Numbers don’t lie, but they might not saying what we think they are saying.

For years the followers of “calories-in-calories-out” diet styles have used the same formula.  There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. If you cut out 500 calories a day from the amount you are currently eating, you can lose a pound a week.  That sounds easy, but researchers now are saying what dieters figured out long ago. It doesn’t work that way.

For one thing, not all calories are created equal.  Sugar and carb calories cause a leap in blood sugar and have an insulin response which tells your body to store fat. Vegetable and protein calories don’t do that.  How much you lose depends a lot on what kind of calories you are eliminating.

Then there is the metabolism factor. If you have more muscle, your body will burn more calories.  If you carry mostly fat, your body will burn less.  Whether your thyroid is functioning properly, whether you are exercising and getting the glucagon “burn the fat” response, and the timing of your meals all affect your metabolism which, in turn, affects your weight loss.

Researcher Kevin Hall, PhD, of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK),and his colleagues at the World Health Organization, Columbia University, and the Harvard School of Public Health have acknowledged that the 3500 calories model isn’t accurate and can discourage dieters and undermine their efforts.  They have developed a model that they say more accurately predicts a dieter’s expected weight loss over time, which can be found on the NIDDK Web site.

Reducing calorie intake by 250 calories a day will eventually lead to a 25-pound weight loss, but it will take three years for most overweight or obese adults to get 95% of the way there, Hall says. He adds that about half the weight will be lost in the first year, with weight loss slowing after this.

But do we need a model, anyway?  It’s enough to know that calories-in-calories-out alone won’t get us where we are going.  That’s not to say that we ought to forget about calories altogether.  Too much — even of the good stuff — will set back your weight loss.  Keep an eye on your calories,  but focus on eating low glycemic foods and on getting up and moving. Those things  will get you where you want to be.

And remember, God didn’t make you with a cookie cutter.  So what if you don’t fit the model the researchers developed?  Do what works for YOU.

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown