# I unhappily report that I am right about obesity and diet (Very long)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 16, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543 "2011-02-16T04:25:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 18

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/341 "2011-03-08T22:11:15Z")

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> [@Cosmic Relief](#):
>
> If you’re flatly stating that physical activity is negligible in weight loss, I’m going to have to ask for references that back this up, because I have read study and study that says it helps (in addition to endless firsthand personal anecdotes). Here’s [one such study](http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/WTCalLBWStudy.html) found that restriction and weight loss combined have a dramatically higher effect on weight loss than either one in isolation.
> 
> If you want to argue that exercise increases the appetite in ways most people aren’t prepared to handle, I would consider that arguable. But exercise isn’t part of the equation at all? No way.

And exercise/physcial activity can give you a lot of wiggle room when it comes to what you eat, too. Since Valentine’s day I’ve eaten 3.5lbs of chocolate. I haven’t gained any weight though. Why? In that same amount of time I’ve spent several hours shoveling heavy wet snow, which most calorie burn calculators suggest burns over 500 calories/hour at my weight. If you do the right [activities](http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/calculat.htm), you can burn 600+ calories an hour, which absorbs a whole lot of self-indulgence. Sure, you’re not going to be hitting 600 calories/hour right out the gate if you’re starting out sedentary, but it doesn’t take terribly long to build up an endurance to them.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/342 "2011-03-08T22:46:31Z")

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> [@Submerged](#):
>
> It doesn’t matter.
> 
> If someone is pooping out their food instead of digesting it, they have some sort of disorder or disease. Are you claiming your anorexic friend has a some kind of digestive disease now?

Of course it matters, if you’re going to wave the first law of thermodynamics around and claim it is the final word on whether “calories in/out” explains why people are thin or fat you need to explain it, and you haven’t.

I do not know how much is being shed as waste (Poop is waste from food that has been digested, by the way, not food that has not been digested. If it were not digested, it would not be poop, it would be food. And of course, sometimes it is, a la corn kernels, but that’s rather unusual.) and how much is being burned or how or at what rate. I just know it’s not being added as tissue, and that’s all you know, too.

Actually, that’s not entirely accurate… she’s gaining a tiny bit, and she’s 14 so there’s all kinds of changes going on in her body tissues, it’s hard to say exactly.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/343 "2011-03-08T22:59:29Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Originally Posted by Cosmic Relief  
> If you’re flatly stating that physical activity is negligible in weight loss, I’m going to have to ask for references that back this up, because I have read study and study that says it helps (in addition to endless firsthand personal anecdotes). Here’s one such study found that restriction and weight loss combined have a dramatically higher effect on weight loss than either one in isolation.
> 
> If you want to argue that exercise increases the appetite in ways most people aren’t prepared to handle, I would consider that arguable. But exercise isn’t part of the equation at all? No way.

> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> And exercise/physcial activity can give you a lot of wiggle room when it comes to what you eat, too. Since Valentine’s day I’ve eaten 3.5lbs of chocolate. I haven’t gained any weight though. Why? In that same amount of time I’ve spent several hours shoveling heavy wet snow, which most calorie burn calculators suggest burns over 500 calories/hour at my weight. If you do the right [activities](http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/calculat.htm), you can burn 600+ calories an hour, which absorbs a whole lot of self-indulgence. Sure, you’re not going to be hitting 600 calories/hour right out the gate if you’re starting out sedentary, but it doesn’t take terribly long to build up an endurance to them.

