Eating Less Equals Losing Weight
by Motte Brown on 02/26/2009 at 12:10 PM
I dropped by McDonalds a few nights ago on the way home from work to pick up some burgers for the fam, "four hams and two quarters" the drive thru attendant confirmed. And our Mickey D's dinner was going swimmingly until my wife saw the calorie and fat gram info (549 and 28 respectively) on the side of the burger box. I said, "Don't worry about it. A quarter pounder every few months won't hurt you." She said, "I can't. I just can't." ... and then left her burger half uneaten. (Which was cool because I was still hungry.)
Ok, here's the point of that long lede: my wife's caloric consciousness may actually prevent her from getting fat. Who knew, right? According to a two-year study from the National Institutes of Health, eating fewer calories equals weight loss.
Here, the lead researcher breaks down these complex findings.
They came up with "a very simple message that cuts through all the hype: To lose weight, it comes down to how much you put in your mouth — it's not a question of eating a particular type of diet," says Frank Sacks, a lead researcher and professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at Harvard.
"It comes down to how much you put in your mouth." Hm. At what point does this story become more about wasting taxpayer dollars than it does about health and wellness?
1. Christina (in green) said the following at 12:33 PM on Feb 26:
lol...
I don't know Motte, considering all the hype with fad diets, maybe it pays to occasionally bring people back to earth with a resounding "IT'S HOW MUCH YOU EAT THAT MATTERS!!!"
I agree in general with the theory, though I still think certain diets benefit certain medical conditions better because its those medical conditions that can trigger weight gain. Like diabetics focusing on eliminating simple carbohydrates and high-glycemic indexed foods would actually help them lose weight faster than just simply eating less =p
Now for your example - tell your wife I lost 20 lbs while enjoying a Medium Double Cheeseburger meal (with a regular coke) once a week from BK. It took me 6 months to lose that weight...which actually is not a bad rate (and may be a bit high).
2. Louise from Chicago said the following at 12:40 PM on Feb 26:
Excellent post about health and wellness!
I consistently tell people the sky will NOT fall if you only eat half of your restaurant meal.
And there's always the microwave to heat things up later.
3. Marilyn said the following at 1:16 PM on Feb 26:
First, here's the English-freak comment for the day...
According to a two-year study from the National Institutes of Health, eating less calories equals weight loss.
Oops...eating fewer calories.
Sorry, I couldn't resist. :-)
Then there are those of us who were designed to survive famine. Eating fewer calories just keeps some of us heavy, but hungrier. It has been scientifically proven that some bodies burn fewer calories at rest (and asleep!) than others, and some of us don't do anything except slow down our metabolisms when we cut back on calories.
I can't remember the study, but it was recently shown that there is a wide difference in the number of calories people burn while sleeping of all things! I think people just have to figure out what works best for their own bodies.
4. Brian K said the following at 1:26 PM on Feb 26:
Ironically, I was listening to an infomercial the other day (not a normal habit of mine). The setup was interview-style. The guy hocking the product said “with today’s go-go-go attitude, it’s not your fault you’re fat”. That intrigued me. I listened further and the “interviewer” finally said “yeh, yeh, you know, you’re right. It’s not our fault. I mean the larger portions, the high fat meals, the fast food and lack of exercise, I mean we can’t help that. It’s not our fault we’re getting fat.”
As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up. Apparently eating out, too many calories and no exercise is definitely not my fault. Phew, I’m glad I got that off my back*.
My daughter asked me why I was laughing. The commercial was for a “carb and fat blocker” with a slogan “eat whatever you want and never gain weight”. Symptomatic of our current times of wanting what we want right now without any responsibility or consequences (to tie in to that with which you started, Motte, a product of the McDonalds mentality…..no slight intended).
* - This is not to say everyone is overweight for these reasons, everyone has plenty of time to exercise 2 hours per day, etc.
5. Celebrindal said the following at 1:28 PM on Feb 26:
Watching calories is how I lost 50 pounds several years ago. Calories are a measure of the energy in the food. Unused energy intake is stored as fat. If you burn more calories than you eat, you have to burn your fat stores for energy and you lose weight. It's as simple as that.
