Truth on diet and weight control

[sogood]

A worthwhile article to read through. The most sensible and honest mass media article I've read on the subject for a while...Chew over a few Diet Truths.

And the most important take home message is... These habits must become a way of life.

[KonaCommuter]

I think that the problem is a little more sophisticated than to say “calories in Vs calories out” and the “we don’t exercise enough”.

A mere generation ago obese people were rare. What’s changed? I read that a study found that Americans aren’t any less active now than they were in the past (arguably unbiased Uni study from a Nordic country). Watch any old(ish) movie and try and find obese people in the background. They’re rare. With the new stations on TV now you can watch re-runs of old shows. My wife likes to watch the Brady Bunch and Happy Days. The Brady Bunch has guests on the show that are athletes. They’re big (read athletic big) for their day but they wouldn’t cut it today.

So what’s different? Why are we eating more today than 20 / 30 years ago?

I like this Uni Lectures assertions entitled “Sugar, the bitter truth” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

I’m also a HUGE fan of the documentary Foodmatters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4DOQ6Xhqss

Unfortunately what I have to say shouldn’t carry to much weight because I am carrying to much weight (15kg.... they’re slowly coming off though)

[rkelsen]

A mere generation ago obese people were rare. What’s changed?

Our routines. Our jobs. Our diets.

40 to 50 years ago:
- Most things were done by hand. People worked in factories and got a lot more "incidental exercise." Now robots do everything and we sit at desks all day.
- "Fast food" shops were limited to the chip shop on the corner, and you had to go there to buy food. There was no pizza delivery and there were no drive thrus.
- People had vegie plots in their yards, alongside fruit trees and possibly a chook run.
- Families had only one car and they shared it.

Even after 3 years, people still look at me like I'm a freak because I choose to cycle the 21km to work. It isn't really that hard. Society has become lazy. And judgmental.

Then there are factors like suburban sprawl, etc.

[sogood]

I think that the problem is a little more sophisticated than to say “calories in Vs calories out” and the “we don’t exercise enough”.

Like many research subjects, there are lots of associations, ones that get hijacked by the 'weight loss industry' and presented as rational excuses and basis to expend more money. But the fundamental main drivers remain unchanged ie. Calorie in vs out, and mental strength to follow through. Hunger sensation may be physiological, but can be overcomed if there's sufficient mental will. Hunger sensation does not force a person to eat, nor will it kill the person.

Fact is, there is no obesity problem in a famine.

[mishb]

Processed/purchased food - we may be eating basically the same foods, but when we buy it as opposed to making it ourselves as in the past, we've lost control of how many kilojoules we're consuming.

Eg - the old-fashioned home made sandwich for lunch. Look at any sandwich shop bought sandwich and the bread is literally twice the size of a standard sandwich loaf, making the whole sandwich twice the portion you would be eating if you made the same sandwich on a regular sized loaf.

Smoothies for breakfast, or even as snack. Unheard of years ago, those things are loaded with kilojoules.

[Addictr3]

I think that the problem is a little more sophisticated than to say “calories in Vs calories out” and the “we don’t exercise enough”.

Like many research subjects, there are lots of associations, ones that get hijacked by the 'weight loss industry' and presented as rational excuses and basis to expend more money. But the fundamental main drivers remain unchanged ie. Calorie in vs out, and mental strength to follow through. Hunger sensation may be physiological, but can be overcomed if there's sufficient mental will. Hunger sensation does not force a person to eat, nor will it kill the person.

Fact is, there is no obesity problem in a famine.

X2.

How many people eat when they are not hungry, usually thirst is the common cause, or sheer bordem lol.

[Addictr3]

Processed/purchased food - we may be eating basically the same foods, but when we buy it as opposed to making it ourselves as in the past, we've lost control of how many kilojoules we're consuming.

Eg - the old-fashioned home made sandwich for lunch. Look at any sandwich shop bought sandwich and the bread is literally twice the size of a standard sandwich loaf, making the whole sandwich twice the portion you would be eating if you made the same sandwich on a regular sized loaf.

Smoothies for breakfast, or even as snack. Unheard of years ago, those things are loaded with kilojoules.

