Don't tell the truth about weight loss

I like to think that I can learn from my mistakes, but there is one mistake I that I am way too thick to learn from.

I tell the truth about healthy living, about weight loss, and how to get fit.  I keep up with coaching workshops and reading the most recent research.  I've been doing this since 1987.  I'm confident I have a good grip on what is currently understood, and make an effort to pass on what I know staying true to what's published rather than relying on my own theories.

At the risk of sounding trite I want to tell you about an experience I found personally disturbing.

I received an email from a small group of people working for a company that was having a weight loss contest to raise money for cancer research.  The group needed a coach or trainer who could do a legitimate weigh-in or body fat test and sign off on the measurement, providing third party proof of weight loss for the contest.

After a brief phone call a meeting was arranged.  I told the group of 5 or 6 people that my mother is a breast cancer survivor and so I am personally motivated to donate my time to the group for any help they need with losing weight.

That was my first mistake.  They didn't say they were looking for help in losing weight, they said they were looking for a certified coach or trainer to measure their weight loss progress and sign off on it. I wanted to offer more.

I started talking about the usual points; eat less, exercise, calories in, calories out.  The group told me that they were educated and had experience losing weight; they'd lost weight several times before.. they knew what they were doing.

I asked them since they were wanting to lose weight again, what was it that had them re-gain weight from previous weight loss..  They didn't have a succinct answer so I took that moment of ambivalence to talk about what causes people to regain weight, and how this occurs in nearly 95% of those who initially lose weight.

One fellow interjected that he knew where his weight gain came from; he was prescribed prednisone from his doctor, which caused 40 pounds of weight gain.  I asked him where the weight gain came from and he re-stated, "from the prednisone! My doctor told me I would gain weight from prednisone, that's why I gained weight."

When I told him that prednisone does not cause extra fat to appear in the body, but rather the weight gain he experienced was caused by increased appetite (a side effect of prednisone) and thus over eating to satisfy the increased appetite, he didn't believe it.

The man was very confident he had not over-eaten.. ever.  I mentioned that we can't gain weight without overeating.  We can't materialize fat from nothing, we have to introduce the extra mass into our bodies. When we eat more food than we need, the extra is stored as fat.

The prednisone increased his appetite, he overate, and gained weight.

Again he insisted that he was entirely certain he had never overeaten.  A co-worker vouched for him and said, "I know he hasn't overeaten."  I said that's impossible, 40 extra pounds can't come from nowhere, he must have overeaten but was not aware because he's not keeping track of what he's eating.

The group reacted quite negatively to me saying that it was impossible the man had not overeaten. I get where they're coming from. I'm saying something that is the exact opposite of what they believe.  From their perspective I'm attacking their intelligence and most likely their sense of self worth.  From my perspective I see a man who is completely oblivious to the fact he overate enough to gain 40 pounds.

Actually he may have gained about 35 pounds of fat. Prednisone also causes water retention so he will have gained some water mass as well.  I had no opportunity to get into that detail though.

So here's what I'm thinking.. This group of well meaning people told me they are educated about weight loss and know what to do, yet they were convinced that fat gain can occur without overeating.

The group was becoming upset and agitated with me.

The man on prednisone, in an irritated tone said, "ok so I overate.  Now what?"  I'm not sure if he said that to get off the topic and move me along, or if he suddenly realized his weight gain came from overeating.  I took it as the latter.

I started talking about how we're inundated with environmental stimulants that provoke us to overeat and that in general the population is in love with overeating, which makes it hard to feel rewarded by eating less.

One of the reasons why weight loss isn't successful in the long term is because most feel comfortable and rewarded with overeating, and feel restricted and unrewarded with healthy eating.  Most will constantly battle the feeling of being deprived from the absence of overeating and eventually willpower dwindles and they return to overeating and weight gain.

The group felt strongly that their chronic weight cycling was evidence that they were very experienced at successful weight loss and knew exactly what to do.

Before I had a chance to talk about how lack of sleep drives appetite and all the other stuff I usually talk about, I was given the boot.

I was cut off. "We know how to do this.  We're educated.  We have doctors and dietitians. We don't need any help in losing weight, we just need a certified trainer to weigh us and sign off on it".

I said I was concerned that they might be repeating previous mistakes and ultimately may not lose weight in a healthy way, or they will fall back into old habits and regain weight after the contest, and that this concern would bother me and I would be uncomfortable only doing a weigh-in.

I said I couldn't get behind doing weigh-ins only, they said that's fine, thanks for coming out.

Felt like someone punched me in the chest.

From my perspective I just had a conversation with people who had a chronic struggle with weight loss and weight gain cycling, who also believed that fat gain can occur without overeating, but who wholeheartedly believed they knew everything about healthy weight loss.  How their judgment of their predicament could be so clouded had me baffled.  The denial required to ignore their multiple failed attempts at maintaining a healthy weight is profound.

