Last weekend I spent time at a cabin alone with Claire and a bunch of books. I took with me Gary Taubes book “Why we get fat” and perused it over the weekend in between breaks on the computer. This book hands down is one of my favorite nutrition books as it gets right to the point regarding weight loss and the science behind proper nutritional habits. Taubes asks all the right questions and answers them very convincingly with proper science and research.
Weight loss is simple according to most nutritionists or dietitians – it is all about calories out and calories in. If calories consumed exceeds calories burned the inevitable result is weight gain, but this is too simple of a thought process – it is not taking into account macronutrient profile of food eaten and hormonal output relative to the foods eaten. These variables are much more important than calories. Food quality trumps food quantity.
Gary Taubes writes in his book “Why we get fat” about the importance of 20 calories, which we will come back to shortly. I have heard countless times, that if you drop 3500 total calories consumed over a weeks time (500 calories a day) then one pound of weight can be lost because one pound of fat is 3500 calories. Based on this calculation of 3500 calories of stored energy in fat tissue – how many extra calories would need to be consumed to put on 50 pounds in 25 years? (2 pounds a year). The answer is 20 calories a day. If the calories in calories out theory is correct than all we need to do is consume 20 extra calories a day to make the above scenario true, and in the opposite direction we could also refrain from eating those 20 extra calories each day to remain lean or even lose weight over time. Twenty calories is less than 1% of the daily caloric intake of a middle ages women.
In the above scenario it is questionable how anyone maintains weight or how we are all not obese. The caloric ingestion and expenditure ratio is so very small to maintain “energy balance” as most dietitians speak of would be nearly impossible.
Every time I think of this scenario one person comes to mind. My father in law (or Claire’s father to be exact) always brags that he has been the same weight from the age of 20. He has been 178 pounds his entire life – that means that his nutritional exactness with regard to calories in and calories out has been absolutely amazing. Claire’s father is now 75 years old, which means that he has maintained his caloric balance within a fraction of 1% of his needs. Think on this for a second – does this make any sense at all. The human body is an amazing device no doubt, but this exactness is an amazing feat.
Take this scenario in the other direction, what if we err on the side of too little calories. 20 calories too little per day over 25 years, would mean that we would look emaciated as weight loss would be extreme. There is much more at play her than the traditional calories in and calories out theory.
Based on the above thoughts – it may be time to stop counting calories and focus more on food quality rather than quantity.
Focus on the basic Synergy Strength food pyramid and guidelines. Lots of protein, vegetables, and healthy fats. Eliminate sugar and foods that cause unwanted insulin responses an weight loss and health can be attained.