From a recent TIME story:

> [@](#):
>
> “In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless,” says Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University and a prominent exercise researcher. **Many recent studies** have found that exercise isn’t as important in helping people lose weight as you hear so regularly in gym advertisements or on shows like The Biggest Loser — or, for that matter, from magazines like this one.  
> …  
> The findings were surprising. On average, the women in all the groups, even the control group, lost weight, but the women who exercised — sweating it out with a trainer several days a week for six months — _ **did not lose significantly more weight than the control subjects did.** _
> 
> What’s going on here? Church calls it compensation, but you and I might know it as the lip-licking anticipation of perfectly salted, golden-brown French fries after a hard trip to the gym. Whether because exercise made them hungry or because they wanted to reward themselves (or both), most of the women who exercised ate more than they did before they started the experiment. _ **Or they compensated in another way, by moving around a lot less than usual after they got home.** _  
> …
> 
> the muscle-fat relationship is often misunderstood. According to calculations published in the journal Obesity Research by a Columbia University team in 2001, a pound of muscle burns approximately six calories a day in a resting body, compared with the two calories that a pound of fat burns. Which means that after you work out hard enough to convert, say, 10 lb. of fat to muscle — a major achievement — you would be able to eat only an extra 40 calories per day, about the amount in a teaspoon of butter, before beginning to gain weight. Good luck with that.

The article makes \*\*a lot \*\*of assumptions, as do the researchers themselves, which is pretty weak, but common in the world of obesity research. If you really want to understand it on a deeper level, read Taubes, because he explains it in depth.

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**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/344 "2011-03-08T23:26:26Z")

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> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> So, what else is immune from the laws of physics, just so we’re clear?

I didn’t say immune. I said reduce. Those are two very different things. I am just as subject to the law of physics as a rock, but the rules that govern what happens in my body are much more complex than what happens in that rock.

> [@](#):
>
> Here’s what we absolutely know:
> 
> Food contains energy. If you consume food, you are either going to get the energy from the food or not. If you _get_ the energy from the food, you either have to store it or burn it. If you _don’t_ get the energy from the food, you need to excrete it. It is not possible for the energy to be consumed and then not excreted, not burned, **and** not stored. It’s got to be one of the three.
> 
> Any anecdote that doesn’t account for one of the three is suspect, at best. Just as anecdotes that say that someone knows someone who can fly or walk through walls or make himself invisible.

And here is what you’re missing:

Getting energy from food - consider how [the amount of energy in food is calculated](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_energy#Nutrition_labels). How accurate is this? Also, do different people actually absorb foods the same, or are there differences in how food is absorbed? Medically, [Crohn’s disease](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crohn%27s_disease), [Celiac disease](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celiac_disease), and [Lactose Intolerance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance), all will reduce the actual nutrients being absorbed. What about people who have these problems in a mild enough form to not be diagnosed? Are there people who are more efficient at absorbing available nutrients or less so? People who have longer than average intestines or shorter?

Obviously, nutrients that are not absorbed by the intestine are excreted, but would _you_ know if you were producing more or less feces than the person next to you?

Storing energy - do you know what triggers energy to be stored versus being used? [Insulin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin) is required to trigger both muscle and adipose tissue absorption of blood sugar. Any variation in insulin generation and insulin resistance will affect how blood sugar is handled. In fact, type I diabetes is called diabetes mellitus because sugar is excreted in the urine rather than being stored.

Burning energy - I just want to offer this on the variability of burning energy affects weight.

[Article: Factors influencing variation in basal metabolic rate include fat-free mass, fat mass, age, and circulating thyroxine but not sex, circulating leptin, or triiodothyronine](http://www.ajcn.org/content/82/5/941.full)

- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 82, No. 5, 941-948, November 2005

> [@](#):
>
> Results: Only 2% of the observed variability in BMR was attributable to within-subject effects, of which 0.5% was analytic error. Of the remaining variance, which reflected between-subject effects, 63% was explained by [fat-free mass], 6% by [fat mass], and 2% by age. The effects of sex and bone mineral content were not significant (P \> 0.05). _Twenty-six percent of the variance remained unexplained._ This variation was not associated with concentrations of circulating leptin or T3 [triiodothyrionine]. T4[thyroxine] was not significant in women but explained 25% of the residual variance in men.

Emphasis mine.

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**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/345 "2011-03-08T23:35:32Z")

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> [@Submerged](#):
>
> Obviously, I meant “thermodynamics”. Missed the edit window by 10 seconds.

Uh-huh. And it’s a complete and total coincidence that the “laws of thermogenics” is “if (calories in \< calories out), you will lose weight no matter what”.