You're right, but also look at how people get around these days, my uncle when he grew up road his bike everywhere, not many cars, people walked more. Cooking was a lot more common rather than buying a packet.

Best advice;

When you go to a Supermarkets, walk only around the outside, if you need, grab oats, peanut butter etc, but you will find mostly the unpackage/processed is on the outside.

Funniest thing;

These people are buying cheap crap from fast food outlets, saying how "eating healthy" is soooo expensive. yet down the track they either end up on insulin which cost quite a lot of $$$ usually funded by us the tax payer, which at the end of the day cost double the "healthy" food

[PawPaw]

If it is as simple as Calories in vs out and will power, cool....that means I can eat a 100% fat diet, and there's as many nutrients in an unripe Woolies tomato as there is in a home grown vine ripened tomato from the 1930s.

[sogood]

If it is as simple as Calories in vs out and will power, cool....that means I can eat a 100% fat diet...

If the calorie in the fat leads to negative caloric balance, then yes, you will lose weight. But putting up this kind of argument is just seeking exotic excuses in a sea of plain facts.

[panda1971]

If it is as simple as Calories in vs out and will power, cool....that means I can eat a 100% fat diet, and there's as many nutrients in an unripe Woolies tomato as there is in a home grown vine ripened tomato from the 1930s.

i would disagree, eating fat isn't the problem at all, it is the sugar in the food we eat, maybe have a read of sweet poison, and just find what sugar does to the body, especially those made from a sucrose/ fructose mix, and don't even get me started on woolies artificially enhanced things that they call tomatoes

[mikesbytes]

Draft Australian Dietary Guidelines

[sogood]

Draft Australian Dietary Guidelines

It's sad to see a society needing guidelines on food. Human evolved for millions of years without until now. Advancement or regression?

[Abby]

At the suggestion of someone on another thread - I just started using MyFitnessPal as a calorie counter.

I've used it for only a week. I came in a few hundred calories per day under my 'daily allowance' and lo & behold, I lost half-a-kilo in a week. No weird, bizarro dietary rules - just ate less calories than I burned. Happy days...

Cheers
Abby

[simonn]

If it is as simple as Calories in vs out and will power, cool....that means I can eat a 100% fat diet,

Well, you would lose weight, but be malnourished.

The idea is that you get all the nutrition you need eating less calories than you use. This is why you have "empty calories" etc. A teaspoon of sugar may help the medicine go down, but while it counts against how many calories you can consume it provides your body with nothing but that - no protein, fats, vitamins etc etc.

there's as many nutrients in an unripe Woolies tomato as there is in a home grown vine ripened tomato from the 1930s.

I imagine that the 1930s tomato would be quite off by now (sorry), but in all seriousness...

http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghea ... 947475.htm

Home grown is probably tastier though.

[hannos]

Home grown is probably tastier though.

No "probably" about it.
I have home grown and store bought tomatoes. The Home Grown have much more flavour.

[Parker]

A lot of people are fat because of another reason, its not supermarkets, its not fast food outlets a lot of the times. Often its not being happy, or there being something wrong.

I wasn't fat because the supermarket sold lollies or because KFC was up the road, I was fat because I didn't like who I was and I kept punishing myself, there is probably more fast food near me today than there was when I was fat.

Sometimes its about mental first and then habit, love who you are and remember that nobody has the right to make you eat 2 blocks of cadbury chocolate, a packet of tim tams and a bag of chips in one sitting. Don't let food be your comfortable place, that place is the gym or the road or the track or the pool. All your efforts should be there not in the lolly isle.

I'm more motivated today to loose weight because I've got three big goals sitting in front of me, I've never been so focused.

[iMad]

There's no-one more qualified to comment on dieting and weight loss than me.
After all, I've lost almost 100kg in the past 10 years.
That's 110kg with 8 diets
Like the article suggested, each time I shed weight, I finally reverted to old habits and back she came in no time.

