ON TRANSPARENT CALORIES

LIGHTNESS OF BEING

One of my hard-earned accomplishments this year has been to lose dozens of pounds and get to a weight I haven't been at since my twenties.  There was no magic process, just a disciplined approach to eating better, exercising, and most important, counting calories.

A medically supervised diet incorporating a daily net calorie deficit, was probably the most important driver for success.

It'll be especially important to keeping the weight off over the coming months.  As most folks know through painful personal experience, losing the weight is generally the easy part, keeping it off is the hardest.

The New York Times had a timely article today titled "Calories Do Count", that emphasize this obvious point on calorie counting, especially given how mainstream servings in restaurants and grocery stores tend to be more "Super-sized" than not:

"For the last few decades, the most popular diets were complex formulas that promised abundant eating with just the right combinations of fat, protein and carbohydrates. Now those regimens are starting to look like exotic mortgages and other risky financing instruments. And just like a reliable savings account, good old calorie counting is coming back into fashion.

“More and more, people are looking at calories in, and calories out,” said Dr. Terry Eagan, a Los Angeles psychiatrist, who for 16 years has helped people with eating disorders and other addictions. “I know some people want something that’s sexy and different and new, but there really isn’t anything new about weight loss.”

As a New Yorker, I'm glad the city has rolled out some initiatives to make counting calories a more transparent process:

"New Yorkers got a harsh dose of calorie reality this summer when restaurants with 15 or more outlets were forced to post the calorie content of food next to the price. The resulting sticker shock has brought parts of a great city to its knees, often to do push-ups.

The campaign has inspired lawmakers around the country to follow New York’s lead.

Restaurants and food companies are lightening recipes and portion sizes. Starbucks, for example, claims to have saved the nation 17 billion calories since last October by swapping 2 percent milk for whole. The 100-calorie snack is this decade’s answer to the fat-free SnackWell cookie, as more brands introduce tiny portions of things like Cool Ranch Doritos and Clif bars."

It's a trend that's good for America.  We all just need to start paying attention to the basics on the calorie front just as we're also reminded to pay attention to the basics on the financial front.

Comments

[Alex Tolley]

Recently I mentioned to a staff member of Starbucks that the NY calorie information would be very nice to have here in CA. The response I got was "but then no-one would buy the cakes". Nobody would buy any non-fat coffee either, if that was the case.

Calorie counting is the ONLY way to measure the the intake of energy. It would be great if there was a way to easily measure the expenditures too, rather than the odd respiratory measure or hoping the treadmill is accurate...