Right. :rolleyes:

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**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/346 "2011-03-08T23:37:46Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> From a recent TIME story:  
> What’s going on here? Church calls it compensation, but you and I might know it as the lip-licking anticipation of perfectly salted, golden-brown French fries after a hard trip to the gym. Whether because exercise made them hungry or because they wanted to reward themselves (or both), most of the women who exercised ate more than they did before they started the experiment. Or they compensated in another way, by moving around a lot less than usual after they got home.

This doesn’t demonstrate that exercise doesn’t contribute to weight loss. What this shows is that the people involved in the experiment, and I would imagine a lot of people, think that by working out they get free license to eat whatever they want. And then they are shocked that they do not lose weight. “But I went to the gym!”. It takes about an hour of cario to burn 500-600 calories and mere minutes to replace them and more, especially if you’re refueling with french fries :rolleyes:

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**Author:** ![Submerged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Submerged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Submerged)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/347 "2011-03-08T23:38:00Z")

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> [@Zyada](#):
>
> Uh-huh. And it’s a complete and total coincidence that the “laws of thermogenics” is “if (calories in \< calories out), you will lose weight no matter what”.
> 
> Right. :rolleyes:

What? 😕

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**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/348 "2011-03-08T23:42:26Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> And you were both incorrect, reflecting how both of you don’t actually understand at all what you think you understand.

Stoid, don’t slam on me..

A - I’m on your side  
B - I probably know as much or more than you do about the subject, because I’ve been reading about it for a good thirty years or more.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/349 "2011-03-08T23:52:30Z")

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> [@ladyfoxfyre](#):
>
> This doesn’t demonstrate that exercise doesn’t contribute to weight loss. What this shows is that the people involved in the experiment, and I would imagine a lot of people, think that by working out they get free license to eat whatever they want. And then they are shocked that they do not lose weight. “But I went to the gym!”. It takes about an hour of cario to burn 500-600 calories and mere minutes to replace them and more, especially if you’re refueling with french fries :rolleyes:

Like I said…assumptions.

Which you and anyone else is certainly free to make. It doesn’t mean anything, prove anything, or help anything, but have at it.

Me, I like evidence, proof, facts, data…I’m just wacky that way.

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**Author:** ![Submerged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Submerged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Submerged)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/350 "2011-03-09T00:00:16Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> Like I said…assumptions.
> 
> Which you and anyone else is certainly free to make. It doesn’t mean anything, prove anything, or help anything, but have at it.
> 
> Me, I like evidence, proof, facts, data…I’m just wacky that way.

Whatever.

Y’know, what’s kinda sad is that, if instead of posting long diatribes on the internet about why its not your fault you’re fat, you spent that time exercising, you’d be well on your way to a healthy weight by now.

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**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/351 "2011-03-09T00:00:55Z")

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Seriously, people, _She read a book_.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/352 "2011-03-09T00:03:42Z")

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> [@Zyada](#):
>
> Stoid, don’t slam on me..
> 
> A - I’m on your side  
> B - I probably know as much or more than you do about the subject, because I’ve been reading about it for a good thirty years or more.

Fair enough.

Which brings me to a little aside that used to annoy, now it just amuses: the assumption that so many people make that because a person is fat, they lack information, as though information itself is the answer. When in fact people who struggle with obesity are considerably more likely to have made a study of the subject than people who do not have weight problems. Why would people who don’t have weight problems make it a point to gather information and learn about the issue, it’s not their issue. That’s why I don’t know squat about race cars, team sports, or travel: none of these things are issues in my life. Nor are they interesting - at least cars and sports aren’t. Travel is, but because it’s not really possible in my world up to now, I dont’ torture myself with it.

Whereas, having been tortured, ridiculed, belittled and otherwise suffered from being varying degrees of fat since I was about 10 years old, this is a subject of enormous interest to me, leading to my seeking all the information I can for the last 40 years.

