and each ~2,000 steps burns roughly 80–120 kcal for a 70–90 kg adult.
- Cardio vs Strength Training for Weight Loss: What the Evidence Says (2026)
At matched training time, cardio produces slightly more raw scale weight loss than resistance training (Willis 2012 STRRIDE-AT/RT), strength training reliably preserves muscle and improves body composition, and combined training gives the best composite outcome at a moderate time cost. The correct answer depends on your constraint — time, joints, and how deep you already are into a deficit.
- Weight Loss with Limited Mobility: Chair Cardio, Seated Strength, Nutrition
For adults with limited mobility from arthritis, back pain, fibromyalgia, post-stroke deficits, or general deconditioning, weight loss follows the same calorie-deficit math as anyone else — but the exercise column looks different. Nutrition drives most of the loss, and seated cardio, resistance bands, aquatic therapy, and NEAT accumulation replace step-count and running programs.
- Yoga for Weight Loss: What the Evidence Actually Shows
Yoga burns 150–500 calories per hour depending on style, is one of the strongest interventions for stress-eating and weight maintenance, and works best as an adjunct to strength or cardio rather than a primary weight-loss modality. Here's what the trials actually show and how to build a weekly practice.
- Cycling for Weight Loss: How Much It Burns, Indoor vs Outdoor, and How to Start
Cycling burns 400–800 calories per hour depending on intensity, is joint-friendly, and can be sustained longer than running. Here's the evidence on cycling for weight loss and how to build a weekly plan for beginners and returning riders.
- Swimming for Weight Loss: How Much It Burns, Which Strokes Work Best, and How to Start
Swimming burns 400–700 calories per hour depending on stroke and intensity, protects joints, and is one of the few high-CV-load modalities safe for arthritis, back pain, and higher BMIs. Here's what the evidence says and how to build a weekly plan.
- Home Workouts for Weight Loss: 8-Week No-Gym Plan (Bodyweight Only)
Structured 8-week bodyweight home workout plan for weight loss — 4 sessions/week, no equipment, honest 0.5–1 lb/week expectations, mobile-friendly.
- Body Composition Testing: DEXA, BIA, Bod Pod, Skinfolds, and Waist Circumference — What Each One Measures, Costs, and Gets Wrong
DEXA and Bod Pod get within ~2%BF of the reference. Home BIA scales drift 5–10% with hydration. Waist circumference predicts heart-disease outcomes better than %BF. Here's what each method measures, costs, and gets wrong.
- How to Avoid Losing Muscle When Losing Weight
You can't prevent all muscle loss in a calorie deficit, but you can hold it to roughly 10% of the weight you lose by pulling three levers: protein at 1.6 g/kg or more, resistance training 2–4 times per week, and a deficit no deeper than 25% of TDEE.
- HIIT for Weight Loss: Does High-Intensity Interval Training Actually Burn More Fat?
HIIT burns roughly the same fat as steady-state cardio at matched effort — but in 30–50% less time. This guide explains the EPOC 'afterburn' honestly, four sample workouts, who should and shouldn't do HIIT, and a 4-week beginner plan.
- Body Recomposition: How to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle at the Same Time
Body recomposition — losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time — is realistic for most beginners, returning lifters, and overweight adults. This guide explains who it works for, the protein + small-deficit + strength-training formula, and how long it takes.
- Running for Weight Loss
Running is a time-efficient way to burn calories and support weight loss; learn how to start safely, how much to run, and how to progress from walking to sustained jogging.
- Strength Training for Weight Loss
Lifting two to four days a week in a deficit keeps most weight loss coming from fat instead of muscle; here's how to program it as a beginner.
- Exercise Programs for Weight Loss
Exercise for weight loss: 150–300 min/wk of cardio plus 2 strength sessions preserves muscle, raises TDEE, and supports long-term maintenance.