Here’s one case in point.  I love Pillsbury’s Toaster Strudel, especially the ones with the cinnamon filling.  To me, there’s nothing better than starting off my day with a breakfast of 2 pieces of toaster strudel and a glass of cold milk.  After all, I just did an intense hour of a P90X workout (I usually exercise in the morning before breakfast).  Having something besides my usual protein shake can’t hurt, right?

Well, here’s the problem. My usual protein shake is only about 200 calories – and that includes the banana and strawberries I throw in. However, a quick look at the label on the strudel package rocked me back on my socks.  The first thing to notice is that the “Serving Size” for the nutritional information on the label is based on 1 pastry.  ONE pastry?  Who eats just ONE pastry?  So I knew I was trouble from the very start.

I normally have 2 pastries at a time.  At 190 calories EACH, that’s 2 X 190 or 380 calories.  Add in the calories from the glass of milk (2% milk) and you’ve got a grand total of 380 + 120 = 500 calories.  500 calories!  Yikes!

Although the high number of calories is bad enough, a second major problem is the TYPE of calories.  Notice in the label that 60 of the 190 calories – about 31% – come from FAT.  Ugh!  So out of the 500 total calories I had for breakfast, 120 of them are pure fat that I’m sure went straight to my midsection.

A third problem (this just keeps getting better and better) is the type of fat.  Again looking at the label, we see that more than half of the Total Fat is the WORST type of fat:  Saturated Fat and Trans Fat.  There are a total of 4 grams of saturated and trans fat.  Since there are 9 calories per gram of fat, that’s 9 x 4 or 36 calories of “bad” fat in EACH pastry.

And if you haven’t already sworn off Toaster Strudels, there’s more.  Last but not least, each pastry contains 5 mg of Cholesterol.  Although cholesterol is a natural part of many foods, a strudel is probably not the best source of it.

That’s why it’s so hard to lose weight.  The stuff you love to eat usually contains an abundance of extra calories that are very easy to lose track of.  However, it all eventually shows up around your midsection!

So what are my takeaways from this (besides “ditch the strudel”)?  Here are a couple:

1. Read the label FIRST. Always evaluate what you are ABOUT TO EAT, not what you just ate.
2. Be Aware of the Serving Size. Manufacturers will always try to down play the amount of calories in their products by reducing the serving size.  Don’t get fooled by this.  Do the math and then decide how much (or how little) you’ll have.
3. All Calories Count. If you’re trying to lose a couple of pounds, calories – ALL calories – count.  Make sure you don’t let extra calories sneak in just because you take a “pinch of this” or a “spoonful of that.”  There’s no such thing as “just one.”  It all adds up and it all counts.
4. Know the Content of Your Calories. It’s critical that you not only know the amount of calories you’re about to consume, but also the type of calories.  Are most of the calories made up of Protein?  Carbohydrates?  Fats?  If it’s listed first on the label, then that’s what makes up the majority of calories.
5. Be Aware of the Type of Fats and Carbs. You should also evaluate the type of fats and carbs you’re eating.  I shouldn’t have to tell you (or tell myself!) that saturated and trans fats should be at the absolute bottom of your list, not at the top.  Refined carbohydrates and sugar should low on your list as well.

The bottom line is that this breakfast “food” bombs out in all nutritional categories.  Little wonder that even after killing myself at the gym, when I step on the scale, my weight still hasn’t changed.

Losing weight is like playing detective.  You have to ferret out all the places that extra calories are sneaking into your diet and plug the holes.  You have to scrutinize every single calories to see what type it is and you have to decide whether eating it will support your goal or not.

It’s not as difficult as it sound but it does take awareness and effort.  As for me, the box of Toaster Strudel is now sitting at the bottom of my kitchen waste basket (small tear at the corner of my eye) and I’m back to my low-fat protein shakes in the morning.  I’m more determined than ever to control my weight.  How about you?

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Sorry.  There’s no such thing.  Let me say that again so you can stop your frantic searching — there is no secret way to losing weight.  All you have to do is eat less, way less as it turns out.

I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “But I already cut out eating bread with my meals” or “I already skip dessert and I STILL can’t lose weight.”  The problem is that you haven’t cut enough.

