Why is it so hard to lose weight?
I believed I could make it happen eating fewer calories and increasing my exercise. The Calories In – Calories Out dance.
WRONG. WRONG. And WRONG
“Reducing Calories In works only if Calories Out remains stable. What we find instead is that a sudden reduction of Calories In causes a similar reduction in Calories Out, and no weight is lost as the body balances its energy budget.”
Jason Fung, MD The Obesity Code
After decades of behaviors based on my calorie reduction belief, I’m being re-educated. I had a nagging discontent with my approach – as I always seemed to hit a wall eventually. Documenting my food helped me be aware of my choices; and regular exercise benefits me in many ways. But at some point I stop trying. Probably because I hit a plateau that won’t budge. That stretch when even robust runs don’t make a difference.
In his book The Obesity Code; Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss, Jason Fung, MD explains many of the barriers and obstacles to what I believed and acted upon. And I’m not the only one.
We were all born into an era that pushed the calories in – calories out propaganda. We’ve been hoodwinked by society, the government and media to believe this hooey. There’s a grain of truth to most good cons. Yes, I can lose weight when I eat less and exercise more. But the story is only partly true; they leave off the part that it’s often a futile effort. If I don’t make the changes permanent, they don’t stick and I gain it all back, and then some!
It’s not the calories; how much we weigh is related to our insulin production and our body set-point.
Now let me get back to his revelations – and see what I can do to believe differently!
“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.”
Sophia Loren
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