(CNN) -- Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts. For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.
His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food.
He actually lost weight faster than I did, but then again, I started out slower, too. This basic premise - a strict accounting of caloric intake - is exactly how I lost over 100 pounds. Before I started my effort to lose weight, I took about two weeks and carefully documented every single thing I ate. I then found the caloric content of every item (had to guess in some cases) and calculated what my average intake was in a day.
And then I cut it by almost a third.
Once I started losing weight, I adjusted periodically. I calculated pre-diet that I was consuming over 3,500 calories a day - this is pre-exercise, too, so I was taking in a lot more than I was burning off, hence the steady weight gain. I dropped it back to 2,500 calories a day and started losing. As the weight came off, I lowered the daily intake gradually and tapering off once the last of the weight had come off.
One long-term change that I made was to find acceptable substitutions for certain foods rather than just cutting back calories to lose the weight. I wanted to change how I ate, not what I ate, so that when I went "off" the diet I wouldn't just gain everything back. I'd been on and off diets my entire life, starting as young as 9 or 10, with varying degrees of success. I'd counted carbs. I'd gone the extreme "grapefruit and rice cake" deprivation. None of it worked. Well, all of it worked - temporarily. As soon as I went back to eating the old way, I gained everything back.
Those weight plans that were so popular a few years ago where you pay for meals always cracked me up. Of course you'll lose weight if you only eat the meals they send you - the trouble is NOT eating outside of the plan. If you're disciplined enough to only eat the meals that they send you, you're disciplined enough to come up with your own meal plan and stick to that without belonging to some fancy club or paying for exotic meals. Unfortunately, it all comes down to willpower - you have to really want to lose the weight and keep it off...
I thought the story was interesting - it obviously reinforces my own experience. "How did you do it?" is the most common question I hear - folks wonder if I did Atkins, or Weight Watchers, or any number of popular diet trends. They assume I cut out carbs entirely - not true - or that I had to have done "X" or religiously avoided "Y". The only thing I did was count calories - and made changes I could live with in the long haul. Really about the only universal thing was that I no longer eat "fast food" unless there's no way around it (like road trips); other than that, I still eat pretty much whatever I want - just in much smaller portions.
Even today, some three and a half years after I hit my goal weight, I still count my calories every single day. I keep a running tally in my head of everything I'm eating, guessing in some cases, doing research in others. Many restaurants have their nutritional information available online - it's pretty shocking how bad some entrées can be - and most have some sort of reduced calorie option. Sure, it's not a triple bacon cheeseburger with a double order of waffle fries, but a baked chicken breast on a wheat bun with honey mustard dressing has a quarter of the calories and still tastes pretty darn good. Everything comes with a price - you do sacrifice the "comfort foods" by and large - but the benefits are pretty substantial.
There's no magic bullet - yet - but I'm waiting for the day they perfect the "eat all you want and stay skinny" pill...
That is all.
6 comments:
After seeing my picture from the last Bloggershoot, I resolved to lose weight. And yes, it is a lifetime change. And no, it is not easy. It is amazing how much better everything is, even with more weight to lose.
It was either that or grow 4 inches taller.
I prefer to get my nutrition from the 4 basic food groups: Caffeine, Nicotine, Sugar and Cholesterol. What, you don't think they work? Ever seen the Cops at the Donut Shop? Half the Police I know have been living on that diet for decades! Ever seen those 400# fatties working the Court House when there's a story on the Evening News? Yes, I know that I didn't mention the Booze, but that is just a form of sugar, after all. ; )
At 6'5" and 170 lbs, my problem is gaining weight constructively...
I've lost all my weight on the Cocaine and Cigarettes diet! If its good enough to keep Paris Hilton slim and pretty, its good enough for me!
Wow, thanks!!
As a health care provider who regularly counsels people on diet and exercise, you just condensed my talk into a few paragraphs.
Americans don't eat bad food, we just eat too much of what we do eat and at the wrong times!!
Go back to the turn of the 20th century, when 70% or so of the population lived on farms or small towns. They got up at dawn, or before to start work. They ate large breakfasts, large lunches, and small dinners. BUT...they worked for a living. Some studies believe that the average farmer ate as many as 6000 calories/day during his busy times of year.
Change to today. Much less physical activity, and we gain weight easily on half that caloric intake.
Cut the calories, and people will lose weight. Convince them to substitute for some of the high calory foods, and they'll keep it off.
BUT...I do love my cheesecake and Big Macs!!!
Great post!
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