It does help, however, to cut down or eliminate certain kinds of especially unhealthy foods. Trans fats, for instance, are easily converted into weight gain and increase cholesterol levels. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is also a good one to stay away from. It's an appetite stimulator and they feed it to rats to make them purposely obese for laboratory studies. It is also good to stay away from "empty calories" - foods with high caloric content and very little nutrition (i.e. processed snack foods). They leave you feeling hungry because your body needs more nutrition, but they pack on the pounds.
6. Motte Brown said the following at 1:32 PM on Feb 26:
Thanks for the grammar lesson Marilyn. =)
7. obewan said the following at 1:56 PM on Feb 26:
I can see where the research pays off if it tell us exactly how many calories are allowed and which foods have how many calories.
That is what is known as the calorie restriction diet. I have been on one for over a year, and I still gain about a pound a month. I eat a granola bar for breakfast, soup for lunch, and a small lean cuisine for dinner. I still cannot take off the weight. It does not help that I take medication that puts me at risk for weight gain and heart disease either. Everyone says the only way to lose is to exercise.
8. Jeni said the following at 2:03 PM on Feb 26:
Ah yes, it is a simple formula: eat less calories than your body uses. The formula becomes complicated with the fact that eating has less to do with physical hunger and needing fuel to get on with the business of living and more to do with emotions, circumstances and even addictions. So, some folks may need diets, eating plans and programs to reach and maintain a healthy weight.
9. Kate said the following at 2:46 PM on Feb 26:
Motte, I wouldn't worry too much about Marilyn's grammar lesson. Saying "eat less calories" just means you are thinking of "calories" as a mass noun instead of as a group of single calories.
Really I think it makes more sense to think of calories as a mass quantity, because we never practically consider a singular calorie at a time when thinking about food. (You'd have to eat like 1/5 of a stick of gum to eat 1 calorie!) Reducing your caloric intake by 1 calorie or by just a few wouldn't make any signficant difference, whereas reducing it by a "mass" of 500 would over time.
Mass nouns don't usually have an "s" on the end though plurals do, so that combo of "less + word-ending-in-s" is going to continue bothering picky people for no practical reason :) This seems quite similar to insisting that saying "less data" is wrong and we should still be saying "fewer data."
I probably thought about this too much, but I just got done reading Words & Rules by Steven Pinker and I am freshly excited by what I learned about the mechanisms of language.
10. Kate said the following at 3:18 PM on Feb 26:
Now for an on topic comment...
I don't think such a study was a waste of taxpayer dollars. As others have pointed out, and we all know, there is SO MUCH propaganda about shortcuts we can take to lose weight while eating our cake too. Of course sellers of these diets are going to hype up their diet as more effective than the other. (I won't even say anything about the low-fat movement!) We also have pretty much all heard that it's all about balancing calories absorbed with calories burned. Doing this sounds like simple math, but in application it's more complex.
(You will notice that these participants were eating good amounts of fiber, whole grains and not tons of "white carbs/sugars" and "bad fat." NOT fast food. There is a lot to be said about the fillingness as well as the calories contained in the foods you chose, since eating food that isn't filling over time will make it much harder to eat less calories and so on).
Though this study focused on diet and not exercise, I think there needs to be more research about the specific interactions between food and exercise. Such as understanding basal metabolic rate and how this is related to that calorie in-out balance and how it can be influenced by exercise.
I am sure the findings will be entirely ignored by most people though, because they aren't exciting and they do not provide that promise for weight loss with no sacrifice.
11. Brian K said the following at 3:24 PM on Feb 26:
To further the mild nerdiness here, if I remember correctly from my Thermo days, we are actually speaking of kilocalories (1,000's).
See, Dr. Holman, I was really listening!
12. Melody said the following at 3:29 PM on Feb 26:
Wow, I have so much to say about this, as I am in my fourth year of naturopathic medical school. I will keep it brief though:
1. Calories do count, but the source may be just as or more important than the amount. Eating a snack of bananas and raisins may have the same sugar content as a more unhealthy snack, but it won't spike your blood sugar the same way. Which by the way, affects fat storage by way of insulin.
2. A healthy diet is about so much more than weight maintenance, it determines the basis of your health, if you don't eat good food and digest and absorb it well, you can't be healthy no matter any other habit.
3. Fast food and processed foods have chemicals in them that we are not told about - just try calling to find out what "spices" are used in your potato chips or whatever, spices don't just mean rosemary, sage, basil, etc. They probably won't tell you. Artificial flavorings are the same story. These chemicals are designed to make you fat and addicted to the food.