Weight gain, overeating, and weight loss are very sensitive issues and difficult to speak openly about.  The act of overeating is seen as an individual irresponsibility.  There is a negative judgment attached to overeating.  No one likes to hear or acknowledge that they eat too much. Yet most people love overeating. Most will talk about the act of overeating as something to be revered.  Looking forward to that extra big juicy burger with fries, a big steak dinner, or pizza after the game or other special occasion.

If we have only one serving at a family dinner we might be asked if we're feeling ok. That's right, we actually think there is something wrong with people when they don't overeat.

You can't tell a person they overeat, and a person who just over-ate is likely to say they don't overeat or at least that they do it rarely.  Someone who eats too much is (wrongly) seen as someone who can't get a grip on their behavior and we don't want to be identified as such.

Whenever I've really overdone it with overeating I've always felt lethargic, had indigestion, and had lousy sleep.  Because of the lousy sleep I feel like crap the next day as well.  For me, that makes it not worthwhile to pig out.  So yes, overeating is a mistake. And we all make mistakes.

I used to overeat a lot.  I used to weight cycle up and down 15 pounds.  I don't anymore.  Had I kept up that behavior I would surly be quite overweight by now, 25 years later.

The prednisone man was taken aback when I said he gained weight from overeating. He frowned, rolled his eyes and said, "I don't overeat", with a dismissive and firm tone. He definitely did not want to qualify as an over-eater.  And yet he overate. 

Studies have shown that most people underestimate the amount of food they eat, and overestimate the amount of physical activity they do.  Studies also show that people believe their weight gain is caused by some factor other than overeating, such as a 'slow metabolism'.  When investigated it has always been found that people overeat to gain weight and there is no such thing as a slow metabolism that causes fat gain.  Only overeating causes fat gain, and only a negative food energy balance, eating fewer calories than expended, causes fat loss.

Study: people underestimate food intake by 47% and overestimate physical activity by 51%

I was very troubled by the experience I had with the group. I left with the concern that most of the people I just spoke with will most likely continue to be in the 90-95% failure group.  Their lives and health will be negatively affected by weight gain and they will feel frustration and angst with yo-yo dieting and cyclic weight gain, while at the same time looking forward to the next high calorie meal.

Is it wrong for me feel my own angst knowing that people are going through these experiences?  Do I need to learn more professional detachment?  I think I could benefit from learning to cope with my own feelings more effectively, but it may be just as hard for me to not feel for people as it is for people to overcome overeating.  It's hard for anyone to overcome their natural tendencies.

I've always felt pretty awful after experiences like this and have lost sleep many a time after being told where to go when having a conversation about healthy choices.  It isn't that I feel personal rejection that much.  What I feel is despair for those who refute that which will surly improve their lives.  No, I don't believe that people have to live the way I say, for me it's more matter of fact.  Being overweight increases risk of disease.  It's harder to breath.  More difficult to get a good nights sleep.  Poor nutrition and lack of exercise reduce quality of life.. whatever a person likes doing they will be able to do it better, and do more of it for more of their lives if they are healthy and fit.

Even though most don't like to hear the truth about overeating and weight gain, and even though I would stand make a lot more money by selling fad diets and exercise plans, not telling the truth about weight loss in my mind is worse.  I'm not going to commit demagoguery and tell people what they want to hear. I can't live with that either.

So to hell with my headline.  I'm going to tell the truth about weight loss.

Eating too much is the only way to gain fat, but there are many things that drive appetite leading a person to overeat including social habituation, poor sleep, peer pressure, hormonal changes, some medications, eating large meals, yo-yo dieting.. All paths lead to overeating.

The only way to lose weight is to eat less.  Consuming fewer calories than expended.  Exercise helps expend energy and can prevent bone, muscle, and water loss that can occur when cutting calories without exercise.

And above all, the most important things to work on are how we think and feel about ourselves, food choices, and healthy VS unhealthy choices. It's making these difficult but rewarding internal changes that allow for permanent changes in our habits and behaviours.  It really isn't a bad thing to gain a realistic non-judgmental perspective of why overeating is done.  It's a good thing.  It's liberating. It's healthy.

You're a kook if you're healthy

You hear about social pressure to be thin and negative prejudice towards those carrying extra weight.  It's true, but I'm going to talk about something that is also true, but never discussed.

You're an idiot, an out and out kook, a fool actually, if you do anything healthy.

If you do unhealthy things, you're cool, you're accepted, you're supported.

Of course this doesn't apply to everyone.  There are plenty of cases where healthy choices are a supported and a shared positive experience.