That lesson was brought home to me in an interesting way.  I’m reading a fascinating book titled, “Physics for Future Presidents: the Science Behind the Headlines,” by Richard A. Mueller.  In it, this Physics Professor takes much of the hype out of many of the issues that crowd today’s headlines.  In a very straightforward way, he tackles issues such as “dirty bombs,” terrorism, energy, climate change, and so on.

It was on his chapter on energy where he’s talking about how much energy a gallon of gasoline contains that I found, of all things, a comparison to the energy content of food.  Mueller states that “food is almost as good as gasoline” in terms of energy content.  He goes on to say that,

“If you find this high energy content implausible, watch a hummingbird.  It uses enormous energy to flap its wings just to sip a tiny amount of nectar.  Clearly the energy in the nectar must be more than enough to cover the work being done by those rapidly beatings wings that hold the bird in front of the flower.  It is.  Food is almost as good as gasoline.”

Because food has such a high energy content, it actually takes very little of it to completely nourish our bodies and fuel our daily activities.   The problem is that we’re typically greatly overloading our bodies with way more food than what we actually need.  Professor Mueller goes on to say that,

“On the downside, the enormous energy content of food is what makes it so difficult to lose weight without serious dieting.  One 12-ounce can of soda contains, typically, 150 food calories.  A person can work that off with a half hour of vigorous exercise (running, not jogging; basketball, not baseball; swimming, not golf), provide, of course, that he doesn’t reward himself with a can of soda.  The best way to lose weight is to eat less, not to exercise more.“

Make sure you pay particular attention to that last line:  “the best way to lose weight is to eat less, not to exercise more.”  It’s simple physics.  To eliminate 150 calories from your diet, you can do half an hour of hard exercise, or you can simply pass on the soda and drink water instead.

Now, to be clear, note that he didn’t say that you didn’t have to exercise at all or that exercise isn’t important or that it doesn’t help you lose weight.  He didn’t say any of these things.  All he said is that from a physics standpoint, it’s easier to lose weight by eating less than by exercising more simply because food has such a high energy content.

So let me summarize:

1. If you want to lose weight, eat less – way less. Although when you first start a diet it feels like you’re dying, your body will actually adjust after a couple of days.  Your stomach will get smaller so that small portions will be more filling and your digestive system will get more efficient since you’re not constantly overloading it anymore.  If you can make it past the first week, it really does get easier.
2. Yes, I did say “eat way less.” Just making token cuts like skipping the bread or desert isn’t enough.  Not eating bread reduces your total calorie count by what, maybe 250 calories?  Big deal.  That’s not nearly enough.  You need to cut your total caloric intake by 1/2 to 2/3.  No, this is not a typo.  Cut your meals by one half to two thirds of what you’re eating now.  Unless you make really radical changes to your diet, your body simply adjusts to not having bread or not having dessert and you end up weighing the same.  IMPORTANT NOTE:  radical changes to your diet does put a strain on your body at first so make sure you’re in good health to begin with and that you’ve discussed your plans with a healthcare provider.
3. Exercise is still important. Physical exercise still plays an important part in your weight-loss plans.  You still have to keep your metabolism rate at a high level, you still need to keep your muscles toned, and you still have to encourage your body to burn fat instead of muscle.  Exercise does all these things so it’s critical that you work in as much as you can.

How have I used this information?  Well, here’s the diet that I try to follow (notice I said “try” because honestly, I do occasionally cheat).  I try to follow the “reduced calorie” routine for as many days as I can during the week.  It doesn’t always work out that way but I try to follow it as many days as I can.  On weekends, I eat whatever I want but obviously try to keep from undoing all my progress.

My “Reduced Calorie” Diet

Breakfast:  One 8-oz Protein Shake (I use Syntha-6) with one small banana or 2-3 strawberries mixed in.  Calories:  about 150

Lunch:  One cup (about 8-oz) of soup.  I love Campbell’s Chunky Healthy Request (not the “condensed”) soups, especially the Beef Barley.  Keep in mind that most cans of soup contain 2 portions so make sure to read the label!  Calories: about 150

Dinner:  Another protein shake.  Calories:  about 150

So during the week, I try to get by on around 500 calories per day (more or less).  Am I always successful?  Of course not.  I occasionally throw in a snack in between lunch and dinner that probably adds another 100-150 calories.  The key is to make sure that your “snack” is a wise choice like a piece of fruit, some nuts, or a granola bar.  It’s critical that you stay away from sugary “empty” calories.

