I’ve been having this conversation with a friend quite a lot lately. Basically they want to lose weight, about 10 pounds in total. Being the scientific person that they are (and totally averse to any form of exercise) they were determined that all they would need to do was count the calories they are consuming. Reduce the number of calories and you’ll easily lose weight right?
Well surprisingly enough the answer to this question is no. Over the years I have seen literally dozens of people try a calorie controlled diet as a sole way of losing weight. Off the top of my head I don’t think I can remember ever seeing it work once!
The problem is that most calorie control diets give you advice like “you can eat as much fruit and veg and you like”. I’m sorry but I think this is wrong. The trouble with eating huge amounts of salad and veg is that it still takes your body a lot of effort to digest these, which in turn have little nutritional value. This has to have an effect on how effectively you are turning calories into energy? I’ve noticed it time and time again that people who switch from eating “normally” to piling a plate with veg suddenly run out of energy and develop flab pads. It’s almost as if their body goes into some form of energy conservation mode. Try it yourself, try totally changing your diet to only eat low calorie foods and see what effect it has on your body.
Now I know that I have always said losing weight is a simple maths equation, more goes out than what goes in. The trouble with calorie counting is WHAT goes in can have a big impact on how much goes out.
What this all comes down to is common sense, losing weight should be a bout moderation. A little of what you like does you no harm, eat less and do more exercise. If you think you can reach your weight loss goals by gorging yourself on lettuce then I think you’re in for a rough old time.
Non Diet Posts
Related Posts
- Calorie Counting
- Weight Loss Study – Isle of Man
- muscle building and the Glycemic Index
- New Year Diet – Day 11
