A new study has dropped a bomb on the holy partnership of diet and exercise as the most effective way to lose weight.

Researchers report that dieting alone is just as effective as dieting plus exercise.

In the words of the immortal Robin: Holy, moly, Batman!

"For weight loss to occur, an individual needs to maintain a difference between the number of calories they consume everyday and the number of calories they burn through metabolism and physical activity," Dr. Leanne Redman of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, explains in a story on Reuters Health.

"What we found was that it did not matter whether a reduction in calories was achieved through diet or burned everyday through exercise."

The study is reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Now before you chuck your gym membership and throw out your sneakers, remember that regular exercise can improve aerobic fitness and lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

Check out the full story and let me know if this affects your weight-loss plans.

-- Amanda Barrett, amNY.com