Again, this diet is not for everyone – and not everyone will be able to stay on it for long.  Make sure you are in good health before starting ANY diet (or exercise) plan and discuss your plans with your doctor or healthcare provider.  That being said, use your head and take things slow and easy at first.  Like I said earlier, it does get easier once you get past the first week.

Now 500-600 calories per day isn’t much, but then, I’m a little guy (5′ 10″) so don’t take the actual number of calories as gospel.  Simply take what your normal diet is and try to get buy on half.  Do that as many times as you can during the week.  If that means you do it every other day, that’s fine.  If you can only do it on Wednesdays, that’s a good start.  The point is to start.  Once you do, you’ll find that adding an additional day gets easier and before you know it, you’ll be getting by on much less food.

Make sure you keep up your exercise routine.  In fact, when you start getting hungry, go out for a brisk walk instead of reaching for the chips.  Drinking lots of water will also help to keep your stomach from grumbling.

So to sum up, “token” dieting doesn’t work since your body simply adapts to the slight changes in food intake.  The end result is that you end up weighing exactly the same.  To lose weight, you’ve got to make a radical reduction in the amount of food you eat – on the order of 1/2 to 2/3 of what you’re eating now.  Drink plenty of water, get plenty of exercise, and above all, use common sense and check with your doctor along the way.  I think you’ll be pleased with the results you start getting.

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

P.S.  Be sure to get my latest Fitness Blueprint called “Little Things That Improve Your Health.”  This ebook is packed with loads of helpful information on how to build a better body and you can get it FREE – for a limited time.  Just click on the title to be taken to the download page.  Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: diet, weight-loss, nutrition, balanced health, fitness, muscle, protein, weight, calories

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One of the biggest advantages of the iPhone is the thousands of applications, or “apps” that are available for it.  You can find everything from quite serious educational and scientific apps to apps that are just plain silly.  Some of the apps that immediately caught my eye when I first got my iPhone were the fitness and nutritional apps.

The quality of most of these applications are phenomenal.  Most not only contain a list of fitness routines and exercises, they also include videos on how to properly perform them.  And once you’ve completed your routine, the application logs it and charts your progress.  It’s like having a personal fitness trainer with you at all times.

Pictured to the right are the 4 apps that I currently have loaded on my iPhone and use on a more-or-less regular basis (iFitness, Inflict Training, Daily Burn, and THI Personal Trainer).  Although there are hundreds of others available, let me give you my opinion of what to look for in a good fitness application.

Are Fitness Apps for You?

Absolutely!  There’s a tremendous amount of fitness and nutritional information packed into these apps and the iPhone interface makes them so incredibly easy to use.  On top of that, the cost of most of these applications runs anywhere from free to  2 or 3 bucks.  You simply can’t beat the value.

Secondly, these apps add variety to your workouts.  The hardest thing to deal with in a fitness routine is the repetition.  “Lift the weight, lower the weight.  Lift the weight, lower the weight.  OK, now the other side.  Lift the weight, lower the weight….” You know what I mean.

These apps provide an entire database of exercises for each muscle group for you to chose from.  Most apps include exercises both with, as well as without, weights in addition to exercises for the gym (using machines) as well as at home (using bodyweight).  With such a long list of different exercises to choose from, you’ll never get bored with your routine again.

A World of Fitness Information

The amount of fitness information that’s crammed into these applications could be used to create a graduate level college course!  Most apps not only supply a list of exercises, they also provide videos on how to properly perform the exercise including tips and suggestions of what to watch for.  It’s like having a personal trainer showing you the proper technique before you begin a new exercise.  These videos are always available so you can replay them anytime you want.

Some of these applications even provide a diagram of the primary and supporting muscles each exercise works so you know exactly what the exercise is targeting.  This allows you to custom-design a routine for your exact needs.

Don’t want to spend time custom-designing a routine?  Then choose from the many preloaded routines included in the apps.  You’ll find routines that range from beginner to advanced levels, cardio as well as strength training, and of course, routines that focus on weight loss.

Although none of the apps I looked at incorporated any kind of feedback monitor like a heart rate monitor or an activity sensor (except the Nike program), most apps did provide the number of calories each exercise, or routine, could be expected to burn.

