Counting Calories Doesn't Work

Actually, this article makes a lot of sense, and is probably right on almost every point. It's an interesting hypothesis -- initially, overeating causes fat gain. But then, that fat demands more energy to sustain, leaving less energy for the rest of your body's systems, causing increased hunger and (often) overeating. It's a vicious feedback cycle.

That being said, counting calories will work, but if it's the only thing you do it's going to be a long, hard road on the way to poor health. I think most of us implicitly understand that we're keeping calories in check while ALSO focusing on choosing healthy foods, cutting down on processed ones, exercising, etc etc.

This is what I was thinking when I was reading it, that some points made sense. Idk if there is science behind the points to back them up. But one thing that really stood out to me is when they reported that, "Only one in six overweight and obese adults in a nationwide survey reports ever having maintained a 10 percent weight loss for at least a year. (Even this relatively modest accomplishment may be exaggerated, because people tend to overestimate their successes in self-reported surveys.)" That begs the question of what those other 5 people where doing to KEEP the weight off. Or were they one of the people that didn't contemplate moving over to maintenance mode. Furthermore, if they started obese and only lose 10% of their body weight, did they fall off the wagon in that year? Cause I've "dieted" about a 100 times since I was 14 and I've ALWAYS fallen off the wagon. That doesn't mean that if I had kept up with it, that it wouldn't have worked.

I think what they should be looking at is WHY so many overweight or obese people have trouble staying on a plan? I'm MORBIDLY OBESE and so far, calorie counting is simple, but takes lots of planning and some days its hard to get it all done. Some days I go over. Some days I gain weight, but you gotta keep trucking on. I used to be one of those obese people that couldn't maintain a 10% weight loss because I stopped trying. Doesn't mean it wasn't working.

There is not much that's contentious in this article. Effectively says eating crap is bad for you, and you can't rely SOLELY on counting calories to manage yourself.

The real trick comes from the OP - "Counting Calories Doesn't work". Eye catching title to trigger a debate - but it's not the title of the actual article; and nowhere in the article is this blanket statement ever made!

Unless you read a different article than I did, that statement is made in the first two paragraphs:

"FOR most of the last century, our understanding of the cause of obesity has been based on immutable physical law. Specifically, it’s the first law of thermodynamics, which dictates that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. When it comes to body weight, this means that calorie intake minus calorie expenditure equals calories stored. Surrounded by tempting foods, we overeat, consuming more calories than we can burn off, and the excess is deposited as fat. The simple solution is to exert willpower and eat less.

The problem is that this advice doesn’t work, at least not for most people over the long term. In other words, your New Year’s resolution to lose weight probably won’t last through the spring, let alone affect how you look in a swimsuit in July. More of us than ever are obese, despite an incessant focus on calorie balance by the government, nutrition organizations and the food industry."

if people stay "obese" then they are not eating less and moving more….I don't see why the fact that some people choose to not eat less and more more, or for some reason can't, would negate the fact that it does work.

The problem is that people want to find a way to eat ding dongs and ice cream all day, sit on the couch, AND lose weight at the same time ….it is an overall symptom of the dumbing down and laziness that has infected our society….

Some people aren't satisfied with the current eat-less-move-more-too-bad-so-sad-you-can't-stick-with-the-program-fatty way of thinking. And good for them for recognizing that there has to be a better, more effective way. It's great that people are willing to revisit the causes and treatments of obesity instead of insisting we already know it all and that there's nothing more to be learned. Especially when it's so easy to dismiss people with weight problems as being too dumb and lazy to eat less and move more.

But there is no better, more effective way. The laws of physics are the bottom line that can't be broken like the speed of light being the upper limit for anything with mass,.
Every(!) single diet that actually works is just "eat less calories than you burn" put in a nice package, in wrapping paper with a big bow on it. Calling it by a different name does not change that it works on the same premise.

Actually, this article makes a lot of sense, and is probably right on almost every point. It's an interesting hypothesis -- initially, overeating causes fat gain. But then, that fat demands more energy to sustain, leaving less energy for the rest of your body's systems, causing increased hunger and (often) overeating. It's a vicious feedback cycle.

That being said, counting calories will work, but if it's the only thing you do it's going to be a long, hard road on the way to poor health. I think most of us implicitly understand that we're keeping calories in check while ALSO focusing on choosing healthy foods, cutting down on processed ones, exercising, etc etc.

This is what I was thinking when I was reading it, that some points made sense. Idk if there is science behind the points to back them up. But one thing that really stood out to me is when they reported that, "Only one in six overweight and obese adults in a nationwide survey reports ever having maintained a 10 percent weight loss for at least a year. (Even this relatively modest accomplishment may be exaggerated, because people tend to overestimate their successes in self-reported surveys.)" That begs the question of what those other 5 people where doing to KEEP the weight off. Or were they one of the people that didn't contemplate moving over to maintenance mode. Furthermore, if they started obese and only lose 10% of their body weight, did they fall off the wagon in that year? Cause I've "dieted" about a 100 times since I was 14 and I've ALWAYS fallen off the wagon. That doesn't mean that if I had kept up with it, that it wouldn't have worked.