Quite often I'll have weight loss clients and athletes alike confess that one of their largest challenges in adopting a healthy lifestyle comes from their family and friends who admonish, tease, and even alienate them for making healthy choices.

It seems like for many living unhealthy or least making unhealthy choices very frequently is part of living life to its fullest.  Eating healthy or exercising interferes with time that could be better spent overeating or being inactive. If you make healthy choices, others may feel that you're losing it, or perhaps being a killjoy and interfering with how satisfied they feel when they make unhealthy choices.

When you're packing away your second serving of deliciousness you don't need some health freak cramping your style by eating broccoli.  "Idiot.  What kind of idiot eats broccoli?  I can't enjoy my meal anymore because I have to witness this fool eating little tree's."

People have told me that they're not welcome anymore at family dinners unless they eat what everyone else is eating, which happens to be high fat, high sugar, high sodium, high calorie food.  You know.. the stuff that kills you slow.  To top it off they're expected to fill their plates and go back for seconds or thirds.


If you don't go back for seconds something is wrong with you.  You're depriving your self, which is just silly.
Silly you for not overeating!  Don't you know any better?  Don't you know how to enjoy life?


I have men and woman who lose weight healthily be told by their friends and family that they look ill, gaunt, and too skinny, and that they need to eat more.  In reality they are more healthy and fit than ever; cholesterol has dropped, blood sugar levels are normal, blood pressure decreases, risk of disease is decreased, they're stronger, more flexible, more rested, and feel better than ever.


It may be that with 70% of men and 60% of woman in Canada being overweight that we're accustom to seeing our friends and family being overweight.  Overweight is normal, statistically. So when we see someone with 5-15% body fat we think they look weird compared to the more average 25 - 35% body fat.  This is a little strange because if we're watching sports and looking at athletic bodies, those athlete's bodies appearance is accepted, expected, perhaps even revered. But when our friends and family's body appearance starts shifting towards the athletic look, for some reason this is spoken of disparagingly.

It's interesting, if not perplexing to live with the contradiction of social pressure to lose weight and look lean as well as pressure to not lose weight, not be lean, and avoid being a kook.

People have told me they've been brought to tears when they're deluged with negative comments regarding their attempt to include healthy choices in their life.  Others while not brought to tears become very frustrated because it seems so counter productive to be the recipient of put-downs for being healthy but showered with accolades when engaging unhealthy practices.  They've told me they can't understand why wanting to improve their health get's them the cold shoulder, but being unhealthy is encouraged. Somethings not right with that.

Some have told me that their friends and family have expressed that they don't want to be pressured to part of, or be exposed to healthy lifestyle changes, and the message is; "keep it to yourself, weirdo!"

I'm then told that friends and family have no compunction when it comes to openly applying pressure to eat unhealthy or to be inactive. "Eat, eat! You don't eat enough! That working out stuff is stupid.  Why don't you do something enjoyable?" It does seem somewhat hypocritical to openly pressure people to eat unhealthy but then protest when someone else eats healthy because apparently the mere act of eating healthy is exactly like telling someone how to live and rubbing it in their face.  People feel torn between wanting feel good about being healthy and fit, and sacrificing their health to keep the peace with friends and family. 

I've heard it said that friends and family can feel that get-togethers can't be enjoyed unless everyone is overeating.  They feel that healthy eating jeopardizes the social experience and no enjoyment can be had. Could it be that this perception is somehow mistaken?  Food is such a great catalyst for human socializing.  Great food set's the tone for great times had by all.  Enter healthy food and it's like the music is cut off.

Many feel very strongly that eating healthy kills social gatherings.  Too bad, because it's really about the people.  At least I thought it was.  I've been to great get-togethers with great tasting healthy food served, which made it all the better because not only do you enjoy the food and company, but you don't feel bloated or lethargic afterwards.  So maybe it's all about perception..

To justify their health oppressing behavior, those oppressed have told me they've been told that being healthy is overblown anyway, that is actually stupid to lose weight, exercise, or make healthy eating choices.  It's just a dumb fad, it's annoying, only freaks do it, get a real life, and on and on.

Really?

Yes.  Really.  This really does happen and if you're a recipient of this you know it all too well.

I don't really know how to overcome this.  What I've seen happen in successful situations is family and friends either got over it and became accepting and supporting, or they eventually started to adopt the same healthy habits and started feeling better themselves.

I'm not sure who is expressing an intelligent decision making process better, the person downing a bag of potato chips and a few beers in utter bliss, or the person enjoying the flavor bliss of a blueberry - banana fruit smoothie after an exhilarating workout.  Arguments can be made for both for sure, and some may make room for both.  Whatever the case, when it comes to friends and family, maybe being supporting of healthy changes is better than being negative.

Nutella sued for false nutritional claims

What? You're kidding. Nutella isn't really health food?

