bruce19

According to this recent study it's the number of calories...not where they come from.


https://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/3...me-from-study/

mprelaw

Um, the fact that weight loss requires a caloric deficit (ie, taking in fewer calories than you expend) isn't exactly late-breaking news.

NOS88

Awwww...I thought I was gonna get the punch line to a Henny Youngman joke.

Dudelsack 

Next breaking news: in order to achieve cardiovascular fitness, you have to exercise.

Sorry, if there were any other way I'd be the first to try it.

bruce19

I thought it was all genetic.

GFish

YES!!

Is it really calories? Or is it the food you eat?

I saw this add linked to another bike related site, found the video and information interesting (but long).
https://www.beyonddiet.com/BD

I thought the information made sense and I like the idea of eating foods with only one ingredient.

jethro56 

"At six months, people had lost more than nine pounds of fat and close to five pounds of lean mass, but some of this was regained by the two-year mark."

As someone who is literally half the man I used to be this is the downfall of almost all weightloss programs. Yes, I've gained some weight back from my low last spring. I've gained muscle. If there is a secret to weightloss it's patience. After an initial 2 month period of pretty big losses (water?) I lost 10 lbs /month. If I needed to do it again I'd go slower especially that last 30 pounds which is where my strength really started to fade. I also believe that the more active you are before you begin the slower you should lose the weight.

qcpmsame 

Good on you Jethro56, you sir are the rider that keeps me pushing. Keep it up and so will I!!!

Bill

Wogster

That is true, but where they come from is important for other reasons, you need certain nutritional elements to stay alive, the key is to get all the nutrition you need, for the lowest number of calories, and you don't get that from foods where they have processed out all the nutrition and then replaced that with chemical agents nobody can pronounce....

locolobo13 

This quote said it all for me, “The major predictor for weight loss was ‘adherence.’ Those participants who adhered better, lost more weight than those who did not,” Bray told Reuters Health.

Now does somebody have a nickel? I need 5 more cents to buy M&Ms.

BigAura

To summarize:

calories burned > calories in = weight loss


calories burned < calories in = weight gain


calories burned = calories in = weight maintenance

Beverly

Very true, Wogster. Eating "junk" calories does nothing to improve your health like fruits, veggies, good carbs, etc.

Phil85207

All this talk of weight is depressing me.

lhbernhardt

I've always regarded the weight issue as a simple adaptation exercise, which helps explain why just eating less doesn't always work:

Suppose you just sit around getting fat, and you decide to lose weight. So you cut down on caloric intake. Because your body is so good at adaptation, it says, "hey, I'm not getting enough food here. I'd better stock up!" So it starts converting carbs & proteins to fat and storing it, and then your body makes you tired so you don't move around as much, thereby burning it off. This is the way our cave-dwelling ancestors got thru lean times. Only most people these days don't have lean times, at least not as lean as the ancestors.

OK, so you sit around and you keep eating normally. Your body says, "hey, I'm getting enough, we can afford to burn it off." So you become more energetic, and less carbs/proteins get converted to fat, but you don't get any thinner unless you start exercising more.

So the key to the whole thing is exercise: You start riding a bike about two hours each day, some of it going pretty hard. What does the ol' body say? "Hey, I need more food, but I need the carbs to burn for energy and the proteins to make more needed muscle! But I'm getting a bunch of fat here, which isn't really necessary, so I'll just store what I can't burn off." Which explains why there are a lot of overweight guys in recreational cycling clubs who just can't seem to lose the extra fat.

Which is my roundabout explanation for why you need to exercise (A LOT if you are overweight) and to eat good food. The human body is extremely good at adapting to its environment. Just don't let it go into starvation mode to lose weight, because it won't work. Just feed it enough, but exercise more if you want to lose the weight. Also, appetite is not a good measure of how much food your body needs. People tend to eat beyond what they need before they feel "full." Leaving the table slightly hungry works. You feel "full" after another half hour or so.

L.

andychrist

For me, where my calories come from affects my weight more than any other factor-- I'm car free, and have to schlepp all my groceries home in my Burly Nomad.

Why is everybody looking at me like that?

icyclist 

"you need to exercise (A LOT if you are overweight) and to eat good food."

I agree - however, A LOT means A REAL LOT, because we want to eat back any energy lost. So if we're overweight to begin with, and we go for a ride, or a jog, or walk up several flights of stairs, it just makes us hungry, we put back what we burned off in energy, and we're left being overweight.

Whether we sit or exercise, our body is going to want to replenish whatever energy we burn off. So once excess weight is on us, getting it off is very, very difficult.

