New Weight Loss Math Makes Task More Daunting

(CBS)  Experts are weighing in on the old rule-of-thumb that says one pound of fat equals about 3,500 calories.

Sorry, dieters: Recent studies indicate the equation isn't that simple. In the short-term, the formula holds up. But over the long haul, much bigger dietary changes are needed, especially for more overweight and obese people.

On "The Early Show" Wednesday, CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton explained that there's some new math anyone trying to shed pounds needs to be aware of.

While the formula does work, the research suggests there are many variables. Cutting out 100 calories a day -- the chocolate chip cookie or that soda-- "the small changes" theory -- can help in the short-run, new research suggests weight loss doesn't continue indefinitely.

Special Section: Dr. Jennifer Ashton

Your body's self-regulatory mechanisms kick in. As body size diminishes, so does the amount of fuel needed to maintain and move it, and weight settles at a new steady level. Weight loss produces changes in hormones, the nervous system and the efficiency of the muscles to conserve energy. So, additional weight loss can only happen with a more severe diet or more intense physical activity. And most people do the opposite, after achieving weight loss, resuming their old diet and exercise habits, consequently regaining weight.

The dirty little secret is that, over a long period of time, much bigger dietary changes are needed to gain or lose pounds than the formula suggests.

One study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed just how much Americans are overeating. A mathematical model revealed that, over 28 years, a typical man increased his caloric intake by 680 calories a day, putting him into the obese category.

The research does say small changes only make small differences in obesity, but they're useful if they lead to bigger changes. Studies have shown the most successful weight loss patients eat a low calorie, low-fat diet, have high levels of physical activity -- one report just last week said an hour a day, eat breakfast and maintain a consistent eating pattern on weekdays and weekends.
New Weight Loss Math Makes Task More Daunting

[kansas1946]

Quit worrying about calories, cut the carbs, and the weight will come off.

[Nate650]

A little vague, so to add to this, cut the refined carbs, industrial ingredients, trans fat, preservatives, etc., then the weight will come off.

[smilinggreenmom]

This is perfect! So many of the girls in my family do these quick fixes like weight watchers and then they go off of them and gain their weight back. It is depressing for them for sure! Thankfully, our family has a new appreciation about food and what we want for our diets since our son's challenges with food allergies, intolerance and severe Eczema. We now read labels, we eat mostly whole foods while trying to minimize the processed stuff, we choose whole wheat, we even take our Vidazorb probiotic and we only drink water. It has not been that hard at all because we all do it, I don't buy the other stuff and now our kids even ask for fruits and veggies. It just becomes a habit - but one that will serve us well we hope for our whole life!

[Nate650]

Fantastic :)

[SecondHelping]

I'd talk with your headline writers again: this research doesn't make weight loss more daunting; it makes it more honest.

Aside from determining whether you're obese, BMI is highly problematic measure of body fat (it does not account for muscle). Weight isn't a solid measure either (it doesn't make a distinction between fat/muscle and water weight). And now pounds-per-calorie is being questioned.

Well, at least it's honest that the "experts" don't know any better how to encourage weight loss than anyone else.

Except maybe the people who beat the odds and are willing to speak up -- when you want to do more than show off your fat pants, that gets difficult.

Personally, I lost 200 pounds while working as a music critic, then food writer (long story). In the process, my eating and exercise methods would simply stop working.

In other words, everyone keeps looking for a structure when a process. Methods to lose weight just keep growing, expanding, changing. No way am I doing the same things at 150 that I was at 350. Things stopped working. So this research, to me anyway, make perfect sense. After a while, you ask yourself "what else can I do?" The difference being it doesn't feel like being caught in "weight loss jail" -- it's yet another example of being a different person, not just having a different body. And isn't that the point?

I'd also check the National Weight Control Registry's research for more information on what people who're succeeding despite scientists have to say.

Best,
Russ Lane
Second Helping Online: Food & Life: Post Fat Pants
<link>www.secondhelpingonline.com</link>

[gig76]

Check the thyroid if in question, or check blood sugar if unable to lose weight. Lastly, have ovaries checked for issues that may keep weight packed on, regardless of all the dieting and exercise. Sometimes, it's not the person's desire, but the person's body is out of sync. I use one half teaspoon of iodized salt a day to keep my thyroid working properly. Get a check up from physican or clinic. If still not losing weight, get a second opinion. Also check with nutritionist who may have better ideas to work food combinations for weight loss or weight management.

[gig76]

Check the thyroid if in question, or check blood sugar if unable to lose weight. Lastly, have ovaries checked for issues that may keep weight packed on, regardless of all the dieting and exercise. Sometimes, it's not the person's desire, but the person's body is out of sync. I use one half teaspoon of iodized salt a day to keep my thyroid working properly. Get a check up from physican or clinic. If still not losing weight, get a second opinion. Also check with nutritionist who may have better ideas to work food combinations for weight loss or weight management.

[voxpopulus]

What they ought to explain to us is how - according to them - certain bodies overcome the laws of thermodynamics. A certain amount of activity takes a certain amount of energy. ALWAYS. Biology does not trump physics.

[gnimelf1968]

It sure can if your hormones are screwed up. If you have an underactive thyroid I don't care how much activity you get, you still will battle with your weight, especially women.

[Nate650]

Decades of recommendations of a low-fat diet has resulted in nothing more than the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in history, yet "experts" are still recommending a low-fat diet. By now we should know that such a diet doesn't work. When one tries to follow the low calorie, low-fat diet, they may lose weight, but not because they're cutting out fat, it's because they are essentially starving themselves. People who eat a tablespoon of coconut oil a day, which is extremely high in saturated fat, actually lose weight. What more proof do you need than that? The problem is the industrial junk that's on the market. If you eat whole natural real foods as close to their natural state as possible, counting calories isn't needed. The quality of calories matters more than the quantity. One who eats 1000 calories of McDonald's is not going to be affected the same way as one who eats 1000 calories of grass-fed beef and pastured eggs for example. The infamous calorie in calorie out formula is bogus and oversimplifies the matter. It's much more complex than that. For example, chemicals in cheap industrial food affect the body in ways that cause weight gain, yet these chemicals are not accounted for in just calorie counts.

[jsf14]

That the body adjusts is hardly news? That two people consuming the same calories and equally active lose or gain different amounts of weight is not news. What is news is that such phenomena are being observed and recorded in a meticulous way that MAY lead to better ways to control our weight. When one of those ways turns out to be eating no packaged and little processed food -- well that won't be news to many of us either.

[AttentionDeficit]

I am an ultramarathoner and have noticed that the people I know who are the fittest have a relationship with food that involves looking at it primarily as fuel.

[Investor Boot Camp Online]

This isn't news. Ask anybody who exercises regularly, and properly, and combines good eating habits. Bodybuilders in particular know how to control fat and muscle.

[thesevenveils]

Yeah, bodybuilders, the ones I know would be the last people to ask for advice on good health. They are probably as much of an unhealthy person as an obese person. They just don't look like it from the outside.