the only way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you burn in a day.Not quite--you have to absorb fewer calories than you burn in a day. That's why Atkins (and laxatives) works. That's why two people eating exactly the same foods and doing exactly the same amount of exercise may have different results.
no matter how crappy the food you eat, the quantity of calories matters more than the quality of food if your goal is to lose weight.But why? When so many health risk factors are linked to obesity itself, doesn't it stand to reason that losing weight is a great way to improve your overall health?
But that's a fucking stupid goal, frankly.
To curb calories, he avoided meat, whole grains and fruits. Once he started adding meat into the diet four weeks ago, his cholesterol level increasedThis explains his cholesterol changes. He would presumably have obtained the same improvement, or better, had he been eating vegetables and fruit instead of snack food. One Twinkie has 20mg of cholesterol (7% RDA) and 2.5 grams (13%) of saturated fat. Oreos have no cholesterol but have 1.5g (8%) of a day's saturated fat. Meanwhile, 4 ox of lean steak has 75g cholesterol (25%) and 2.8 g saturated fat (14%). Plain chicken breast has about the same cholesterol as beef but much less saturated fat.
I don't think I know anyone who actually eats twinkies, or any of those pre-packaged snack cakes as a matter of habit.And you!
*extaends hand for shake*
Pleased to meet you....
I never cease to be amazed at the intensity and passion in supporting, defending, explaining, justifying , etc. the metabolic/genetic role in obesity.Or, this comment:
Because food is not seen in strictly nutritional terms, but in religious and social terms and as a source of personal identity…
What you eat effects your appetite. It works the simple way where if you eat more you will be less hungry. Or if you eat a smaller amount for a while your version of normal will change. Or if you drink a 400 calorie drink you will be hungrier than if you eat a 400 calorie sandwich. Or if you eat 200 calories of vegetables you will be less hungry than if you eat 200 calories of cheese. Hunger is a tool like a thermostat is a tool. Depending on how it is calibrated you can slowly find yourself gaining weight, losing weight, or staying the same. You can learn to be ok with being hungry more often.How you feel is not part of the thermodynamics argument. The thermodynamics argument is simply that if you maintain a caloric deficit, you will lose weight. That it only takes 12 twinkies per day to reach 1800 calories, which leaves you awfully hungry is a straw man. The fact that for many people, eating is a very social activity, and this makes it harder to choose calorically-appropriate food is irrelevant. It is not a counterargument to the thermodynamic argument in any way.
It's as useful to ask overweight people why they don't do better at losing weight as it is to ask you "Why didn't you do better in college? Why didn't you go to a better college? Why aren't you getting promoted at your job? Why haven't you gotten a raise? Why do you procrastinate so much? How come you make so little money? Why aren't you better looking? Why don't you have a better girlfriend? Why is your family so fucked up? Why are your personality traits so irrritating? How come you don't get a better haircut? Why do you dress so badly?"Calories in/calories out is true inasfar as it goes, but reductive as an offered solution in real-life situations. Rather than implying someone must be lying to you about their intake or activity, why not confine your comments to your own experience, and offer some respect and consideration to those for whom making this system work is not so simple, whether those factors are within or outside their control?
There are superficial solutions to all these problems, but I doubt that just hearing someone say "Work harder, lazy butt! You look ugly, dress better! You're just too dumb - lower your expectations!" is enough to solve your problem.
In short, YES, taking in fewer calories than one burns will result in a weight loss. However, that is one piece of a large, interconnected, and complex puzzle. To jump around excitedly brandishing this one piece of information and considering that you have found a solution is as silly as saying subprime mortgages were the cause the financial crisis. You've got one proximal piece of a much, much bigger picture whose roots and underlying causes are much deeper and more widespread, located both in the individual and in society.
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posted by cavalier at 1:38 PM on November 8, 2010