A huge body of research was published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine, by Harvard, painting an honest picture of our health prospects. Not like we didn’t know but sometimes a slap of reality put in a new light is useful.
Jane Brody gives a nice overview in her recent New York Times column. Her slant is that counting calories is no longer a valid weight management tool. I disagree, but first look at the key findings and you’ll understand her point.
The research looked at the eating and exercise habits of 120,000 healthy adults over two decades. The average weight gain of these participants was 20 pounds over 20 years, or a pound a year – Ah-Ha! That explains my creeping spare tire!
Here are the “no-duh” reasons this study didn’t make major breaking news:
- Those who ate “good” foods — whole grains, fruit, veggies, nuts and yogurt — were less likely to gain weight. In fact, most either maintained or lost weight.
Those who exercised (or increased their exercise) gained less than half the weight of those who did not. The more they exercised and ate well, the less the gain. See, I told you… Duh.
The rub is that exercise alone didn’t prevent all weight gain. If you partake in a lot of sugary foods and drinks, white flour products, processed meats and fried foods, exercise won’t undo the damage completely. There-in lies Jane Brody’s point. We must admit there really are good foods versus bad foods and telling ourselves otherwise by simply counting calories (or “points”) doesn’t make for a sustainable lifestyle change that equals health.
Those who ate the “good” foods AND exercised were golden. Period.
This compares well with the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) which tells us that people who lose weight and are able to keep it off for years to come do exactly the same.
One difference… The Harvard participants were “healthy” adults who gained slowly over time. By contrast, the NWCR adults are people who successfully reversed obesity. These successful “losers” tell us that weight loss and maintenance is much easier when we track our eating habits and weight regularly. This notion is supported by robust research from the University of Vermont Nutrition and Food Sciences. Tracking what you eat is key. Those who do, in context of a support group and with guidance from a clinical instructor, have an average loss of 16 pounds over time.
If we’ve learned nothing else in decades of public health efforts it’s that adults like to be accountable to at least some “thing,” and better yet, to someone who can provide reasonable feedback.
Whatever we set out to accomplish, we succeed best when in the presence of others – of those who support us when our resolve wanes and cheer us when we’re soaring. In order to share the highs and lows, hard evidence of these truths is vital.
Let’s look at this in context of cholesterol numbers. It’s not enough to look at total cholesterol alone. Though totals matter, we also need to know the kinds of cholesterol (HDL, or good, versus the bad LDLs). We now also need to look at the size of the cholesterol particles. The bigger the better (the more likely they are to bounce off blood vessel walls rather than stick and cause plaque).
Diet and exercise should be similar. In the same way we wouldn’t ignore total cholesterol, we can’t ignore excessive food portions or total lack of exercise. A high ratio of good foods with a high ratio of good exercise will stave off most damage done by a few bad foods. The trick is honesty. We must be honest and really strive toward those good foods, strive to make honest progress toward the good.
So Brody is right that total calories alone may not be what we track, but tracking progress of any kind is a must if we are to see our success mount over time and stay on our desired PATH.
My favorite piece from the Harvard findings?
Every bit of effort toward healthy behaviors makes a difference. The pounds didn’t happen over night. So small steps to reverse the creep matter. If we build on all our small wins, 20 years from now the requisite 20 extra pounds will be a mere figment of our imaginations.
Start today by being honest and committing to one simple step toward change. Is it yogurt? Nuts? One less sweet? One less soda? More stairs? How about some real strawberries in that summer daiquiri?
“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”
– Anatole France
See you 20 pounds lighter in 20 years on the PATH Ahead!