Of course, not everyone does that, and of course, it doesn’t mean that a fat person’s opinions are automatically correct. But between any random, reasonably intelligent and educated person who is fat and has been for an extended period of time, and any random, reasonably intelligent and educated slim person who has never been fat, I’m putting my money on the fat person to have boatloads more information on the subject overall than the slim person will.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/353 "2011-03-09T00:05:52Z")

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> [@MsWhatsit](#):
>
> Seriously, people, _She read a book_.

You might want to look into them, they are generally incredibly useful for getting an education. In fact, schools use them for just that purpose!

Acquaint yourself…a whole new world will open up for you, I promise.

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**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/354 "2011-03-09T00:17:17Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> You might want to look into them, they are generally incredibly useful for getting an education. In fact, schools use them for just that purpose!
> 
> Acquaint yourself…a whole new world will open up for you, I promise.

Yeah, you can anoint yourself an expert on all kinds of things after almost finishing one.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/355 "2011-03-09T00:29:25Z")

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> [@Submerged](#):
>
> Whatever.
> 
> Y’know, what’s kinda sad is that, if instead of posting long diatribes on the internet about why its not your fault you’re fat, you spent that time exercising, you’d be well on your way to a healthy weight by now.

What is equally, if not more sad, is to see someone more interested in making unsupported declarations and assertions than taking some time to actually educate themselves.

FYI: I’ve gone through long periods of dedicated exercise. Most recently, from late 2005 to spring 2007, I was doing regular 90 minutes workouts that included 30 minutes elliptical or bike or treadmill or all three, (working up a major sweat, by the way: I’ve never been one of those poor souls who deludes themselves that they are getting a good workout just by showing up at the gym) - then weight lifting, followed by “dessert”: 30-45 minutes of swimming 1/2-3/4 mile. I did this an average of 3 times a week, sometimes more. **I felt fantastic** , which is why I want to get back in that groove again.

But **my weight** was completely unaffected: throughout that time period I started at and I stayed within a few pounds of 270, which I had gotten down to before I started exercising through the action of speed I was taking for ADD, which made it easy to starve without pain. I had been regularly swimming before taking the drugs, but I stopped when I got on them because I didnt’ want to work up my heart while I was already on speed, it scared me and I was in the habit of doing my workout int eh middle of the day. But later I got better at going before I took my drugs or waiting to the tail end of the day. So all the weight was lost when I didn’t exercise at all.

I stopped exercising when my mother died, which was followed by my favorite dog’s death, a dear friend’s suicide, and the first trial, during which I never slept or ate at all and lost about 8 more pounds in a week from sheer stress; my andrenaline could probably have powered my house. I gained that back within a few months then stayed steady at about 275 the rest of the year. I gained the other 25 between early 2009 and the end of 2010.

Oh, and before anyone goes there: I did not add a significant amount of muscle. As a woman, it takes a lot of hardcore work to add sufficient muscle to replace body fat, and while I was doing a very good workout for my overall fitness, I was not bodybuilding.

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**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/356 "2011-03-09T00:30:44Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> .
> 
> Whereas, having been tortured, ridiculed, belittled and otherwise suffered from being varying degrees of fat since I was about 10 years old, this is a subject of enormous interest to me, leading to my seeking all the information I can for the last 40 years.
> 
> Of course, not everyone does that, and of course, it doesn’t mean that a fat person’s opinions are automatically correct. But between any random, reasonably intelligent and educated person who is fat and has been for an extended period of time, and any random, reasonably intelligent and educated slim person who has never been fat, I’m putting my money on the fat person to have boatloads more information on the subject overall than the slim person will.

I am genuinely curious. How do you reconcile thos 40 years of gaining information with reading a book for a week and suddenly having ‘the answer’. Doesn’t that strike you as odd and perhaps premature? Are your previous 40 years of information gathering invalid now? To dismiss 40 years with just a weeks review of a book seems a bit quick to judge to me.

You have posted various threads on this subject in the past. So are you willing to concede you were incorrect in those threads when you ‘knew’ the answer? And if so, perhaps you might be incorrect here as well? Or if not incorrect, perhaps not being critical of the concept just because it is in a book? Is it perhaps because the concepts in the book agree with your bias so it makes it easier to accept?