4. If you want more specific advice go and see a a naturopathic physician (licensed and from only 1 of 5 US and Canadian schools) Check out www.naturopathic.org for referrals to doctors who have had proper (at least 4 years) of real medical training. We specialize in this stuff!
13. Yodani said the following at 3:33 PM on Feb 26:
I think no matter how you look at it, there are only benefits to being conscious of both how much you eat and what you eat. Sometimes those of us who do get hungry throughout the day should look for healthier snacks to help curb hunger. Instead of going for the fatty, fried, salty things, grab some fruit. Sometimes its best not to "diet" but make a healthier change in you lifestyle.
14. Rachael said the following at 3:41 PM on Feb 26:
It seems, too, people can be more concerned about one aspect (for example, thinking positively about the nutritional value of brown rice over white), but at the same time, have other unhealthy dietary habits...
I suppose thinking like that is better than having no concern at all about any dietary habits, though...
15. Catherine said the following at 3:46 PM on Feb 26:
Actually, just as a med student, there was legitimate debate in the medical community about whether or not low carb diets were more effective in obese patients. There was the thought that compliance was better than for calorie restricted diets and offered the same benefit.
The government sponsored this study because obesity is a national health crisis right now and needs effective solutions that are evidence-based.what should we recommend to patients who just can't seem to get their weight down? the percentage of obese americans just surpassed the merely overweight this year. in this season of lent, i hope the church will consider the slightly politically incorrect step of talking to their members about the sin of gluttony :) and "your body is a temple" and should be cared for as a holy gift. How much of what we eat each day could be used in funds to feed the poor? the homeless? I think fasting has gone out of style in the American churches because we just can't stand to not consume anything for even a day. go without food to pray!? oh no! we would die! even though jesus modeled this for us as the beginning of his own teaching.
16. Angie Marie said the following at 3:49 PM on Feb 26:
Obewan...your post worried me so much that I felt obligated to post although I rarely do. From the knowledge which I acquired over a year-long process of meeting with a nutritionist to recover from an eating disorder (anorexia), I am almost 100-percent confident that the reason your body is gaining weight when you expect it to drop the pounds is quite simple and relieving: you are eating WAY too few calories each day. When anyone starves themselves at the level that you are doing, they are putting their bodies into a devastatingly unhealthy mode metabolic-wise. Your body doesn't know how to function on the tiny amount of food that you are eating, so it is grasping desparately unto the little bit of fat that you are consuming, thus making you gain. Also, you must be extremely exhausted and unable to exercise on such small portions. Please, please reconsider your diet with the help of your doctor. Your body is suffering so much right now!
17. Jim H said the following at 5:45 PM on Feb 26:
I lost a lot of weight by just determining the precise daily calorie intake to lose a certain number of lbs/week (in my case, I was going for 3 lbs/week).
The procedure is as follows: It starts with bmr (Basal Metabolic Rate) which is minimum daily calorie expenditure to support life with minimal physical activity.
bmr Male= 66+6.23*weight + 12.7*height - 6.8*age;
bmr Female = 655 + 4.35*weight+4.7*height - 4.7*age;
The weight units are in lbs, height in inches and age in years. So when I was 220 lbs, the calculation came up as follows:
BMR = 66 + 6.23*220 +12.7*67 – 6.8 *42 = 2001.9 calories.
Now you multiply this bmr number by a factor depending on your level of physical activity to determine calories/day needed to maintain your current weight. The scale factors are below. In my case, I used “Moderate Exercise 3-5 times/week” = 1.55*2001.9 = 3102.9 calories.
Sedentary = 1.2 * BMR
Light Exercise 1-3 times/week = 1.375 * BMR
Moderate Exercise 3-5 times/week = 1.55 * BMR
Heavy Exercise 6-7 times/week = 1.725 * BMR
Now to calculate your daily calorie intake needed to lose weight at a given rate, you just subtract 500 Cal per day per lb/week you want to lose. In my case, I wanted to lose 3 lbs/week, so I subtracted 1500 from 3102.9 = 1602.9 calories/day.
