James Krieger on obesity

Thanks guys. I wanted to get James to dive deeper into some of these questions, but understandably he's a busy guy. He doesn't have time to break out into a research review in each of the questions I asked. Nonetheless though, it's always nice to hear the simple truths coming from someone who has so much experience and knowledge.

Just a quick one Steve and maybe this is an obvious answer: Reduction in NEAT as someone loses weight--- is that just simply because they weigh less and therefore it requires less "work" to perform day to day tasks?

Nope.

Here's a blurb from my Nutrition 101 article pertaining to NEAT:

"The starvation response doesn’t stop at BMR. Changes can occur in the endocrine system and brain that stimulate hunger and increase cravings.

Activity expenditure can also take a large hit.

Activity expenditure is comprised of formal exercise and NEAT, which is something I mentioned above. To remind you, NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It’s simply the energy expended being active outside of formal exercise. Typing, cleaning, gardening, fidgeting, sex, etc… these would all fall under the umbrella of NEAT.

Just as how BMR can fall lower than what would be predicted based on weight lost, the same phenomenon seems to happen with activity expenditure. We know the lighter body is going to cost less energy to maintain and move around. This is normal. However, the part of the starvation response that we’re talking about leads to a drop in activity expenditure that’s larger than would be expected.

It’s a double whammy – your body is expending less energy at complete rest (BMR) and when you’re not resting, you’re unconsciously moving around less.

So much so that this component of the starvation response can actually be greater than the drop in BMR."

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Very wise words.

Soundbite science is what I call it. The media thrives on it. And consumers latch onto it for dear life as they're looking for The Answer. At the end of the day though, I don't really care what people try or believe. If they want to try leap-of-faith diets, so be it. What I wish people would do more often is objectively critique their experiences with these gimmicks.

Fail or succeed, people need to start being honest with themselves. It's funny... almost as if when they decide to try a product or program, they fully marry themselves to it. They invest every ounce of belief they have into it. This needn't be about belief though. It needs to be about common sense and critical thinking. It needs to be about objectivity and respect for individualization.

I suppose it's the desperation for success that drives the irrationalness. Nonetheless, objectivity goes out the window, and even when it's beyond obvious that the product is bogus or that it's simply not a fit for the individual, they force it. They've invested too much emotion into it. They've sounded off about how great it is to too many people before actually trying it entirely. They even blame themselves or their bodies before blaming the product or concept.

Like priests or football coaches who divorce themselves from moral obligations in favor of maintaining the sanctity of their given 'gods,' these folks will go down with their burning ships before ever considering trying something different.

Trends come and go in this industry. And from my vantage point, it's really unbelievable. The obesity rates continue to rise, but with each passing trend that comes in like waves slamming the beach, a new flock of disciples are born that will fervently defend their respective dietary/fitness beliefs. There's always an Answer. Never mind the fact that it changes all the time based on how marketers are using it to fatten their wallets.

This isn't religion people.

It's your body.

And your body - from it's physiology to it's psychology - is unique. The only Answer is the one that matches your individual set of variables.

Leave the hype for the gullible and the get-rich-quick scammers.

Be a skeptic. Treat these things like a good scientist would - work to disprove your given hypothesis regarding whatever concept you're looking at. If nothing else, I think you'll save a lot more money. I think you'll also have a lot more success - or at least a lot less frustration.

He had a great piece on fructose too:

http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=984