Burn off huge amounts of calories with massive exercise, and it will be difficult to eat enough without bursting a gut to replenish energy that's lost. Most of us don't have that time/committment. Again, it's very, very difficult to lose weight.

overthehillmedi

I'm still waiting for the magic little pill THEY were telling me would be coming soon way back when.

nmichell

So the laws of physics have not been repealed. But what the researchers either didn't study, or the reporter didn't include, was which diets were easier to adhere to. I've seen some research that suggests diets higher in complex carbs, rather than simple carbs (ie sugar), and diets higher in protein, are easier to stick to. And that seems to be true in my own experience as well.

Bikey Mikey

Back in September 2010/end of August 2010, I was a Clyde's, 5'7" and 251lbs. I went to my doctor 3 months after having a med increase for my diabetes to get it under control--it was still too high, HbA1c of about 7.2 or 7.4, can't exactly remember. He said, I would have to start one of the new meds, Byetta or Victoza, or start using insulin--all of which are injections. I decided to give Victoza a try since that is once a day and not meal dependent--whereas Byetta is 2X daily and must be taken within 30 minutes prior to eating. One of the effects, a side effect, of Victoza(and Byetta too) is that it slows gastric emptying and makes your brain think you're full sooner and longer. After being on Victoza I began eating less and after the first week, I lost 6 lbs. Now, I decided I wasn't going to just "depend" on Victoza to bring down my weight so I started walking, 1 mile a day(5 to 6 days/week) the first week, then 1 1/2, then 2, then 3. I was up to 4 miles/day/5or6 days/week. By March of 2011, I was down to 185 lbs--losing usually 2 to 3 or 4 lbs/week. I then developed a couple of blood blisters on my right foot, one of which made me loose a toenail on the second toe. Doc said all was fine, but I had to stop for bit and take it a little easier(was walking 4 miles @ 4 to 4.5 mph). I did not want to stop doing exercise. I asked him about riding a bike and he said that riding a bike would be excellent and I could do that right away--it wouldn't interfere with the blisters/toe healing. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods, Walmart, and the LBS and looked at some comfort/hybrids. My wife, as a surprise, went out and got the Diamondback from Dick's(I kept the fact that I wanted the Giant from the LBS instead to myself). I started riding, 8 miles at first, then 12, then 16, then 18, then 20 miles, then 23 miles 5 to 6 days/week, usually 6. As of late November '11 I weighed 149(I lost 102 lbs). My weight fluctuates now between 148 to 152--usually close to 149/159 most of the time.

I know that the Victoza has helped me get my diabetes and weight under control, but the exercise has done just as much, and the doc agrees. I probably would be 40 or so lbs heavier if not for the exercise. My blood sugar is in great control, HbA1c of 5.5 as of Nov '11. My cholesterol and blood pressure is down(due to weight loss and, especially, due to the exercise). The doc has cut one of my diabetic meds in half, one of the cholesterol meds in half, another cholesterol med has been cut out entirely, and I've stopped taking another med(anti-inflammatory) (I started retaking the anit-inflammatory because of the hand surgery and on the orthopedic surgeon's recommendation for 30 days post surgery to assist in inflammation.)

I am determined as all heck not to every go back. Since my surgery, 2 weeks ago, I can't ride the bike, but I walk 3 miles/day and do step-ups for 50 minutes and giant step-ups for 12min 6 days/wk.

BigAura

The point is, what ever works for you is the way to go to lose weight, as long as calories burned is more than calories consumed.

OF COURSE: Eating healthy FOOD is the best way to go.

jethro56 

lhbernhart: Lots of good points I'll add the necessity of cross training as Bikey Mikey (Great job by the way!!) points out walking is a great way to add some muscle confusion. I add muscle confusion as I believe not only does your body adapt to caloric consumption but to exercise as well.

Digital Gee

THAT, my friend, is a very inspiring story. Thank you for sharing it.

mikepwagner

My experience: I lost 70 lbs w/o increasing amount of exercise very much at all. I started exercising more, and lost 23 more lbs increasing exercise. I went from 243 down to 150 (I am 5'10") in little over a year. I gained back a few pounds over the holidays and have since lost it.

I think the reason that people who exercise to lose weight end up gaining weight is pretty simple: from watching friends, its easy to go out and exercise hard enough to burn 500 calories, and then reward yourself with 750 calories worth of ice cream. For example, pushing yourself hard on a bike, and rewarding your self with a couple of glasses of chocolate milk.

The exercise I did add to to love the initial 70 lbs didn't burn very many calories - "Yin" yoga, which is mostly stretching. But I am convinced it helped with the over-eating - which was the critical issue for me.

Once I had lost 70 lbs, I started exercising (got on a bike) because it was fun, but I am not altogether convinced that the biking had much impact on weight loss.

bruce19

Wow! There are some incredible stories of weight loss and making oneself healthier here. Now I feel like a slacker for whining about the 10 lbs. I can't lose.

Gravity Aided

+1
Caloric concerns should not outweigh your overall nutrition .
Cravings would be the least of your worries .