Hah! Lee has been right all along (don’t tell him, though–it’ll just go to his head).
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, dieting isn’t rocket science after all. In an article that came out in February of 2009, research showed that it doesn’t really matter which diet you follow: the key is to reduce your calorie intake. That’s all. In order to lose weight, you need to eat less. It’s not necessary to follow the XYZ diet, or consume twelve pounds of bird seed every day, or drink only while standing on your head. Just eat less.
I think this is an earth-shattering piece of news. Follow my logic here:
1–Heart disease (and by that I mean clogged arteries) is the SINGLE MAJOR CAUSE OF DEATH in the US. Got that? You’re more likely to die of heart disease than anything else.
2–One of the major risk factors for developing heart disease is being overweight. Got that? If you weigh too much, you’re much more likely to have a heart attack.
3–Something like 66 percent of American adults are overweight. Got that? If there are ten adults at your office, or you can think of ten adult members of your family, chances are that SIX of you are overweight. Make that list now, and think about those ten people. Are you one of the overweight ones? Think really hard about that question. Because of numbers 1 and 2 above, those six people are more likely to die of heart disease.
Solution: create a calorie deficit. You need to be burning more calories than you consume, every day. Eat less, exercise more. That’s what Lee’s been saying all along. Problem solved.
Wait a minute. It’s not that simple.
In the interests of full disclosure, I should tell you that I have a problem. I’ve gained about ten pounds in the last year and a half. This is where being a bakeaholic gets me into trouble. I gain weight really easily, and have a hard time getting it off (See–that’s part of the problem right there–I’m making up excuses. I don’t gain weight any more easily than anyone else. I just eat too much). It sucks, especially when my clothes start getting snug. That’s when I start having trouble denying the problem, and I just get depressed about it.
Weight loss, and by extension, weight control, are really, really hard work. Lee and I both struggle with the calorie balance (and all the attendant emotional difficulties) EVERY SINGLE DAY.
It may be simple, but no one ever said it was easy.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Exactly!!! Simple but not at ALL easy!
I am right there with you – 10 pounds gained, clothes snug, thankful it’s not more but a little bummed about it. Owed in no small part to all the making (and eating) of baked goods. Thanks for the reminder about the basics!