I think what they should be looking at is WHY so many overweight or obese people have trouble staying on a plan? I'm MORBIDLY OBESE and so far, calorie counting is simple, but takes lots of planning and some days its hard to get it all done. Some days I go over. Some days I gain weight, but you gotta keep trucking on. I used to be one of those obese people that couldn't maintain a 10% weight loss because I stopped trying. Doesn't mean it wasn't working.

I actually think that's precisely the point they're addressing in the article. From what I understood, their main point was that because being fat makes you want to overeat becuase you're not getting enough calories for the rest of your body to function, your body makes you want to eat more than you'd need to lose weight calorie counting alone. Being constantly hungry would make it pretty damn hard to stick with a weight loss program like calorie counting no? They say that you pretty much would have to stick it out on willpower alone that way, which is why so many people fail, because it's insanely hard to try and be hungry for months on end.

The article, and studies that support the claims, are sound and worth exploration.

Of course the following point will ensure that many people will automatically have an emotional, knee jerk dismissal, halting them from even considering alternative theories:

But such theories have been generally ignored, perhaps because they challenge entrenched cultural attitudes.

And so be it. But I do think we need to be having a greater discussion beyond "just do it", because calorie counting has just as abysmal long term failure rates as any other type of program or "fad". Most people who try to lose weight fail, and the ones who fail more often than not fail to maintain that loss.

It really is time to get real. At this point telling everyone to eat cake and ice cream "in moderation" ain't cutting it. Sadly, almost nothing is.

That's great and all, but where does personal responsibility come in? Even the FDA food guidelines (used to be the food guide pyramid) suggest eating whole grains, fruits and veggies, lean protein and limited added fats and sugars. Weight Watchers encourages people to eat a certain number of fruits and veggies daily, lean dairy products, lean meats, etc. Even the "boxed" diet plans usually allow for the addition of fruits and vegetables to their meal plans. I think even doctors who are poorly educated in nutrition will usually point to the food guide pyramid or Weight Watchers for an example. So, with all of this information out there, isn't it the responsibility of the person who is attempting to control calories to educate themselves about making better choices than eating cake all day?

Until people learn to have realistic expectations of weight loss and maintenance and that there isn't some magic bullet that will make them instantly skinny, most people who try to lose weight are going to fail. No amount of educating will prevent this. It's not on the government or the scientists or anyone else to help people succeed. We can't teach personal responsibility.

There's definitely personal responsibility involved, but if you've been around MFP for a while you'll know that it's a very popular belief that what you eat doesn't matter - only how many calories. It's been claimed a million and one times that you can eat nothing but Twinkies or ice cream or sugar or whatever and still lose weight if you're under calories; it's pretty clear that the focus is NOT on eating like the above. This focus only on counting calories has taken us away from any notion of eating quality food.

Saying that counting calories doesn't work for weight management is kinda like saying balancing my checkbook doesn't work for financial management.

Apparently we're all doing it wrong...

He [Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian] has studied the effects that different foods have on weight gain and said that it is true that 100 calories of fat, protein and carbohydrates are the same in a thermodynamic sense, in that they release the same amount of energy when exposed to a Bunsen burner in a lab. But in a complex organism like a human being, he said, these foods influence satiety, metabolic rate, brain activity, blood sugar and the hormones that store fat in very different ways.

Studies also show that calories from different foods are not absorbed the same. When people eat high-fiber foods like nuts and some vegetables, for example, only about three-quarters of the calories they contain are absorbed. The rest are excreted from the body unused. So the calories listed on their labels are not what the body is actually getting.

“The implicit suggestion is that there are no bad calories, just bad people eating too much,” Dr. Mozaffarian said. “But the evidence is very clear that not all calories are created equal as far as weight gain and obesity. If you’re focusing on calories, you can easily be misguided.”

Actually, this article makes a lot of sense, and is probably right on almost every point. It's an interesting hypothesis -- initially, overeating causes fat gain. But then, that fat demands more energy to sustain, leaving less energy for the rest of your body's systems, causing increased hunger and (often) overeating. It's a vicious feedback cycle.

That being said, counting calories will work, but if it's the only thing you do it's going to be a long, hard road on the way to poor health. I think most of us implicitly understand that we're keeping calories in check while ALSO focusing on choosing healthy foods, cutting down on processed ones, exercising, etc etc.

god thank you, finally a voice of reason to counter balance the far-too-many-loud-but-silly-voices of mfp.