A study was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting that cutting our calories in order to lose weight would only result in an automatic reduction in our exercise output, meaning that we would maintain weight. And, why did they draw that conclusion? Because that’s what happened in an experiment with 18 female rhesus monkeys!

Basically, we shouldn’t believe everything we read. Because it happens to monkeys does not mean it will happen to us. Monkeys are primates, we are humans. And, before telling humans something completely unhelpful like ‘cutting calories doesn’t result in weight loss’ they should replicate the study on humans before releasing it in the media. Better still, they should read the research literature on humans, which unequivocally proves that cutting calories DOES result in weight loss.

Like it or lump it, weight loss is a maths equation, albeit a very complex one because it is moderated by our minds, and our minds are not always rational. We eat when we are not hungry and don’t stop eating when we are full. We get fat as a result, and even though we don’t like the extra fat, we don’t change our behaviour.

Unlike humans, animals in the wild don’t gain excessive weight and become overweight and obese. When they kill their prey and sit down to dine on the spoils they stop eating when they are full and wander away. They maintain a homeostatic weight, or a perfect weight for their frame. No wonder the monkeys in the experiment automatically reduced their activity output when their calorie intake was dropped. That is what they are designed to do, to maintain weight homeostasis.

Humans unfortunately have the facility to take appetite and weight control into their own hands and make conscious decisions about how much they will eat and exercise. More unfortunately, most humans don’t always make the best food and exercise decisions and put on more weight than they want.

So, what’s the moral of this story:

a) don’t read everything you read

b) manage your mind to get the body and life you want

Photo credit:  iStockphoto

Related posts:

1. A Bit of Motivation from Buddha for Those Who Have Lost Their Weight Loss Mojo or Think Losing Weight is Just Too Hard
2. How Stress & Over-exercise Can Prevent Weight-Loss
3. Does eating six small meals a day produce more weight loss than eating three meals a day?

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Post tags: emotional eating, losing weight, mokeys, weight loss

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Prevention of weight gain must start with children commencing at birth. Guidelines put forward by Davis, et al  ((Davis MM, Gance-Cleveland B, Hassink S, Johnson R, Paradis G, Resnicow G. Recommendations for prevention of childhood obesity. Pediatrics.2007; 120(suppl 4) :228 –252.)), could well apply to adults, so if you are reading this blog, you can apply it to yourself as much as your children.

Davis et al (2007)  ((refer to note 1)) put forward the following extra guidelines based on research evidence:

1. limit consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (consistent evidence). See the DietPsyche blog on the link between softdrink and mental health issues for further information on how bad soft drink is for your health.

2. encourage recommended serve sizes for fruit and vegetables which in the USA and Australia is 9 serves per day, normally 2 fruit and 5 vegetables (mixed evidence)

3. after 2 years of age limit television and other screen time to a maximum of 2 hours daily combined daily, and remove screens of all types from children’s rooms (consistent evidence). Prior to 2 years, do not encourage television.

4. eat breakfast daily (consistent evidence)

5. limit eating out at restaurants, particularly those serving large portions and particularly fast food facilities (consistent evidence).

6. eat with the family (consistent evidence), or others. Family meals have been shown to be of a higher nutrient quality, have psychosocial benefits and are associated with lower obesity prevalence.

7. limit portion sizes (consistent evidence)

Available data also suggests the following guidelines ((Barlow, S. E. (2007. Expert committee recommendatiosn regarding the prevention, assessment, and treatment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity: Summary and Report. Pediatrics, 120, S164 – S192. DOI:10.1542/2329C)):

1. eat a diet rich in calcium

2. eat a diet high in fibre

3. eat a diet balanced in the macronutrients, protein, fat and carbohydrate

4. encourage breastfeeding

5. promote moderate to vigrorous physical activity for at least 60 minutes daily

6. limit consumption of energy dense foods

Other possible prevention strategies

1. have your doctor plot your child’s BMI (body mass index) at visits so he can monitor your child’s weight and alert you to any problems

2. use numerical acronyms like 9210 to encourage your children to comply with healthy behaviours: 9 (9 serves of fruit and vegetables daily), 2 (2hrs only in front of a screen per day), 1 (hour of exercise daily), 0 (no sweet beverages)

3. watch your own weight, remember you are a role model, so role model healthy eating and exercise behaviours to your children

4. only keep healthy foods at home – out of sight, out of mind!

Please share any other strategies you may have.

Related posts:

1. Obesity is Associated with Brain Dysfunction- Another Good Reason to Lose Weight

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Post tags: behavior, childhood obesity, effective weight loss techniques, losing weight, obesity, weight loss, weight loss strategies

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While many diets proclaim to have the “magic” balance of nutrients whether it be low GI, low carbohydrate, low fat or high protein, the facts are that it is the total energy you take in, regardless of the distribution of protein, fat and carbohydrate versus the energy you burn up that determines whether you gain or lose weight or stay the same.

Excess weight is caused by too much food and too little exercise or activity.

Photo Courtesy of : http://newsitemstoday.today.com/

To maintain weight, we need a balance:

ENERGY IN = ENERGY OUT

To lose weight we must eat LESS and exercise MORE.

Even small increases in energy intake and less activity or exercise can lead to large long-term weight gain. For example, eating just 1½ plain sweet biscuits above your energy requirement daily can lead to a 5kg weight gain over a year!

Look at the energy content of the nutrients:

1g PROTEIN 17 kJ or 4 kcal

1g FAT 37 kJ or 9kcal

1g CARBOHYDRATE 16 kJ or 4 kcal

1g ALCOHOL 29 kJ or 7kcal

As you can see, fat is more than twice as “fattening” as protein and carbohydrate. So when trying to lose weight we must check our intake of fatty foods and watch alcohol consumption!

In fact, it is important to watch what we drink because it is easier to drink on body fat, than it is to eat it on. So, even though fruit juice and cordials and soft drinks are nearly half the calories of alcohol, it all adds up rather quickly. Drinking fluids doesn’t make us feel as full as when we eat making it easier to drink more.

We were designed to “eat to live” not “live to eat”, although many of us tend to do more of the latter than the former. Regardless of where our calories or kilojoules come from, the body will deposit any excess energy as fat once it has tended to all its daily energy needs from the food you eat.

Science tells us that to lose ½ kilogram or 1 pound we must burn 3500 kcals or ~ 800 kjs of energy more than we consume as food. Most weight management programs then will cut your calorie or kilojoule intake by 500kcals or 2000kjs a day to enable you to lose ½ kilogram or 1 pound a week, or by 1000kcals or 4000kjs to enable you to lose to lose 1 kg or 2lbs per week.

To lose weight you don’t need to starve yourself. Little changes will assist you with weight loss, for example:

· Eat smaller portions
· Put your food on a plate, not a bowl because it less looks more
· Don’t eat from the takeaway container be it a noodle box, or pizza box
· Skip supper
· Eat one course meals, and especially skip dessert
· Swap higher energy foods with lower energy options, eg cake or pastry when out for coffee have a scone, or have fruit for mid-meals instead of biscuits
· Wait 20 minutes after eating before deciding you are still hungry; it takes time to shut off the feeding centre and turn on the satiety centre after you start eating.

Related posts:

1. It isn’t weight management, it’s fat management

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Post tags: Health, losing weight, Nutrition, Weight Loss, weight management

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