/science/15-key-insights/ Recent content in 15 Key Insights from 5000+ Scientific Papers on The Science of Dieting Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us /science/15-key-insights/01-dont-be-hard-on-yourself/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/01-dont-be-hard-on-yourself/ The very first step that you can take to losing weight is to quit playing the blame game. You have to realize that gaining weight and/or not being able to lose weight is not your fault. In the United States (U.S.) in the 21st century, you are set up to fail. As of this writing, 75% of adults in the U.S. are either overweight or obese, so if you fall into one of these categories you’re not alone, in fact you are in the majority. /science/15-key-insights/02-realistic-expectations/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/02-realistic-expectations/ How many commercials have you seen for a weight loss program showing before and after pictures of an obese individual losing 150 pounds and becoming ripped? This all too familiar strategy to promote weight loss products and services shouldn’t be allowed. It is false advertising and only represents the absolute best-case scenario at the very lowest point in their (unsustainable) weight loss. In reality even the very best weight loss programs typically only result in a 15-20% weight loss after one year (Table 02. /science/15-key-insights/03-no-shortcuts/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/03-no-shortcuts/ Table 03.1. A Small Sampling of Common Shortcuts to “Hack, Trick or Boost” Your Metabolism These are just a small sampling of the advice that you have probably heard at some point in an effort to supplement or enhance your weight loss. We all have limited time and energy, so it makes sense to maximize the return on your investment and to be as efficient as possible. The problem is that many of these “hacks” either /science/15-key-insights/04-not-transactional/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/04-not-transactional/ You can pay someone to do almost anything for you: fix your car, roof your house, clean your house, take your SATs (not legally), drive you around, clean your clothes, schedule your appointments, do your grocery shopping, watch your kids, mow your lawn you name it, it can be purchased. Nutrition doesn’t work that way. Figure 04.1. Nutrition is Not a Transactional Service. Your Best Results will Occur when You Take Ownership Over the Weight Loss Process. /science/15-key-insights/05-full-commitment/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/05-full-commitment/ Think of the hardest thing you’ve ever done…Now, get ready to give (at least) that level of effort again. We get it. Life is busy and you don’t have enough time to get all the things you need to get done now, let alone add another task (weight loss) to your calendar. But weight loss isn’t something that you can do on the side. Weight loss can’t be your 10th priority, your 5th priority or even your 3rd priority, it has to be your first priority! /science/15-key-insights/06-caloric-deficit/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/06-caloric-deficit/ To lose weight you must burn more calories than you consume, which is known as creating a negative energy balance. Weight gain is the result of consuming more calories than you burn, which is known as a positive energy balance. Weight loss will occur in a negative energy balance whether you consume 75% carbohydrate or 75% fat. The macronutrient content of your diet (proportion of fat, carbohydrate, protein) does not matter provided you are consuming at least 15-20% of your diet from protein. /science/15-key-insights/07-three-ways-to-deficit/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/07-three-ways-to-deficit/ There are three (and only three) ways to incur a caloric deficit: portion size, food frequency, and energy density. Portion Size: the quantity of food you eat at one sitting, per food source or at one meal. Food Frequency: how often (frequently) you eat through the day or how frequently you consume a food over a given time period (i.e., weeks or months). Energy Density: how much energy (calories) are packed into a given food. /science/15-key-insights/08-diet-over-exercise/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/08-diet-over-exercise/ Diet is more important than exercise to lose weight. Why? Because eating too many calories is really easy but burning them off is really, really, really hard. When people say that you “can’t out-exercise a poor diet” they are absolutely right. In The Science of Dieting weight loss e-book, we go into great deal explaining why this is but let’s for a minute look at human extremes as an example. The world hot dog eating champion, Joey Chesnut, can down an astonishing 70 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. /science/15-key-insights/09-exercise-required/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/09-exercise-required/ Despite what every fitness center in America will tell you, exercise alone is not a good weight loss strategy. Even if you take up marathon training you are unlikely to lose more than 1-2% of your body weight over the course of one year. There are multiple explanations for this including lean mass gain (muscle), compensatory eating (a physiological hunger or psychological “need to eat”) or an increase in time spent sitting outside of your planned exercise. /science/15-key-insights/10-first-3-months/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/10-first-3-months/ Weight loss is not a linear process. I know this is what you’ve been told but it is not true. You’ve been told that if you cut your calories by 500 calories/day for one week that you’ll lose 1 pound per week. 500 Calories/Day x 7 Days = 3500 Calories/Week 3500 Calories = 1 Pound of Body Mass If you have 50 pounds to lose, then by this math you will lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks. /science/15-key-insights/11-meal-replacements/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/11-meal-replacements/ The first two to three months of your diet are so important that you can’t afford to mess around. Sixty to seventy-five percent of the weight that you are going to lose on your diet is going to come in these first two to three months. As you saw in our last section (10), The First 3 Months of Your Diet Will Determine What You Weigh Years from Now, the people who lose the most amount of weight in these first 2-3 months will also maintain the greatest weight loss over the coming years. /science/15-key-insights/12-home-cooked-meals/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/12-home-cooked-meals/ In our last section (11), Eat Meal Replacements, Kits, and Delivery for the First Four to Eight Weeks of Your Diet, we stressed the importance of eating between 800 and 1200 calories/day for the first four to eight weeks of your diet by using portion controlled, convenient meals. But you can’t do this forever, nor would you want to. You are going to have to (and want to) start eating “real” food again. /science/15-key-insights/13-self-monitor/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/13-self-monitor/ Research has shown time and time again that two of the best predictors for losing weight and keeping it off are self-weighing and self-monitoring. Self-weighing is pretty self-explanatory. Step on the scale and see what you weigh. Researchers have looked at whether weighing multiple times/day, once a day or once a week provide the best results. There are too many other factors contributing to weight loss success to find a large difference between how many times a day or week you weigh yourself, but I think there is more than sufficient evidence to say that you should weigh yourself at least once/week. /science/15-key-insights/14-identify-obstacles/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /science/15-key-insights/14-identify-obstacles/ If we only ate when we were hungry and stopped eating when we were full there would be little to no obesity. But we don’t eat when we’re hungry and we don’t stop eating when we’re full. We eat when we are stressed, bored, anxious, tired, fatigued, depressed, happy, and sad. We eat at celebrations, funerals, holidays, birthdays, and work gatherings. There’s always a reason to eat and there is always plentiful food available to eat.