To think this Why We Eat Too Much is a fad?

[Rainingonsaturday]

OK - probably provocative title, and I’m not trying to be goady or anything like that.

However, I’m losing weight. Every time I click on a weight loss thread this book is being pushed at people.

I remember this happening with Paul McKenna and more recently some Facebook weight group, then it was all about fasting. AIBU to think it’s another faddy thing?

Will have a look at the threads but does anyone want to convince me otherwise?

You clearly haven't read it, have you?

No. Soo, it's not aimed at people who want to lose weight? And the author didn't profit from it? Wow.

@CirqueDeMorgue

Meh, 'burn' more calories than you consume, it's the only way you'll lose weight. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves.

Why do people trot out this line as though it were some great pearl of wisdom?

The "a calorie is a calorie" theory has been disproved time and time again, as has 'eat less, move more'. It's simply not true. Our bodies aren't internal combustion engines. They're vastly more complex than tha.

You don't understand why people claim to know that eating less helps with weight loss? 🤔 I mean, it's a tried and tested method...

Tried, tested and proven not to work in the long term. Many times.

You don't understand why people claim to know that eating less helps with weight loss? 🤔 I mean, it's a tried and tested method...

I'm pretty sure Tammy meant she wasn't sure why someone would criticise a book without having read it. It's just rather arrogant tbh.

You don't understand why people claim to know that eating less helps with weight loss? 🤔 I mean, it's a tried and tested method...

Uh huh. What proportion of dieters does it work for... long term? The figures I've seen for that don't make it look very 'tried and tested' to me. Unless you mean 'tried, tested and found rarely to work'.

Well, maybe if it’s frustrating you that much that you are deciding people having a polite conversation are getting defensive, it’s best to leave us to it? I’d quite like to be able to read people’s replies without you jumping down my throat every time I post, tbh.

No. Soo, it's not aimed at people who want to lose weight? And the author didn't profit from it? Wow.

Literally nobody said either of those things. Are you reading a different thread?

@CirqueDeMorgue it’s not about eating less at all - it explains why it’s what you eat not how much you eat that really matters.

It actually explains why numerous studies have proven that eating less doesn’t actually work.

Oh dear. I wonder why so many people lose weight when they stop stuffing their faces all day long then.

You know, I read a theory about why obesity wasn't such an issue in the 70s even though people weren't necessarily as health conscious, especially with regard to food. Simply, they weren't eating constantly like people do now. That checks out, imo.

I haven't read it either, but I think it's brilliant. ⭐️

@CirqueDeMorgue

Oh dear. I wonder why so many people lose weight when they stop stuffing their faces all day long then.

You know, I read a theory about why obesity wasn't such an issue in the 70s even though people weren't necessarily as health conscious, especially with regard to food. Simply, they weren't eating constantly like people do now. That checks out, imo.

There's no doubt that not 'stuffing your face' will result in short-term weight loss. That's the easy bit. Any diet will achieve that.

What's tricky is keeping the weight off, and cutting calories has been shown, time after time, to be ineffective in doing that. You're trying to sound all smart alecky, but actually you're just ignorant of the relevant research.

@CirqueDeMorgue

Oh dear. I wonder why so many people lose weight when they stop stuffing their faces all day long then.

You know, I read a theory about why obesity wasn't such an issue in the 70s even though people weren't necessarily as health conscious, especially with regard to food. Simply, they weren't eating constantly like people do now. That checks out, imo.

Oh but it doesn't!!! If you read the book, it explains why obesity levels have rocketed since the 70s, and it isn't just that they weren't snacking and were moving more as is the older theory.

You believe that all people who are overweight 'stuff their faces all day long'?

If you say so @IcedPurple. I managed to maintain by being aware of how many calories I'm eating. It's been years now and my weight has remained more or less the same. I know others who had the same experience re weight loss. :)

@CirqueDeMorgue

If you say so *@IcedPurple*. I managed to maintain by being aware of how many calories I'm eating. It's been years now and my weight has remained more or less the same. I know others who had the same experience re weight loss. :)

It's not just me saying so. Decades of research have shown that cutting calories does not result in long or even medium term weight loss. I'll take that over the anecdotal 'evidence' and smiley faces of anonymous posters on MN.

"The book is wrong"

"Have you actually read the book?"

"No. But I know it's wrong anyway."

@lazylinguist I believe lots of people do. Is that not why 'intermittent fasting ' is so popular?

Ok @IcedPurple you take what you want! In my experience, cutting calories (the amount I ate) resulted in weight loss.

@CirqueDeMorgue

Ok *@IcedPurple* you take what you want! In my experience, cutting calories (the amount I ate) resulted in weight loss.

Give me one good reason why I'd take the 'experience' of an anonymous MN poster over carefully conducted researching involving thousands of people?

If you don't want to read the book, then how about this article from Harvard Medical School, explaining why the calories-in vs calories-out approach is, in their words, 'not only antiquated, but just wrong'.

@CirqueDeMorgue

Oh dear. I wonder why so many people lose weight when they stop stuffing their faces all day long then.

You know, I read a theory about why obesity wasn't such an issue in the 70s even though people weren't necessarily as health conscious, especially with regard to food. Simply, they weren't eating constantly like people do now. That checks out, imo.

The thing you're missing is that most people who are overweight don't become so in a small space of time.

To gain 1lb takes 3500 calories (roughly). So overeating by about 100 calories a day - that's a single apple, for example - you'd gain about 1lb a month. After a year you'd be almost a stone overweight. Three years on, you might be tipping into obesity.

I'm not denying there are overweight people who overeat by much more than that, but there's usually an underlying reason - depression, for example.

But whether a person overeats by a lot, or has gained weight slowly by overeating slightly over many years, characterising the overweight as people who 'stuff their faces' helps absolutely no one.

@IcedPurple I never said you should, I'm just saying eating less works. 😄 I'm sure there is plenty of 'anecdotal evidence' to tell you that but you do you!

To be fair, you need to eat more as you get bigger to continue gaining.

No way on this earth would someone get to say 18 stone just by eating one apple a day on top of 2000 calories!

@lazylinguist I believe lots of people do. Is that not why 'intermittent fasting ' is so popular?

No, intermittent fasting isn't popular because people stuff their faces all day. It's popular because it's a simple-to-understand weight loss method which doesn't involve calorie counting or restricting food groups. Some people find it easy to stick to. It usually involves skipping breakfast, but in theory you could still 'stuff your face' throughout the rest of the day during your eating window. Or on your non-fasting days, if you're doing that version. It doesn't work for me, because it messes with my digestion. People fall off the wagon of course, like they do with all dieting methods.

Ok, from that article, it literally says here that the people who gained weight ate 500 MORE calories than the participants who didn't gain weight.

What's tricky is keeping the weight off, and cutting calories has been shown, time after time, to be ineffective in doing that. You're trying to sound all smart alecky, but actually you're just ignorant of the relevant research.

So what keeps the weight off then? Is it eating fewer calories, the same number of calories or more calories? Because it has to be one of the three, however anyone chooses to dress it up.