While many commenters are calling this lawsuit frivolous because simply looking at the Nutella nutrition label will tell anyone who can read that the product is full of sugar and fat, turns out many people don't pay attention and are duped by Nutella's advertisements that suggest a health association with their product.

Funny, I've spoken to many cool headed people who read quite well, but still believe Nutella is healthy food made mostly from hazelnuts.  They usually display complete disbelief when they learn Nutella doesn't qualify as healthy food.  How are people getting the impression that Nutella is healthy eating?

Nutella lost the 3 million dollar lawsuit, which includes an order to re-do their advertising claims.  The lawsuit was in the US and does not affect Canadian customers: Some US costumers will be refunded $4.00 for their purchase of Nutella.

 Many fitness enthusiasts, particularly those inclined to endurance sports like running, cycling, and cross country skiing, also seem to be duped. Nutella is a favorite amongst many endurance enthusiasts and athletes alike.

For years I've been asking people, "why do you eat that stuff, it's all sugar and fat"

The response is always, "what are you talking about!?  Hazelnuts are healthy!  This is a great way for me to get a great tasting spread on my multigrain.."  Everyone thinks Nutella is made of hazelnuts.  Where do they get this idea?  What is this stuff made from?

Let's take a look:

From the Nutella website:

"At NUTELLA® we know breakfast is really important to the long-term well-being and success of Canada's children."

The entire Nutella website has references to healthy living and eating on every page. Of course they're right.. healthy eating and physical activities are a good thing and everyone should hop on board. 

The advertising tag line is nutella, fuel the day.

Getting in the proper fuel is equally important for sports performance as it is for a day hike or any lengthy physical activity.

Would I choose Nutella for my fuel for a 3 hour mountain bike ride.. or 8 hours.. 24 hours?

Sorry to say, Nutella would not make the cut in my bread basket. 

Not a lot of nutrient density here.  Sure is calorie dense though.  100 calories for a tablespoon.

From Wikipedia:

"According to the product label, the main ingredients of Nutella are sugar and vegetable oils (mostly palm oil^[5]), followed by hazelnut, cocoa solids, and skimmed milk. In the United States, Nutella contains soy products.^[6] Nutella is marketed as "hazelnut cream" in many countries. Under Italian law, it cannot be labeled as a chocolate cream, as it does not meet minimum cocoa solids concentration criteria. About half of the calories in Nutella come from fat (11 g in a 37 g serving, or 99 kcal out of 200 kcal) and about 40% of the calories come from sugar (20 g, 80 kcal).^[7]"

Is this really a hazelnut spread?  Sure it is.  There are hazelnuts in there.  If we went by what makes up most of Nutella we might be inclined to call it a sugar spread, or maybe a fat spread.

A point made by many is, "that's the point Cris, it has a lot of calories. Duh!" That's why it's suggested to be good for endurance events where you blow off thousands of calories.

Actually, research shows that while replacing some of our carbohydrates with fats still fuels the body for long events, carbohydrate rich foods are still proven to be the top performing calorie source.  All day events require a balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, and Nutella does deliver lots of sugar and fat.

Something to be mindful of; too much fat or too high of a concentration of sugars will slow gastric emptying (the rate food leaves stomach is impaired), and could cause stomach upset in some during endurance events.

Comparatively you're better off with an energy bar (read the label) than Nutella for endurance fuel (or baked potato, prunes, figs, rasins, banana's), and for sure stick with the standard 6 - 7% carbohydrate solution in your bottle (most sports drinks have this solution: read the label though).

There are plenty of great tasting choices that are more nutrient dense, healthier, and better for endurance fuel or part of healthy daily eating than Nutella.

The push back for this story is that consumers are making their own dumb choice, why should a corporation have to pay for that?  Interesting.. So when a corporation clearly makes a concerted effort to portray their product as being something it's not, the corporation has no culpability in doing so, that's just business. 

If someone believes purposefully misleading advertising, the advertiser has nothing to do with that; it can only be the consumers fault.  Only 100% the consumers fault.. no responsibility whatsoever on the manufacturers behalf. It should be legal to advertise any claim, false or real, regardless of the outcome.

That sounds pretty weird.

Your last line of defence as a consumer is reading the label, as it has been shown repeatedly that while there are plenty of good products made from good companies, there are a few products that toute false claims.  Read the label and if there is a health claim attached to anything, scrutinize it, because savvy soothsayers know we can be duped by the promise of hope and health.

Many love the taste of Nutella and for many that will be good enough (the performance sacrifice is worth the taste), but if you're thinking Nutella is a good choice for healthy nutrition take a second look.. US law courts did..

Nutella backs off 'balanced breakfast' claims after hit with $3-million lawsuit - The Globe and Mail

Nutella isn’t good for you, court finds