If I read a scientific report that says concrete can be made with plastic additives and will be stronger then straight concrete, I don’t just jump on the band wagon and start specifying plastic concrete for my buildings. It is a tidbit of infomation that seems at odds with the vast store of information I have on this subject—so I have to analyze it and reconcile it with the information I do ‘know’. I would not within a week of reading such a report have the solution, and only through careful analysis of the report and discussions with several engineers, perhaps a small experiment of my own, etc. It is a piece of the data I have on this subject–it doesn’t replace the data I do have. You seem to have replaced the data on this with one authors opinion!

I am very cynical of most things and I would be of your book as well. I am cynical of lots of reports on solutions to weight loss, etc. Those that agree with my position and those that don’t. Perhaps you have jumped the gun?

Just a suggestion. As for me, I am off to the gym with my lovely wife and daughter and then coming home to a nice salad. I am 51 and work VERY hard to maintain my weight. It isn’t easy and it isn’t so simple as calories in/calories out, but in general it is. Lots of education, control and focus is what it takes. Good luck!

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/357 "2011-03-09T00:31:17Z")

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> [@ladyfoxfyre](#):
>
> Yeah, you can anoint yourself an expert on all kinds of things after almost finishing one.

What are you talking about? I read the book cover to cover and since finishing it I’ve been following up with other sources as well.

When someone asked about it days ago I had been reading it for a day or so, awfully weird to assume I just put it down and walked away…

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/358 "2011-03-09T00:42:18Z")

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> [@ladyfoxfyre](#):
>
> Yeah, you can anoint yourself an expert on all kinds of things after almost finishing one.

An episode of Oprah can do the same thing, and you don’t have to go through all the trouble of turning those pesky pages.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/359 "2011-03-09T00:45:49Z")

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> [@Hakuna\_Matata](#):
>
> I am genuinely curious. How do you reconcile thos 40 years of gaining information with reading a book for a week and suddenly having ‘the answer’. Doesn’t that strike you as odd and perhaps premature? Are your previous 40 years of information gathering invalid now? To dismiss 40 years with just a weeks review of a book seems a bit quick to judge to me.

As I’ve said _ **in multiple places in this thread** _: low carb is FAR from new to me. FAR FAR. But this is the _first_ book that I have read which was _not_ a “diet” book and which, rather than talking about how great the author’s diet and plan and personal program and experience was, talked about all the _ **research** _, the _ **evidence** _, the _ **data** _ and the simple scientifically known biological facts which support the underlying theories of the diets that Atkins and Stillman and the Hellers and Agatston and Wolf had been promoting. As a person who genuinely cherishes facts and truth and reality, this book finally made me feel completely comfortable and safe with the idea of turning to carbohydrate restriction as a lifelong solution to issues of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc. And that’s exciting, because I know it works. Now I know it’s safe…more than safe. Way safer than trying to starve for the rest of my life.

I knew low carb worked the first time I did it, in 1971, but as anyone who has gone low carb will tell you, it’s hard to avoid the barrage of people telling you: “Don’t take the bacon! You’ll kill yourself!”

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-unhappily-report-that-i-am-right-about-obesity-and-diet-very-long/571543/360 "2011-03-09T00:53:02Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> (working up a major sweat, by the way: I’ve never been one of those poor souls who deludes themselves that they are getting a good workout just by showing up at the gym)

I always pushed my heart up to the correct zone and kept it there, I didn’t just rely on sweat. In fact, I just remembered all the equipment I used to load up on.. I even had an underwater heart monitor.

I look pretty goofy when I go swimming, actually: I have a lap counter on my finger, a heart monitor around my middle, a watch that gives the reading, an underwater MP3 player with special headphones, and, to top it off, I swim with a snorkel and mask so that I can swim hard without having to worry about the whole breathing issue. Sometimes I add swim gloves. But I’m not there to impress anyone, so I don’t worry about how goofy I look.

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