There’s More to Fitness than Exercise

Yes, there’s more to fitness than just exercising all day long.  You can’t leave nutrition out of the fitness equation.  Here’s where the apps start separating themselves into two distinct groups:  Exercise only apps (like iFitness, Inflict Training, and THI Personal Training, among many others) and Nutrition only apps (like Calorie Tracker, Weightbot, Restaurant Nutrition, and many, many others).

The nutrition apps were loaded with lots of worthwhile information including vast databases of nutritional data on just about any kind of food that’s readily available.  They all allow you to track the exact (or pretty close to exact) amount of calories you eat breaking it down into the total number of fat, protein, and carbohydrate grams.  All of the nutrition apps also create graphs and charts showing your percentage of each.

Let me tell you, when you call up the nutritional data and see how many grams of fat are in that Chicken Cordon Blue you’re about to order, it really makes you stop and think – which is the whole point!  That brings up the next topic.

The Key to Success are Logs, Logs, Logs

ALL the applications, both exercise as well as nutrition apps, contained some sort of log enabling you to track your progress.  This is KEY, KEY, KEY to any fitness program.  Whether you’re tracking the number of minutes on the treadmill, number of chest presses, or total number of calories, you’ve got to keep a log.

Here’s what keeping a log does – it forces you to think about the decisions you’ve made (or about to make).  There’s no hiding.  A fitness log keeps you accountable.  If you’ve gained a pound this week instead of losing a pound, all you have to do is to check your log to see where you might have made some better food choices.  If your muscles aren’t getting as toned as you’d like, the answer is in your log.

Keeping a nutrition log forces you to think about what you’re eating.  After a while, you really hesitate eating that junk food because you know how bad it’s going to look on your log.  Keeping an exercise log makes you want to exercise just so you can fill in those huge gaps of time that have opened up in you log since the last time you exercised.  Keeping a log is the real key to success for any fitness program.

All of these applications made keeping a log easy but even if you use paper and pencil, it’s critical that you keep one.

My Overall Choice

I was a little disappointed that the nutrition apps completely ignored the importance of exercise and the exercise apps didn’t mention nutrition at all.  What I was looking for was an app that balanced both.  I found one called the Daily Burn and it’s become my favorite fitness app and is the one I use on pretty much a daily basis.

Like the other apps, this one has built-in workout routines as well as provisions for adding your own.  Adding the amount of repetitions and sets is a snap.  It then calculates how many pounds you’ve lifted as well as the number of calories you’ve (theoretically) burned.  I have found that the calorie count seems to be a little low when I compare it to my heart rate monitor but that’s minor in my opinion.  Besides, it’s doing the exercise that’s important – not how accurate the calorie count is.

What really “sold” me on this app was the nutritional section.  You can easily find and log the foods that you’ve eaten in addition to looking up the nutritional value of anything you’re considering eating.  Adding a new food to the database is also easily done.

The Daily Burn app is really designed to work with their website at www.dailyburn.com and I found that signing up for a free basic account there was well worth the effort.  Once you’ve got an online account, the iPhone app syncs your information so that you can enter your daily exercise and/or nutritional information on either.

Here’s the best part:  the Daily Burn iPhone app as well as the basic account on the website are both free.  That’s right, you can get both at no charge.  Now, there is a “Pro” account that you pay for but I’ve found that the free basic account gives me just about everything I was looking for.

Conclusion

Looking through all the fitness apps, I didn’t want something so complicated that I’d spend all my workout time playing with the software instead of exercising.  On the other hand, I also wanted something that would keep track of my nutrition goals as well.  For me, the Daily Burn seemed to fit the bill.  Of course, the Daily Burn iPhone app is not the only fitness application available so play around with several until you find one that fits your needs and once you do, use it consistently.  You’ll be fit in no time!

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy
Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: iphone, apps, fitness, exercise, nutrition, application, program, weight loss, fat, protein, carbohydrate, database

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I just finished reading a great book that finally makes sense of all of the conflicting nutrition info that’s out there.  It’s called “In Defense of Food – An Eater’s Manifesto” by Michael Pollan.  You need to read this.  No seriously – you need to read this.  Period.  It’s that good.

This book is written for the layperson so there’s no technical jargon or scientific mumbo-jumbo.  In plain and simple English, Michael Pollan explains how we have gone from talking about about “food” to being overly concerned about “nutrition.”  He shows how science has attempted to divide whole foods into their separate nutritional parts in an attempt to make them “more nutritious” and as a result, have ended up making them less healthy.

So forget about dieting and read this book instead.  You’ll learn how to eat, and the weight will come off naturally.  Here’s some of what’s included in the book…

In the first section, “The Age of Nutritionism,” the author traces the early history of “food science” and explains how we’ve come to where we are today.  You’ll learn that once the powerful special interest groups like the American Dairy Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, to name a few, flexed their political and financial muscle, it became political suicide for any Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official to recommend eating less red meat or drinking less dairy.
However, if you broke the foods down into their nutritional components, you could get away with saying “eat less saturated fats.”  After all, there is no “Saturated Fat Association” in Washington.  Unfortunately, once you started speaking in terms of nutritional components, no one really knew what kinds of foods you were talking about – one of the main reasons we Americans like to think we’re eating right, yet somehow we keep getting fatter.

The second section deals with “The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization.”  You’ll read about how most of the health issues that Americans deal with are directly related to the foods we eat – and the foods we eat, of course, have become big business with hundreds of millions of dollars spend on marketing campaigns and advertising.

Some of the topics in the “Industrialization of Eating” chapter include:

• How we’ve gone from whole foods to refined foods;
• From complex foods to simple ones;
• How we’ve given up quality for quantity;
• How our diet has gone from mostly plants and leaves to mostly seeds;
• And how our society has changed from Food Culture to Food Science.

The last section is the real “meat” of the book (sorry).  Here, the author sums up everything you need to know about health and nutrition in 7 short words:  Eat Food.  Mostly Plants.  Not Too Much.

Isn’t that elegant?  Follow these short instructions and you’ll never go wrong.  Eat Food.  Mostly Plants.  Not Too Much.

The rest of the book simply fills out the details on how to do this:

1. Eat Food. Real food – not the artificial, fake stuff that masquerades as food in the supermarket.  Things that will help you identify real food include:
   • Don’t eat anything your Great Grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
   • Don’t eat anything that won’t rot or spoil.  If it’s got that much chemical preservative in it, you don’t want it in your body.
   • Avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than 5 in number, or that include high-fructose corn syrup.
   • Avoid food products that make health claims.
   • Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle where most of the refined and artificial foods are.
   • Get out of the supermarket whenever possible and visit your local Farmer’s Market.
2. Mostly Plants. Ways to help you do this include:
   • Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.  The leaves tend to have a lot more vitamins and minerals than the other parts of the plant.
   • The quality of the plants is directly correlated to the quality of the soil it grows in.
   • Eat wild foods when you can.  Expand the variety of what you eat as much as possible.
3. Not Too Much.
   • Pay more, eat less.  Focus more on good, high quality foods instead of mass quantities of the cheap stuff.
   • Eat full meals instead of snacking all day long, and do all your eating at the table, not in your car or at your desk.
   • Eat slowly, and try not to eat alone.  Make a eating a social event where food is a secondary consideration, not the main event.

If you really want to improve your overall health and lose weight (or stop gaining) at the same time, all without having to worry about carbs, fats, and proteins, then get this book.  Buy from Amazon using the link at the right (I think I get a whole 50 cents if you use my affiliate link), buy it from your local Barnes and Noble, or go check it out at your local library.  However you get it, get it.  It’s that important.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy
Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: Michael Pollan, nutrition, diet, whole food, carbs, fats, protein, nutritionism, plants, eating, health, weight, weight loss

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The Study.

From October 2004 to December 2007, a total of 811 overweight adults in Baton Rouge and Boston participated in a study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of diets consisting of varying amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.  In other words, they were trying to determine whether people on high protein/low carb diets (like the Atkins Diet) lost any more or less weight than people on high carb/low protein diets (like the Mediterranean Diet).

Most of the studies that had been done in the past were either, (1) relatively short term in duration (1 year or less), or (2) underrepresented a specific population group (usually men), or (3) were funded by a company with a direct financial stake in the outcome.  These are usually the reasons that the conclusions of past studies tend to contradict each other.  This new study attempts to address the shortcomings of past research.

The Harvard study was performed over a more than 2 year time span at the Harvard School of Public Health/Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston and at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of the Louisiana State University System in Baton Rouge.  The group of adults were between 30 and 70 years of age and had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 20 to 40.  Approximately 40% of the study group were men.

