Except, it’s not. Given that there’s no source for your cite’s claims, while this is a meta-study of 28 different publications, I’d say the “myth” is true.
Stoid, I would second the recommendation to go read Good Calories, Bad Calories. One thing he totally destroys is the idea that fat makes you fat. Another is that meat is bad for you. In fact, eating sufficient fat and protein not only helps with appetite control, it regulates fat storage better. A high-carb, low-fat diet makes you want to eat more, and it makes your body hold on to more fat.
Another good book is Cordain’s Paleo Diet where he talks about a diet with modern foods modeled on what we know about paleolithic and modern hunter-gatherer eating patterns; i.e. our ancestral diet. There’s a lot of information in his FAQs section if you find yourself dubious about the premise, has numerous peer reviewed articles cited in the book and on the website.
As Weedy said, you probably need to eat more for two reasons: a dietary intake that low is not sustainable in the long term; it’s just setting yourself up for eventual failure. Anyone would binge after a few weeks or more at that level. Second, since you obviously have some metabolic derangement from being overweight for a significant amount of time along with previous weight losses and gains, your body has become quite good at hoarding whatever you give it. That 1400–1500 calories you’re currently taking in has probably convinced your body that you’re starving, which means it’s going to hold on to your fat stores tooth and claw.
Also, what you’re eating is mostly carbohydrates, which is not optimal. Check out either of those books or google “insulin resistance” for why.
Yes, if you really want to get into the complexities, weight loss can get really confusing. The problems are that there’s too much information out there, and most lay publications are ineffective at screening for useful information. Added to those problems is a selection bias toward dietary advice that has proven to be complete crap while ignoring the contradictory results coming out of work influenced by evolutionary biology.
It actually is simple, though not necessarily easy, to lose weight and keep it off:
- Eat whole foods.
Meal-replacement shakes, artificial sweeteners, fat substitutes, low-fat or fat-free versions of food, and processed food? All of it is crap. Many “food products” are designed to let you pretend to be eating unhealthy “decadent” foods while supposedly not being fattening. Problem is, artificial crap is still crap.
Compared to real whole foods, not even fortified processed food products have a favorable nutrient profile. The fortification is necessary because in processing all foods lose some nutrients.
Processed stuff includes bread and pasta. If you have to parch it, grind it, winnow it, bleach it, mix it with other stuff, and reconstitute it to make it palatable, it’s processed all to hell and gone and not very good for you anymore. For example, compare a sweet potato or yam to an equal caloric value of bread or pasta, and the nutritional density is ridiculously in favor of the tubers despite the fact that both types of food are mostly carbohydrates.
- Eat sufficient protein.
Yes, this means eating animals. There are virtually no protein sources that are available in an unprocessed, unmodified form other than animals. Lean meats and seafood should be your primary sources of protein. Protein helps with satiety signaling, and it is particularly important to maintain protein intake when you’re attempting to lose fat so that your body doesn’t turn to cannibalizing muscle.
Avoid soy products because the supposed health benefits have been shown to be bullshit and there are several problematic anti-nutrients that should be of some concern, especially those that impact thyroid function (PDF).
- Eat healthy fats.
Fat helps with hunger signaling too. Even saturated fat isn’t necessarily bad for you. It actually imposes a low oxidative load, and isn’t problematic when insulin levels are steady and low. Coconut oil in particular has a great omega 3 to 6 ratio. Modern industrial farm meats are grain-fed, though, so the fatty acid balance isn’t as good as wild-caught meat, which means that you should choose lean cuts of meat.
You can add olive oil, avocado, and some nuts to round out the fat profile, and fatty fishes like salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies are high in omega 3.
- Eat lots of vegetables, particularly green leafy veggies.
Avoid legumes and grains. Both have high lectin contents and effects on gut health. Grains in particular can’t be made edible without extensive processing. Beans need to be soaked and cooked properly in part to reduce the toxin load. If you need to process something so extensively in order to eat it, a strong argument can be made that you shouldn’t be eating it.
- Exercise.
You should not be concerned about how many calories you’re burning because for one thing, that’s a nominal value that varies greatly between individuals. For another, the effects of any kind of exercise are more far-ranging than a simple calorie count. And third, there is not a direct accounting possible between the calories you consume and the calories you use in exercise. It’s much more complex than that. How complex? You don’t need to worry about it unless you’re a high-end athlete. For normal people, just the fact that you’re exercising is enough.
The best exercise is whatever you’re not doing. In other words, do lots of stuff. Do weight training, some sprinting or high intensity work, some longer cardio efforts from time to time. Walk, play sports, hike, rollerblade, whatever. It really doesn’t matter what you do, just be active, and do as many different types of exercise as possible. As someone pointed out earlier, a fat person who exercises is probably going to be healthier than a skinny person who doesn’t, and your quality of life will absolutely be better.
If you deliberately ignore most of the contradictory details, this brief overview is what you’re left with. The hard part about it? Doing it. Maintaining it. Information paralysis, habit, initial unpleasantness, social pressures, lack of time, natural laziness, etc. all conspire against you.
You have to change your life. It’s not enough to temporarily diet.
Plus we make chicken safe by cooking it since salmonella contaminates at least a quarter of the US supply, and trichinosis is epidemic in US deer; maybe that means we shouldn’t be eating chicken or venison by the “cooking food to make it safe is unnatural” argument?
