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Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

nytimes.com

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Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#11

Post by kenjackson »

I found the actual study and the actual study says something quite a bit different. It says that counting calories works, but in an indirect way:

Some foods — vegetables, nuts, fruits, and whole grains — were associated with less weight gain when consumption was actually increased. Obviously, such foods provide calories and cannot violate thermodynamic laws. Their inverse associations with weight gain suggest that the increase in their consumption reduced the intake of other foods to a greater (caloric) extent, decreasing the overall amount of energy consumed.

Their view isn't that counting calories doesn't work because the science is wrong, but because you're less inclined to follow through due to satiety issues associated with foods. To put it another way, you can't have a bag of chips, and counterbalance it by having a yogurt before going to bed.

To me this reporting is sloppy.

A much more accurate headline would be, "Eating the right foods will help you stick to your calorie counting diet".

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#12

Post by ebzlo »

robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

I don't think it needs to necessarily "go away and die," the method works. I lost 40 pounds last year counting calories to the tee. I'm talking about 6 months of not cheating a single calorie (I wouldn't even have a bite of someone's ice cream, etc).

I will say that following that mantra is unnecessary for weight loss unless you're very serious about it. Following my diet plan I lowered my body fat percentage to Everything works, some things just work better than others.

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#13

Post by angdis »

robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

Nah, humans can thrive with eating a huge variety of foods. The atkins-type diets, as far as I've seen, are followed by panda-bear-shaped folks who maintain that panda-bear-shape no matter what.

If we really understood (as a society) what truly makes for a good diet, people would be getting slimmer and not fatter.

IMHO, the most sensible diet advice comes from Michael Pollan: "Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#14

Post by fanboy123 »

angdis wrote: post #13
robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

Nah, humans can thrive with eating a huge variety of foods. The atkins-type diets, as far as I've seen, are followed by panda-bear-shaped folks who maintain that panda-bear-shape no matter what. If we really understood (as a society) what truly makes for a good diet, people would be getting slimmer and not fatter. IMHO, the most sensible diet advice comes from Michael Pollan: "Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plan…

Sounds like a recipe for being hungry all the time.

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#15

Post by ciupicri »

robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

If you get rid of grains from where are you going to get the B vitamins? The grains have the advantage of having a lot of B vitamins while being ubiquitous.

P.S. I eat pork muscle, chicken breast, tuna, sardines, mackerel and eggs and while they are rich in vitamin B12 and some of the others, they don't seem to provide the full spectrum of B vitamins. On the other hand with grains you can't go wrong, you can be sure that you're going to get B1-B9 vitamins, especially if you eat a lot of bread like I used to.

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#16

Post by robchez »

angdis wrote: post #13
robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

Nah, humans can thrive with eating a huge variety of foods. The atkins-type diets, as far as I've seen, are followed by panda-bear-shaped folks who maintain that panda-bear-shape no matter what. If we really understood (as a society) what truly makes for a good diet, people would be getting slimmer and not fatter. IMHO, the most sensible diet advice comes from Michael Pollan: "Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plan…

Society doesn't understand thanks to the government pushing the food pyramid/plate down their throats and the low-fat diet crud.

Check out a cross-fit gym anywhere and see if you can find the pand-bear-shaped folks.

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#17

Post by JohnsonB »

robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

> 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars

This is only partially true; there is nothing wrong with unprocessed grains/legumes if eaten in moderation. This means whole grains and not processed wheat products. Actually the rest of your advice usually lines up with the "healthy carbs" mantra which refers to whole grains, legumes, nuts and some starches.

The other thing that should be mentioned is to eat as much low-calorie vegetables/greens as possible which helps fill you without adding to your calorie count (which is still important to some degree) and also important for getting vital minerals/nutrients.

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#18

Post by robchez »

csshelton wrote: post #10
robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

Why do you suggest forgoing legumes?

this has got to do more with health rather than weight loss i guess.

legumes have 3 things that suck - lectins, protease inhibitors and phytates

lectins - known to cause inflammation and have been show to cause gut permeability which is followed by auto-immune type diseases.

protease inhibitors intefere with the breakdown of proteins into amino acids

phytates have been shown to inhibit mineral absorption

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#19

Post by Evgeny »

ciupicri wrote: post #15
robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

If you get rid of grains from where are you going to get the B vitamins? The grains have the advantage of having a lot of B vitamins while being ubiquitous. P.S. I eat pork muscle, chicken breast, tuna, sardines, mackerel and eggs and while they are rich in vitamin B12 and some of the others, they don't seem to provide the full spectrum of B vitamins. On the other hand with grains you can't go wrong, you can be sure…

Wikipedia suggests that B vitamins are particularly concentrated in meat such as turkey and tuna, in liver and meat products.
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