Weight loss is still just about calories. A popular myth going around is that certain types of foods promote weight gain or prevent a person from losing weight, independent of calories. Even if you cut calories, the myth says, you still wont lose weight as long as youre eating the offending foods. But theres nothing about any food that makes it inherently fattening. Ill grant you that its easier to overeat certain foods vs others. Ill also point out that calorie content measured by a calorimeter is not always the caloric amount that is usable by the body. But the law of thermodynamics still holds--consume less calories than you expend, and you will lose weight...regardless of food selection. Instead of going through some rather complex science, Ill point out two case studies. John Cisna, a science teacher from Iowa, lost 56 pounds in 6 months eating nothing but McDonalds. Mark Haub, a professor at Kansas State University, lost 27 pounds in two months eating nothing but twinkies, powdered donuts, oreos, nutty bars, doritos, and sugary cereals. In both cases, the men meticulously measured and tracked their caloric intake and made sure they were in a deficit every day. I am in no way advocating either of these diets. But we need to be aware that in order to lose weight, you need to be in a caloric deficit. Period. Conversely, if youre gaining weight, its because youre consuming too many calories. There are plenty of reasons to be selective about the food you eat, but when it comes to weight, the calorie is still king. There are no magic foods and there are no evil foods.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 19:00:02 +0000
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