I noticed that my weight loss slowed down and then realized that as you lose weight, the daily calorie intake also drops so you will need to lower you daily calorie intake for a given level of exercise to maintain the same weight loss rate. For example, when I was at 200 lbs, in order to maintain my 3 lbs/week loss rate, my daily calorie intake needed to be 1410 given the same level of exercise.
In retrospect, 3 lbs per week is probably excessive, and 1-2 lbs is more reasonable, but the main point of this post was to share the formulae so you can do your own calculations if you are so inclined.
Losing weight really is nothing more than an accounting exercise: calories in vs. calories burned.
18. Lindsay said the following at 5:46 PM on Feb 26:
Brian K (#11),
You are right about the kilocalories. If I remember correctly, 1 calorie = the amount of energy to change 1 g of water by 1 degree Celsius. 1,000 calories = 1 kilocalorie = 1 Calorie (capital C) in popular usage.
In a 2,000 Calorie/day diet, that adds up to 2 million calories (or the energy required to raise the temperature of 20,000 g of water from the freezing point to the boiling point). That's impressive.
I know, I'm such a nerd. I guess I can't escape chemistry after all.
19. Leah said the following at 6:37 PM on Feb 26:
I have to admit, I read this article and went "...duh?"
I mean, there are lots of health issues that can cause people to lose or put on weight. But for people of normal health... of course being calorie-conscious will help you lose weight!
My mum lost 7 kilos in 7 weeks once, not by using any special diet, but just by serving herself smaller meals.
I see overweight people who complain about the fact they can't lose weight... and then eat a huge McDonalds burger, large fries, sundae and coke... when I'm sure a smaller fries serve and a smaller burger would have filled them up. Or else, if they're still hungry, they can eat an apple when they get home :P
20. StevenLow said the following at 11:40 PM on Feb 26:
Okay, I usually don't post but since I know a fair bit about science and nutrition... and since I don't want you all to be deluded I figured I would.
First off, we had a discussion HERE which looks at the actually study:
http://www.performancemenu.com/forum/showthread.php?p=51715
Specifically, in post 3 one of our members points out some of the flaws in how this study was not "cals in vs cals out" like they want you to believe.
Well, short summary if you don't wanna visit the link is: (1) encouragement of low glycemic foods, (2) 20g fiber intake, (3) behavioral counseling to help adherence, and (4) encouragement of 90 mins of exercise per week. ALL of these with obese subjects are likely to help them improve body composition... so saying it's as simple as cals in vs cals out is utterly junk.
In addition, (5) there was an analysis which actually showed that patients ate "more similarly" to each other. Here's the actual quote from the study: For example, those assigned to consume 35% of their calories as carbohydrates actually consumed an average of 43%, and groups that were supposed to eat a 20%-fat diet averaged 26%." Seriously? This makes a comparison of more similar diets which are OBVIOUSLY going to have the same relative impact. And these are not "true" low fat and high fat or low carb and high carb percentages anyway.
Quality of calories DOES matter. You can't eat crappy processed food all the time and expect to lose significant amounts of weight unless you starve yourself.
Secondly, Melody in post 12 has very good advice. All of the NDs I know are pretty good.
Thirdly, for "healthy living" IMO aim for fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, little bit of starch, no sugar and certainly try to avoid ALL processed foods. Very calorically dense and mess with insulin sensitivity.
21. Christina (in green) said the following at 7:54 AM on Feb 27:
Jim H -
That calculation for BMR has never worked for me =p
Instead I use the one that is somewhat implied by that one, but actually takes into account the actual lean mass. Which means I have to do a body comp every time I re-evaluate my caloric intake.
Its given me much better results than that one, though generally for most people they'd produce the same caloric needs. Some people build muscle faster, though, and with much more ease, so for some it could give them too few or too many calories.
For me it always gave too few =/
22. P.. said the following at 9:33 AM on Feb 27:
I'm African and have lived in the U.S. for going on four years now. One of the things that shocked me about this country was the WASTE. Everything is bigger in America. A "small" soda is bigger than a London large. And yet it's hard to find a people more obsessed with their weight.
Biblical principles will keep us from gaining weight. The average American family eats (and throws out) more in one meal than the average African or Asian family will have/afford in a week. Where would all the weight be coming from if we fasted often, shared with those who have less, were content with what we had and kept our focus where it's supposed to be - on Christ?
Anywho... nice article.
