The Calorie Myth

montana_girl

How many have read this book?

I read Jonathon Bailor's The Smarter Science of Slim last April and found it very eye opening and helped to change my thinking about the "calories in/calories out" myth. Made a lot of sense to me since I had been struggling with my weight for awhile and I would have weeks were I stayed within my calorie goal and gain weight and then weeks were I would be over and lose weight. I was looking at calories, sodium, and exercise, but it had never occurred to me to look at quality of the calories I was eating. So I changed the way I was eating and the weight dropped off. But unfortunately, like a lot of us, my addiction to the starches and sweets kept me from sticking to the clean/natural eating... and my emotional eating/bad habits got the better of me for 8 to 10 months and the weight came back on (bringing a few extra pounds with them).

So here I am a year later... trying again.

But I have APRIL on my side! I love April. It's my "Healthy" month. On April 14, 2004 I joined Weight Watchers (for the umptenth, but last time). On April 8th, 2010 I recieved my 100 pound award from Weight Watchers (and in spite of all my struggles, I have managed to keep over 100 pounds off for 4 years!). On April 17th, 2010 I ran my first half marathon in Salt Lake City (and I will be running my 14th half marathon there in two weeks!). And last April, I gave up diet pop (or diet soda... depending on where you live... ). I haven't had a diet Pepsi or Coke in a year.

That brings me to this year. I need to make another turning point in my weight loss, so I'm seriously thinking of taking the "21 Day Challenge" that Jonathon Bailor often talks about on his podcast. To just eat SANE for 21 days to break the addiction to the starches and sweets.

I keep going back and forth on whether or not I truly want to do this. Why? Because it's something new and a big change. And I HATE change! LOL I know it would be good for me, but the thought of giving up some of my favorite foods, even for a 3 weeks scares me. I love to have a slice (or two) of peanut butter and jelly toast as my evening snack. I love the occasionally serving of popchips or popcorn. Not sure I'm ready to give it up.

And not track my food for 3 weeks? I have been tracking in one form or another for 10 years. But if calories aren't the enemy, then I shouldn't need to track if I'm eating the right quality of foods...

So, back to my original question... how many of you have read the book? How many have incorporated the SANE lifestyle into your current diet?

I know Carol tried it for a bit, but it wasn't working for her. But has anyone else tried it and had success?

carolssalva

Love the post. Your story ALWAYS fires me up.
Okay, point of clarity: The SANE way of eating was very much working for me. What wasn't working for me was what I did based on the exercise recommendations. He recommends that you do the heavy lowering/eccentric exercises once or twice a week for 20 min. I took that as a ticket to halt any other form of exercise.

He CLEARLY states in the book that if you like to walk and do other physical things that still allow you to recover, go for it. That is what is making the difference for me now.

I am actually doing everything he suggests in the book now. I am eating SANE all week long (with one tweak: I have one carb nite a week and I'm not avoiding all oils or artificial sweeteners. But 95% of my diet is SANE. And I have only one day of a super heavy workout. It is not all eccentric but I make sure I do some eccentric stuff because his science is just too clear to ignore.

**** The biggest, most dramatic change for me came a few weeks ago when I decided to track calories and lower my caloric goal but use SANE foods.

I think I was gaining with his challenge because those SANE treats (nuts and low fructose fruits and even some fats) would creep into my diet too much when I don't track. He tells you to only have a little of that if you're trying to lose weight. Without tracking, "a little" isn't a little for me.

What I'm doing really is Carb Nite but I don't think this is going to be my new lifestyle. It is just getting me to goal and I am losing weight with it. I'm doing Carb Nite with a log and making sure my calories are low (which is easy after the first 10 days of induction) except that one spike night where you have all the carbs when you're trying to get an insulin spike.

I think all the principals in The Calorie Myth are what I will find as my "lifestyle" eventually. Once I'm at goal for a while and can estimate what I eat on a regular basis without gaining. (And when I'm not trying something new. LOL). It all makes so much sense and the science is indisputable. You just have to know yourself and for me, tracking and calories matter a lot. WHY calories seem to matter in my weightloss is another subject. I might be clogged and all. Working on that.

Hey Stacy - The Calorie Myth didn't come out until December 2014. Was it "Smarter Science of Slim" that you read? Probably very similar.

Best of Luck. You're the type of gal that will make healthy progress no matter what you're trying!!

Hugs.

Carol

montana_girl

Yes, it was The Smarter Science of Slim that I read last year. The two books have a lot of the similarities, but there is a bunch a of new stuff in the Calorie Myth... including the 5 week plan to go from inSANE foods to SANE foods (which I'm also consdering doing instead of the 21 Challenge).

I completely understand your frustration (for lack of of better term) about the exercise part of the program. I don't see how I can do the eccentric exercise and still be able to train for my half marathons. I keep hoping that will come up on one of the podcasts (about year or so behind on all his -- but finally caught up on yours! LOL) because I don't want to be so sore that I'm unable to run. So for now, I would continue with my normal exercise program.

Scott and I looked over several of the meals/days we had in our tracker and I would say that we eat SANE about 70 to 85% of the time. The only thing we really need to eliminate is the starch we usually have with dinner (rice, pasta, potato, etc). We don't have a lot of sweet treats and if we do it's usually when we go out to eat and we'll split something. Luckily, Scott is on board with making these changes (if I decide to do this) and is willing to give the starches... except for him there's one won't give up - his dark micro beers he likes!

Okay, so maybe I will stick with the tracking for now to make sure I'm not getting carried away with the fruits and SANE desserts (made the SANE "Sugar" Cookies yesterday, not as good as the real thing... but not terrible either LOL).

I know that I should take my measurements since I may lose inches and not necessarily weight. I think it would help me emotionally/mentally if I can see a change in at least one those!

Thanks for responding, Carol! As always, hearing from you helped me feel more confident in moving forward. You are such a big motivator for me! :flowerforyou:

howie6267

I am interested to see how this works for you. I have always been the type who does not like to give up things. I like everything in moderation. I know I could eat healthier than I do but don't. So far I have always been able to lose weight just by tracking what I eat. I don't know what the future will hold with that though. Keep us posted on how it goes for you. I hope you find what works and is a good fit for keeping off the weight.

TJ_Gauthier

I started reading it at the beginning of the year, but got distracted by other things and put it down. I'm about 1/4 of the way through. This post makes me want to finish it! I'll start back up today.

angelaneale

I haven't read these books but I'm so interested to see how everything works for you if/when you give it a try. I'm not a professional trainer, but I think you could lift heavy as prescribed in the book and still do your marathon training. Even when you are sore, you can still get moving and sometimes that even helps with the soreness. Foam roll every day and plan your heavy strength training accordingly.