In 1992, a study was conducted on individuals who were resistant to weight loss.
In this study, the lab specifically looked at people who reported eating fewer than 1,200 calories per day and who have a hard time losing weight.
Researchers have set out to investigate this phenomenon.
- Were their bodies going into starvation mode?
- Did their bodies process calories differently?
- Could something else have been going on?
They took these people to a metabolic ward and used an energy tracking system with “doubly labeled water.”
Essentially, these technologies allowed them to track everything. that’s right: How much energy is lost through waste, sweat, and breathing, and how many calories are burned.
It’s the gold standard for tracking calories in and calories out.
Group 1 included those described above as “diet resistant.”
Group 2 was the control group, people with no history of “food resistance.”
What did this study reveal?
What is the difference between how Group 1 and Group 2 handle calories?
result: Not much!
Total energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate in diet-resistant subjects (group 1) were within 5% of predicted values for body composition, and there were no significant differences between groups 1 and 2 in the thermic effects of diet and exercise.
Here’s what the study found:
Subjects in Group 1 significantly underestimated their calorie intake by an average of 47%.
So while they thought they were eating 1,200 calories, they were actually consuming more than 1,800.
Group 1 Also They overestimated the calories they burned during exercise by 51%.
So even if you think you burned 300 calories during exercise, you may have only burned 200 calories.
Combine these two and you get a huge disconnect between how much most people think they’re eating and how much they actually are.
We humans are bad at a lot of things.
Life is hard, and We, as humans, are not designed to thrive in a world of abundance.
At the same time, we are pretty bad at some things:
But I’ll tell you what we’re really good at. Creating a story.
Our brains go to great lengths to concoct a story to explain why our bodies don’t follow the same laws of thermodynamics as everyone else.
It’s similar to the story we tell ourselves about getting older: “Obviously, when I hit my 20s, 30s, and 40s, I’m going to gain weight and my metabolism will slow down.” Science tells a different story.
Our brains buy into these stories much more easily than accepting the uncomfortable reality.
If we I’m trying to lose weight But the weight isn’t going down and we’re eating more than we realize.
Yes, hormones, stress, lifestyle, environment and relationship with food affect how much we eat and the types of food we crave. Some people have medical conditions that affect their body’s response to calories and exercise…
But when it comes to the number on the scale, our bodies still follow thermodynamics.
This is truly wonderful news if we accept it.
So let’s start there.
Self-Compassionate Acceptance
If we are telling ourselves a story that we are broken and that progress is impossible, we can start by accepting ourselves with compassion.
Of course, we’re not good at counting calories!
Of course, you don’t know how much you’re actually eating.
We are not suited to an environment where tasty, high-calorie foods are readily available.
This doesn’t make us bad people, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of or blame ourselves for.
Instead, we can admit that we’re not good at this (because everyone is) and adjust our behavior accordingly.
- You can learn how to actually track calories and learn about the actual serving sizes of your favorite foods and meals.
- We can work on Eat more nutritious and filling foods Low calorie foods. Lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. It’s hard to “eat too many” vegetables!
- You can easily reduce the calories in liquids and switch to zero-calorie drinks.
- Can be used Ulysses Agreement To protect us… from ourselves.
And even with our best efforts, we still I eat more than I realize every day.
It’s not because we’re broken or stupid or dumb.
But we are human.
-Steve
