Dieting results in long term changes to hormones and muscle fibers.

[noamnety]

96. I no longer agree with simple calories in/calories out.

I used to think it was that simple. I changed my diet 9 months ago. I'm at my target weight now and maintaining. Here's what I learned from a TON of reading.

1. The simple calories in/out model doesn't account for why two people can each drop 20 pounds, but one loses muscle mass while the other loses fat. Likewise, it doesn't explain why I can eat a surplus of 500 calories a day while losing body fat.

2. That model doesn't adequately give information about the ways in which the specific calories in can affect the calories out. It doesn't address how some foods cause your body to hang onto fat, while other foods release triglycerides into your blood stream making the fats more available to burn during exercise.

3. It doesn't address how excessive cardio can cause your body to try to conserve fat - the implication is that more cardio is better because it burns more calories.

4. It doesn't address things like water consumption - 0 calories in that makes a big difference in weight loss.

5. It doesn't address that certain foods cause our metabolism to increase (spicy foods for example).

Basically it implies that the specific calories in is unrelated to our calories out, or that the specific calories in and methods of getting them out controls whether we gain or lose fat or muscle. In that regard it ranges from useless to counterproductive.

A better model is one that explains how fats are burned, what specific diet choices speed our metabolism or makes fats more available. (Fat cell walls are notorious for NOT wanting to let fat escape - it's a membrane-cell size issue.) A better model explains what the most effective exercise method is for "burning fat" not "burning calories". A better model explains why although a calorie is a calorie, some will naturally work to curb cravings and keep you feeling satiated, while other choices will increase your appetite and make it harder to stick to a diet - in other words why willpower is directly affected by our carb, fat and protein ratios, and it acknowledges the addictive nature of certain foods. A better model explains the effect of various hormones on weight gain and loss and teaches how sleep and food choices (not just quantity but also selection) changes those hormones.

A better model gives us precise usable information. "Calories in/calories out" doesn't tell me that I can lose weight by putting an icepack on one specific part of my body or what's the most effective time of day to do that. It doesn't explain the effects of working out in a fasted state vs. after a small meal. When I hear calories in/calories out, I don't hear anything usable so much as I hear "eat less, workout more" which comes across as a disapproving lecture (that should be followed with ", dumbass&quot . It's like telling a student "you failed this language test because you should have studied more and worked harder" instead of letting them know they forgot to conjugate their verbs.