The subjects were divided into 4 groups and each given a diet with different levels of carbohydrates, protein, and fats.  The diets ranged from low fat/low protein, to high fat/high protein.  Besides the composition of the diet, each diet represented a decrease of about 750 calories from the average daily intake of the participants.  During the study, the participants also had a weekly goal of 90 minutes of moderate exercise and they attended group counseling sessions.

The Results.

After about 6 months, it was found that the participants assigned to each group had lost an average of about 13 pounds (6 kg), which represented approximately 7% of their initial body weight.  However, after about a year, it was found that they had regained some of the weight.  By the end of 2 years, the weight loss had stabilized and remained similar across all of the diets.  Among the 80% of participants who completed the study, the average weight loss, regardless of the type of diet, was about 9 pounds (4 kg).  It was also found that all of the diets improved health risk factors and insulin levels equally.

Conclusions.

So what can we conclude from this study?  Despite all of the scientific jargon, what can we take away from this and use in our daily lives?  Here are a couple of conclusions that I have come up with based on what I read in the study as well as my own experience (note:  these are my conclusions – not necessarily those listed in the study):

1. One of the conclusions noted in the study is that “Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize.” Amen to that.  The key to weight loss is to reduce the total number of calories you consume. Let me say that again.  If you want to lose weight, eat less. This study shows that it really doesn’t matter what you eat, just that you eat less of it.
2. Weight loss begins at the kitchen or restaurant table. I see people headed to the gym in order to “lose weight” all the time.  Sorry, but you don’t lose weight at the gym.  You can lift weights or ride the exercise bike all day long — and exercise is definitely an important part of any health plan — but you’ll never lose any weight unless you learn how to limit your serving sizes and push yourself away from the kitchen or restaurant table while there’s still food on your plate.  Weight loss happens at the table, not at the gym.
3. The body can adapt to just about any kind of diet. This study proves that it really doesn’t matter what kind of food you eat.  Whether you eat mostly salads or Twinkies, organic health foods or junk, if you reduce the number of total calories you normally consume, you will lose weight.
4. The study included having the participates attend regular counseling and group sessions.  They found that there was a direct correlation between attendance and weight loss.  What does this prove?  It proves that your chances of losing weight go way up if you have a friend or support group to help keep you on track.
5. Exercise is a critical part of any weight loss program. Why?  I think it’s because when you’re exercising, you’re not snacking or being tempted to snack.  It really doesn’t seem to matter what kind of exercise you do.  Whether it’s a hard-core cardio routine or a leisurely walk around the block, the point is to get up off the couch, get away from that bag of potato chips that’s been calling your name, and get out and do something that gets you physically active.
6. Ya gotta want to. The study found that the people that lost the most weight were the most motivated.  Big surprise, right?  But it still brings up a valid point.  To fix any problem, you first have to admit it exits – and then commit to doing something about it.
7. Permanent weight loss is a long term process. Sorry, but there is no “overnight” solution.  There is no “lose weight fast” answer.  PERMANENT weight loss is a 1-2 year process.  In other words, “dieting” or making the right choices about what and how much you eat, should be a permanent part of your lifestyle, not an event that you undertake once or twice a year.
8. If they can do it, you can do it. Of the 811 people that participated in the study, 80% of them completed the study.  That’s about 650 people.  80% is a fantastic success rate and it shows that if they can do it, you can do it.  All it takes is reducing your total daily calories by around 750 calories.  That’s cutting out 1 bag of potato chips (150 cal), a soft drink (155 cal), 1 donut (200 cal), and a bowl of chocolate ice cream (225 cal) from your diet.  Besides cutting down on snacks, you can find lots of areas where you can painlessly reduce calories such as getting a smaller portion size, leaving off the gravy, choosing baked instead of fried foods, and so on.  Remember, if they can do it, you can.

So there it is.  Nothing really earth shattering or surprising.  If you want to lose weight, forget the fad diets.  All you have to do is simply consume fewer calories.

You can read the full details of the study here:  “Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets with Different Compositions of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates”

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: diet, health, atkins, Mediterranean, weight loss, harvard, overweight, obese, BMI, exercise, carbohydrates, fats, protein, cardio

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