Counting Calories

Today I return to the issue of calories and I do that as a health education specialist, not as a nutritionist. By that I mean, I am able to and pressed to, educate people on nutrition guidelines and concepts but not on individual nutrient or calorie needs.

It is true that the majority of Americans are overweight or obese and because of that many have been advised to lose weight. According to premier health experts and programs, including the Cooper Institute which you can link to below this post, the best way to lose weight is to cut calories. The best way to maintain weight loss is to control calories and to exercise.

When your goal is to influence the behavior of others, as mine is, it is helpful to start where the "others" are and to use personal experience if you have it and evidenced based solutions if they exist. You are in luck as I can provide all of the above! I know what it is like to be overweight, I know what it is like to have dieted and dieted and dieted, better still, I know what it is like NOT to do that anymore. Science says we have to eat less energy then we expend to lose weight. The public health consensus is that almost to a person we overestimate the calories we expend and underestimate the calories we consume.

Reducing caloric intake scares the hell out of people. We just do not want to be deprived. I know. Dr. Barabara Rolls and others say that low energy dense foods can make cutting the calories different from cutting volume. One can lose weight without hunger pains and deprivation. Volumetrics is a safe, effective and pleasant way to improve health. Yes, I said pleasant.

As it turns out, Dr. Rolls has a study published in the journal Physiology and Behavior from March of this year. I haven't read the article yet, only the abstract. But here is your evidence.

The relationship between dietary energy density and energy intake
Barbara J. Rolls ⁎
The Department of Nutritional Sciences, 226 Henderson Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802-6501

I am doing my best to provide you with science and evidence based programs as I don't diet and do not endorse ANY diet program.

Also, I want you to listen to the commercials especially from Nutra System, w/ their special diets for men and for diabetes or people who don't want to get diabetes. And really listen, because what the announcer says is this... "clinically tested". Read that again. Tested is not Proven.

Anyways, I meant today to be a short blog with a video focus. It did not turn out that way. Still, the video is short - 5 minutes - and showcases a very filling 150 calorie meal.