The Truth on Diets and Weight Loss

By Joshua Rosenthal

Weight loss is a huge issue for Americans today. We idolize people who are thin, while at the same time we are surrounded with an overabundance of snack foods, junk foods and fast foods, combined with a lack of daily exercise.

One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to lose a few pounds. Many people try counting calories and trying to get fit. When they have trouble following their own diet regimen, they look for help in the more than $30-billion diet and weight loss industry which includes everything from commercial chains like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig to diet pills, artificial sweeteners, diet books and magazines, meal replacement shakes and belly-stapling surgeries.

Year after year, many Americans realize that these fad diets don’t work. In fact, about 90 percent of all dieters regain some or all or the weight originally lost. Diet and exercise theories like the 40-day, 20-day or even 8-minutes-a-day to a thinner you are aimed at quick results and selling books.

In recent years, the idea of eating more and weighing less has become popular. Why not? When given the choice, most of us would rather eat more. The trick is to understand caloric density or volumetrics, which means you can eat as much as you want of foods that are nutrient-rich and low in calories.

When illustrating this idea, I like to use the example of a package of Oreos. One package has 2,200 calories. For that same amount of calories, someone could consume 1 pound of carrots, 1 pound of papaya, 1 pound of apples, 1 pound of onions, 1 pound of lettuce, 1 pound of kale, 1 pound of tofu, 1 pound of 2% cottage cheese, 2 pounds of cantaloupe, 2 pounds of celery and 2 pounds of cucumber.

Another way to think about caloric density is that your body only needs a certain volume of food each day. If you’re having a bowl of soup, your body doesn’t know if the bowl of soup has 100 calories or 1,000 calories. By choosing foods that have a low caloric density, you can feel full without packing on the pounds.

Many people who have lost weight and kept it off have looked past the diet books and fads and found what works best for their own bodies. I encourage people who want to lose weight to experiment with different methods and see what works.

Most nutrition people believe their theory is the right one and everyone else’s theory is wrong. They see the emergence of new information as competition and attempt to dismiss all other diet plans as “fad diets.”

My approach is just the opposite. I am thrilled when new dietary theories emerge because it shows that people are continuing to uncover what will help us all live happier, healthier lives. When a new theory appears, I read about it, research it, try to understand where its creators are coming from and then add their wisdom to my teaching.

Something in me says, “Great! Another ray of light is being shed on our crazy eating habits. Here’s one more researcher who understands the link between nutrition and health and has taken time and energy to develop a new perspective.”

I like to teach all the different dietary theories, covering the pros and cons of each, because the interesting thing is that they all work. When people decide to go on a diet, they have already become conscious of their self-destructive eating habits and realize it’s time for a change.

Maybe it’s just after the December holidays, they feel lethargic and unhealthy and the threat of obesity is staring them in the face. The scale in the bathroom is groaning, their clothes just went up a size, and now they want to go on a diet.

For these people, whatever diet they choose is going to work because they are shifting from a chaotic, disordered way of eating to an ordered way of eating. They are going to stop eating chemicalized, artificial junk food and get better. The general rule is that any attention to diet is better than none. Diet theorists miss this fact because they want to attribute success to their unique approach.

All diet programs contain elements of truth. When I talk about various diets to my students, including programs ranging from raw foods to Atkins, some students always swear that a particular diet really helped them. The extent to which people can benefit from specific diets is amazing. This fact reminds me to appreciate how we as a species are so diverse and unique.

I believe that when a diet is successful, a placebo effect may be responsible for at least some of the benefits. Experts in the field of nutrition rarely discuss this phenomenon because experts like to take credit for discovering the latest weight-loss method. Many studies illustrate the power of the placebo effect.

A group of patients all suffering from the same ailment take sugar pills and are told they contain a breakthrough medicine that will help cure them. With no active ingredients in the pills, a significant percentage of the patients will recover simply because they believe they are being treated. It’s the same with diets. Many of them work because of this mind-over-matter factor.

Most people will lose weight on any given diet program for a limited period of time, and then revert to a less disciplined way of eating. Why? Because most diet books instruct people to eat a limited spectrum of recommended foods.

People follow the program with all good intentions, slowly narrowing their list of acceptable foods, squeezing their eyes shut while scurrying past a Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks, determined not to stray from the chosen path. Sooner or later, though, the cravings become too intense, their determination fades and they fall off the wagon.

These people are not weak, ignorant or lacking in willpower. Their cravings occur because humans are omnivorous creatures with roving appetites. We all have unique bodies, cravings and lifestyles, and a list of “acceptable” foods is not always going to align with our individual needs or satisfy our cravings. So, just as all diets work, they all also don’t work.

I’ve learned this fact as much from my own personal experience as from that of my students. Late one evening, after I had been more or less vegetarian for a few years, my craving for meat grew so strong I found my car pulling into a fast food drive-thru window. I saw myself ordering a burger with extra, extra vegetables and parking on a deserted street to wolf down the forbidden food. I had never experienced such exhilaration. The thrill of giving my body exactly what it needed, even though it went directly against my beliefs at the time, was undeniable. It felt so good and so bad at the same time!

For years, I kept these clandestine moments of what I thought were weakness to myself, hiding them from my friends, family and colleagues. They only stopped when I was able to come to a deeper, clearer understanding of balanced eating. This understanding came from listening to my own body and studying every dietary theory I could.