The Worst Nutrition Advice in History (article)

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  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    I don't know about others. I imagine that there are exceptions and it's far from a definitive study, but that's what they found. That apparently among others of the same body weight and composition, that the ones that had lost weight as opposed to those that always had been that lesser weight, their overall expenditure was 10-20% less -- that their muscles had become more efficient at energy expenditure so they burned less calories as a result.

    I wonder if this is the reason that some hit plateaus -- that think they should be in a deficit by simply calculating for the expected BMR/TDEE for that lower body weight. But, it's actually 20% or so lower -- and why they need to drop their calories even more to get into a true deficit. I just wonder if 20% is the limit. Would it drop even lower if you lost more weight (i.e. 20%+ or bodyweight)? Also, I wonder if this holds true for those that gained weight to hormonal balances initially -- whether it's thyroid issues, adrenal issues, etc.

    Obviously, more study needs to be done, but it's definitely interesting and would help explain why so many people struggle with maintenance and regain weight.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    The thing is, smoking has about the same recidivism than obesity...about 90%.

    HOWEVER, former smokers now outnumber current smokers in the U.S. More than half of all smokers do, in fact, eventually quit.

    http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/50-years-of-progress/sgr50-chap-1.pdf

    Hard =/= guaranteed failure.

    As a matter of fact, the 90% failure that gets seen in obesity studies, might have a lot to do with sampling bias:

    http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/25/health/95-regain-lost-weight-or-do-they.html
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    Smoking has a 90% recidivism rate? Wow. I didn't realize it was nearly that high. I guess I've known a few smokers that have quit and I didn't think it was nearly that high.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    Smoking has a 90% recidivism rate? Wow. I didn't realize it was nearly that high. I guess I've known a few smokers that have quit and I didn't think it was nearly that high.

    I've quit smoking. Trust me, keeping the weight off is nowhere near the challenge.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    Well, I imagine that's the case for you, Vardaemi, and others may have considerably different experiences. I've known three that went cold turkey on smoking and haven't had any relapses (though, one was due to some pretty dire circumstances).

    I imagine there are some that find keeping weight off equally hard or harder and some manage getting off the cancer sticks not as big of a deal. It really varies on the person --- both seem to be very difficult for many people.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    Well, I imagine that's the case for you, Vardaemi, and others may have considerably different experiences. I've known three that went cold turkey on smoking and haven't had any relapses (though, one was due to some pretty dire circumstances).

    I imagine there are some that find keeping weight off equally hard or harder and some manage getting off the cancer sticks not as big of a deal. It really varies on the person --- both seem to be very difficult for many people.

    What I'm saying is that it was VERY difficult for me. It's very difficult for the vast majority of the people who quit. You didn't mention how many times your friends quit before they quit for good.... And yet we did all quit. There are more former smokers than smokers.

    Just because maintaining a healthy weight might be slightly more challenging for the formerly obese (and the video was definitely overstating the attention to portion and exercise that would be required), it's still more than "doable."
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    Well, I imagine that's the case for you, Vardaemi, and others may have considerably different experiences. I've known three that went cold turkey on smoking and haven't had any relapses (though, one was due to some pretty dire circumstances).

    I imagine there are some that find keeping weight off equally hard or harder and some manage getting off the cancer sticks not as big of a deal. It really varies on the person --- both seem to be very difficult for many people.

    What I'm saying is that it was VERY difficult for me. It's very difficult for the vast majority of the people who quit. You didn't mention how many times your friends quit before they quit for good.... And yet we did all quit. There are more former smokers than smokers.

    Just because maintaining a healthy weight might be slightly more challenging for the formerly obese (and the video was definitely overstating the attention to portion and exercise that would be required), it's still more than "doable."

    I think both are "doable", but the amount of effort required for either varies considerably based on the individual. That's all. Some will find maintaining a healthy weight more difficult. Others will find staying smoke-free more difficult.

    I just wouldn't want to minimize someone else's struggle simply because I personally find it not that hard. That's all.

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