Debunking the "diets don't work" myth

Arch0wl · 06-19-2014, 01:31 AM

A lot of this problem has to do with the word "diet": fad diets tend not to work. However, some people interpret "dieting" as calorie restriction, as if to say "calorie restriction doesn't work."

Examples:
http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/f...ng-to-science/
http://fit.webmd.com/teen/healthy-we.../fad-diet-myth

A lot of people believe that it's simply impossible to lose fat and you're stuck at the fat level you're at due to genetics or whatever. This is demonstrably false -- going 3500 calories into deficit will burn off a pound of fat, and the amount of variation that is lost due to genetics is hardly going to make a difference for the vast, vast majority of people.

Let me put this in perspective: do you know someone who is allergic to Vitamin C? I know a single person. This is probably how many people you'll know who will be obese due to factors other than excess calorie consumption. This is obviously not how many people are overweight.

What happens when most people try calorie restriction and fail is that they simply don't take proper care to remember how many calories they're eating. They did something wrong. Once I was trying to lose 5lb and slowed on this because I severely underestimated how many calories were in watermelon and jicama. That one error cost me about a week of wasted dieting effort.

You can lose fat on pizza if you want. The only thing that matters is whether you're in calorie deficit. Mind you, you would probably want to have adequate protein intake to minimize muscle atrophy, but there isn't one food that by virtue of that food alone "makes you fat." Calorie surplus makes you fat.

To quote from here: http://news.discovery.com/human/heal...erous-myth.htm

"The diet did not fail; the dieter chose to quit the diet. This is an important distinction that’s overlooked by all the anti-dieting “experts.” Blaming the diet because the dieter chose not to stick to it is like blaming the dusty treadmill in the garage for not helping its owner lose weight.

The claim that diets don’t work is not only factually wrong, it is dangerous. With two-thirds of American adults overweight, people should be encouraged to trim down for their health, not discouraged from doing the only thing that has been medically shown to work. If you are trying to get fitter this year, don’t give up on the diet, and it won’t give up on you."

A lot of people will cite decline of age as evidence that their "metabolism went down" and so this is why they have the amount of fat they do. Actually, old age does not contribute that much to metabolic decline: you have a resting metabolic rate, and most BMR calculators will put your metabolic loss at about 200 calories/day by the time you're 50. In other words, you've only made a loss of 200 calories/day to your metabolism. This is hardly something you can't compensate for. People with old age gain fat for reasons -- decline of activity they had when younger, poorer eating habits now that they're on their own, lack of opportunities to diet properly, and so on.

Fat creation is essentially transfer of energy into mass, because calories are a form of energy. You will lose fat by burning energy -- aka going into calorie deficit.

I'll end with this quote:

06-19-2014, 01:31 AM	#1
Arch0wl Banned Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: fb.com/a.macdonald.iv Age: 35 Posts: 6,344	Debunking the "diets don't work" myth A lot of this problem has to do with the word "diet": fad diets tend not to work. However, some people interpret "dieting" as calorie restriction, as if to say "calorie restriction doesn't work." Examples: http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/f...ng-to-science/ http://fit.webmd.com/teen/healthy-we.../fad-diet-myth A lot of people believe that it's simply impossible to lose fat and you're stuck at the fat level you're at due to genetics or whatever. This is demonstrably false -- going 3500 calories into deficit will burn off a pound of fat, and the amount of variation that is lost due to genetics is hardly going to make a difference for the vast, vast majority of people. Let me put this in perspective: do you know someone who is allergic to Vitamin C? I know a single person. This is probably how many people you'll know who will be obese due to factors other than excess calorie consumption. This is obviously not how many people are overweight. What happens when most people try calorie restriction and fail is that they simply don't take proper care to remember how many calories they're eating. They did something wrong. Once I was trying to lose 5lb and slowed on this because I severely underestimated how many calories were in watermelon and jicama. That one error cost me about a week of wasted dieting effort. You can lose fat on pizza if you want. The only thing that matters is whether you're in calorie deficit. Mind you, you would probably want to have adequate protein intake to minimize muscle atrophy, but there isn't one food that by virtue of that food alone "makes you fat." Calorie surplus makes you fat. To quote from here: http://news.discovery.com/human/heal...erous-myth.htm "The diet did not fail; the dieter chose to quit the diet. This is an important distinction that’s overlooked by all the anti-dieting “experts.” Blaming the diet because the dieter chose not to stick to it is like blaming the dusty treadmill in the garage for not helping its owner lose weight. The claim that diets don’t work is not only factually wrong, it is dangerous. With two-thirds of American adults overweight, people should be encouraged to trim down for their health, not discouraged from doing the only thing that has been medically shown to work. If you are trying to get fitter this year, don’t give up on the diet, and it won’t give up on you." A lot of people will cite decline of age as evidence that their "metabolism went down" and so this is why they have the amount of fat they do. Actually, old age does not contribute that much to metabolic decline: you have a resting metabolic rate, and most BMR calculators will put your metabolic loss at about 200 calories/day by the time you're 50. In other words, you've only made a loss of 200 calories/day to your metabolism. This is hardly something you can't compensate for. People with old age gain fat for reasons -- decline of activity they had when younger, poorer eating habits now that they're on their own, lack of opportunities to diet properly, and so on. Fat creation is essentially transfer of energy into mass, because calories are a form of energy. You will lose fat by burning energy -- aka going into calorie deficit. I'll end with this quote:

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)