23. Jim H said the following at 9:40 AM on Feb 27:
Christina #21,
The BMR was spot on for me and the pounds came off in the predicted amounts like clockwork. But your point is well taken that variance is likely among different people. My body composition may happen to fall within the range that the BMR formula I used was calibrated for.
24. Marilyn said the following at 10:19 AM on Feb 27:
Sorry for appearing so nit-picky about grammar. I really wasn't trying to be too serious. My daughter (the English major) and I throw these little things at each other all the time just for fun and I meant it only in that spirit.
Most normal people can maintain a more healthy weight by making a few simple choices. Since becoming unemployed last September, my husband has lost 15 pounds just because he can't spend money on fast food cravings he used to have. Without the soda pop, fries and fatty burgers, that was enough to drop two notches on his belt.
My body is not normal (perhaps the thyroid disease has something to do with it) and does not follow the rules. It is a struggle to stay at 155, but I am content to hold that line.
25. Mike Theemling said the following at 12:15 PM on Feb 27:
Yodandi hit the nail on the head.
The reason why so many "diets" don't work is that they are usually intended for short term weight loss. Once that loss is achieved, if someone goes back to their old eating/exercise habits, the pounds will creep back on.
I agree with you Motte that splurging on yourself every once in awhile is OK. In fact, if you deny yourself too much you might overcompensate and end up eating more calories anyway.
But of course it isn't just about the intake of calories. It's about the net caloric intake. Michael Phelps for example typically eats about 12,000 calories a day during training but he burns most of that off.
However, where calories come from is also important, not just for weight management, but also for other concerns such as heart disease (high saturated fat/LDL cholesterol diet = not good for arteries).
Marylin also had it correct that sleep also affects your weight. Either too much or too little sleep can be detrimental to burning calories.
My theory: Everything in moderation, and exercise regularly.
26. Katrece said the following at 12:24 PM on Feb 27:
I was physically active as a child (volleyball, basketball, tennis). But based on poor food choices I gained weight... "To him who knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin (James 4:17)." I had no excuse because my parents had always prepared meals resembling what looks like a naturophatic diet taught in schools today. But I chose to eat worse in highschool. My senior year of highschool I was tired of weighing about 20lbs more than I should've. So I started working out five days a week. I worked out for three hours, three times a week; and two hours, two other days of the week. I burned between 1000 and 1500lbs, five days a week.
The fall of my senior year, I started burning far more calories and the pounds were shedding. During Lent, the following Spring, I fasted from all but soup two-to-three times a day, and some yogurt. I was burning nearly 1000 calories each of the five days I exercised. And I was consuming, at the most, 1000 calories a day.
I have a thyroid problem (which I didn't know until a few years ago). Taking T-3 and T-4 hormones helped me shed those horrible pounds which had refused to come off. Once I started the thyroid hormones I lost 25lbs in five months.
I'm still involved in vigorous exercise. I eat very balanced meals. The ideal meal for my body consists of at least three ounces of lean protein, a small amount of a complex carb, a raw green vegetable, and a cooked green vegetable. I let myself cheat sometimes but try to stay balanced. Serious exercise and smarter eating makes a huge, (ha, ha,) difference. I've lost more weight in recent years, instead of rebounding and gaining weight.
27. L. from Canada said the following at 8:02 PM on Feb 27:
Losing weight & keeping it off is 70% diet and 30% exercise. My friend & I both run 10-12 km/day and eat around 1000-1200 cals/day. It's pathetic, I know, but we can list the calories in hundreds of foods. It's so basic: put less in your mouth and burn more calories & you'll loose weight. Save your $$$$$$!
28. Vanessa said the following at 7:54 AM on Feb 28:
While it sounds nice in theory, and may be true for most people...there are some of us who have unfortunately had our body chemistry thrown out of whack by prescription medication when we were not made aware of the risks. Chemical reactions in the brains of at least 1/3 of people who have taken that medication cause hormones to be released that tell the body that you've already eaten, so anything you DO eat is stored as fat. Not fun and not fair. I'm not about to pump more chemicals into my body to try to fix the problem, therefore I focus on being as healthy as possible to counter the extra weight on my frame.
I eat far less than my best friend who is an absolute twig. She's more active than I am, but I'm more muscular than she is. She usually even eats more overall calories than I do if you adjust for her added calorie burn from more intense workouts.