Seriously, this time it's different. I'm determined to shed my excess baggage and keep it off.
I've started cycling and now I'm down to only carrying an extra 23kg bag of sand around with me each day

I realise there has to be a major shift in the way I've consumed food and drink over the years not to mention an exercise routine.
At my age, no at any age, taking control of ones life and lifestyle can be the difference between health and disease.
I know which of the two options I want.
Cheers
Tony

PS: A couple of years ago we were travelling in Italy with a gastroenterologist and his wife. His take was, as the SMH article suggested, Energy In vs Energy Out. Very simple.

[wombatK]

Draft Australian Dietary Guidelines

It's sad to see a society needing guidelines on food. Human evolved for millions of years without until now. Advancement or regression?

Both. It's only necessary as a counter-balance to the avalanche of advertised processed foods that are very poor dietary
choices. Not every processed food is however a poor choice - there have been a lot of advances that improve our health.
Snap-frozen vegies allow us to enjoy them all year round, refrigeration means we don't have to take the sanitary risks of live animal
markets etc.,.

The smh article was really spot on. It's about making long-term sustainable life-style choices.

Would just be a whole lot easier if every second relative didn't buy me chocolates for Xmas, though - 'tis going to take a few weeks or more to burn that lot off.

Cheers

[mikesbytes]

A lot of people are fat because of another reason, its not supermarkets, its not fast food outlets a lot of the times. Often its not being happy, or there being something wrong.

I wasn't fat because the supermarket sold lollies or because KFC was up the road, I was fat because I didn't like who I was and I kept punishing myself, there is probably more fast food near me today than there was when I was fat.

Sometimes its about mental first and then habit, love who you are and remember that nobody has the right to make you eat 2 blocks of cadbury chocolate, a packet of tim tams and a bag of chips in one sitting. Don't let food be your comfortable place, that place is the gym or the road or the track or the pool. All your efforts should be there not in the lolly isle.

I'm more motivated today to loose weight because I've got three big goals sitting in front of me, I've never been so focused.

Some of the smarter dietitians start with finding out what is wrong in the customers life

[wombatK]

Some of the smarter dietitians start with finding out what is wrong in the customers life

Not just a matter of there being a smarter dietitian.

As the Zen Proverb says, when the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear.

A pupil that is not ready will shield themselves from all the well-meant advice
that anyone can offer. Their self-destructive behavior can often go as far
as resisting any attempt to have them reflect on underlying issues or otherwise
assist them.

Perversely, that's often the only thing they are in control of yet they don't
recognize or acknowledge this. Often, a team of people with multiple skills
is needed to resolve issues like that. Hence the emergence of Obesity
Clinics with multi-disciplinary teams.

[PawPaw]

If it is as simple as Calories in vs out and will power, cool....that means I can eat a 100% fat diet...

If the calorie in the fat leads to negative caloric balance, then yes, you will lose weight. But putting up this kind of argument is just seeking exotic excuses in a sea of plain facts.

The 'most sensible' article didn't mention the plain facts about how much protein or fat are health supportive.
They obviously thought those facts are too exotic to be palatable.

[sogood]

The 'most sensible' article didn't mention the plain facts about how much protein or fat are health supportive.
They obviously thought those facts are too exotic to be palatable.

Without common sense, no amount of writing can save a soul.

[PawPaw]

Without common sense, no amount of writing can save a soul.

Sense only becomes common when it is talked and written about commonly, sensibly, and clearly.
Did anyone note how poorly the article was constructed?

It starts by saying diets don't work, but Nick is going to tell us what does.....and cowabunga dude, what works according to Nick and his in depth research (well a Mayo Clinic web page) includes....a diet!!! "The foundation of every successful weight-loss program remains a healthy, calorie-controlled diet combined with exercise..."

Too bad for all the fat quadraplegics reading the article....no chance of losing weight whatsoever according to Nick's exhaustive research and the Mayo Clinic.

[sogood]

Without common sense, no amount of writing can save a soul.

Sense only becomes common when it is talked and written about commonly, sensibly, and clearly.

Not eating a full fat diet is primary school level common sense.

[Comedian]

You all should read this one too... fascinating. Makes me feel like a freak.

Ney York Times - The Fat Trap

EDIT: The SMH article looks like a rehash of the NYT article..