There Is a Cure for Obesity

Stop the presses. We have found the cure for obesity. Haven't you heard? If you happened to miss it in the press, I am here to happily hand it to you.

The cure for obesity is to take in less calories than you burn. This will result in weight loss. To determine how many calories you need per day, without exercise, take your weight times ten for women and times twelve for men.

That's it. The cure. The method to achieve the cure is record keeping. That's right, keeping track of what you take in, what you burn with exercise, and what you weigh. Record keeping will get you to the weight you want to be.

Here's the secret that I have learned as well. You don't want to hear this. You would rather spend $25 of your hard earned money on a book like The Secret. Perhaps you bought thigh reducing cream or tried a body wrap that promised a loss of inches in just minutes. Why? Because The Secret tells you all you have to do is imagine what you want and it will come to you. Guess what, Shakti Gawain wrote that same book 30 years ago called Creative Visualization. If she was wise, she made a lot of money off that book and its spin offs. Hope sells. There are lots of bestselling books out there to prove it. You Can Heal Your Life, The Secret, Do What You Love and The Money Will Follow... How many of us bought those books full of hope and optimism. Books that told us what we wanted to hear.

Now I'm not here to burst any bubbles. Bubbles can be fabulous. I'm here to simply help people actually achieve their weight loss goals, without selling them anything in the process. I am not selling a book or product. In fact, I am giving this information away for free because I believe you deserve to know the truth.

Here's the other secret I know. You don't want to do the work. You would rather blame your genetics, metabolism, busy life, processed food industry, etc... for your weight. Guess what, your weight is your own doing. Except in the rare cases of people who have to take medication that causes weight/water gain, like steroids, your weight is within your control.

So here's the challenge I am posing to you today. If you are serious about losing weight, I challenge you to keep track of what you eat today and for the next six days. Write it all down and estimate the calories. A great website for calorie counts is www.calorieking.com. If you have never done this, you will be amazed at what you learn. If you have tried to lose weight before and been unsuccessful, or unable to keep it off, I challenge you to keep records for one week and report back about what you learn.

I promise, you will learn things about yourself you didn't know before.

That's it for now. Good luck and let me know how you're doing.

Comments

[LitDr2B]

This is a very encouraging post, but there are a few issues. There are a few more ways people can gain weight through no fault of their own. It's oversimplifying matters to say this only happens in "rare cases" where people have to take certain medications.

There is hypothyroidism: a very real medical condition that can cause people to gain weight regardless of calories in and calories burned. Medications can mitigate this, but it goes undiagnosed in a lot of people.

Secondly, I recently watched a presentation by a researcher at UC San Francisco, and she cited several studies that suggested two modes of calorie burning depending on whether someone is "insulin resistant" or "insulin sensitive." Weight loss would respond better to each type based on a particular kind of diet: low-carb (for "resistent") and low-fat (for "sensitive").

Largely, I agree that if you're not affected by the above (or other rare circumstances), the calories in/calories out equation works. It takes time and effort, as you note. I was quite successful with your method simply by exercising vigorously each day and keeping a food journal. It did take effort, though. Like you, I also call bullsh** on people who blame processed foods. It doesn't take that much time to prepare healthy, fresh meals. It's all a matter of priorities.

Another helpful site is fitday.com. It keeps track of your weight, how many calories you consume, and how much you burn off each day.

[dyspeptic]

This post is junk science, in that the simple calories-in / calories-out formula it propounds has been repeatedly debunked by research. Urge all who are interested in the topic to go to a credible science reporting site like Science Daily and search "obesity".

[Roswalien]

Please tell me where and when this became junk science. As far as I know, this is the only (nonsurgical) way to lose weight. When was it debunked? If you take in 3000 calories a day and burn 1800, you will gain weight, period. Conversely, if you take in 2000 and burn 2500, you will lose weight. People are looking for a magic pill, just like for everything else in the world. Restrict calories, get off your butt and exercise and you will lose weight. There is no way a person can consume a pound of food and gain more than a pound. The body does not just produce fat without taking in enough fuel to produce that fat. On that note, I will go directly to your Science Daily site and see what 'true' science looks like.

[OtayPanky]

Do you know what the recidivism rate is for this problem?

99% within 5 years.

In other words, for every hundred people who lose significant amounts of weight, by whatever means, 99 of them will have gained it all back (and a bit more) within 5 years.

Unfortulately, your "cure" - while physically sensible - clearly doesn't address the true nature of this widespread (no pun intended) problem, which baffles scientists and physicians to this day.

[gfk]

That figure is incorrect. Go do the research. It's more like 20 to 30% are successful after five years. Those who are willing to continue to monitor themselves and do the work are successful. They are the 30%.

[OtayPanky]

I can't remember where I heard the 99% number. So here are some sources for you:

Here's one source, 97% recividism: http://tinyurl.com/4brlr6

Here's another, 95%: http://tinyurl.com/3sb2jy

Here's another, 75-95% recividism: http://tinyurl.com/4govrq

[msfiskvletterman]

4/15/08
12pm
Alexandria, VA

Thaks for the info about how many calories we need per day. I did not know that.

I haven't even been trying to diet but now I want to get this weight off. Again.

[phughes]

Irene, thank you so much for your blog here. I am a 38-year old man, and I've been overweight and depressed about it most of my life.

In January, I was more than 70 pounds overweight, and feeling it every day. I got some clarity around needing to make a change, and around that time I read one of your posts here. It was the first time the math of it made sense to me, and I trust math. :)

I made a commitment to track everything in an online food diary. My deal was that I didn't have to change anything, just keep track of everything. It was a shocking and eye-opening experience, and the information I gained really motivated me to make changes.

I started in late January of this year, and I'm down almost 30 pounds now. I am not constantly starving or feeling deprived, and I now have an unshakable faith in the *math*. Thank you for making this message so clear - take in less than you burn, and you will lose weight. No qualifications, caveats, disclaimers, etc. I got it, and I don't think I will ever lose it.

[beasy]

Dear phughes,
I have made it a policy never to comment on comments to my blogs but I can't not comment to you. Congratulations!!!!! You are the reason I am putting this information out there. You are living proof that it works. I wish more people like you would come forward and share their success. Your comment will help others, so thank you for being so public about it. Also, it sounds like you get it now. You can now fish. You know, I taught you to fish so you can do it on your own vs. just handing you a fish. Keep it up phughes!!! Best, Irene

[Ariadne]

Like she said. You don't want to do the work.

[jmpurser]

So, the "cure" is what we've been trying for the last 50 years. How's that working out for us so far?