Another example of how Calorie Counting can't work

(Rob) #1

A show that is generally not much use for anything at all ‘How to Lose Weight Well’ on Channel 4 in the UK generally sets 6 people on different diet plans to see how they do. 2 go on 1-2 week crash diets, 2 go on 6 weeks and 2 on 3-4 months. Given that any diet works for a few months, they all lose weight… big whoop.

But in between following the dieters they do little experiments. One was about alcohol suggesting that it is processed in advance of sugar/fat and concluding that it increases blood lipids and sugar levels based on some blood tests so you should eat low fat when you drink. Given that the test subjects were given burger (said it was high fat), pizza (said it was high carb) and chicken burger (high protein - sheesh - all were high carb!), I buy the tests but not the conclusion.

Anyway, that wasn’t the interesting test. The host tested a Samsung band, a Fitbit Surge and the built in motion feature of the iPhone + MFP. They were all pretty good on steps/activity. More interestingly, he ate a bunch of crap and let the Samsung, Fitbit and MFP software calculate calculate the calories and took a bucket of the same food to be broken down and processed through a calorimeter. The Samsung estimated 1450kcal, MFP 1890kcal and the Fitbit 1950kcal - the actual numbers were 2670kcal. Either the software/database, or user chronically underestimating or manufacturer cal values were massively wrong, or probably all three… but it shows how difficult accurate calorie counting is let alone the full CICO calculation and that a strategy based on that is a fools errand. I still track all my food… I just no longer care about the calorie count.

(Allan L) #2

I also watch this show and loved the 1st episode of this year where the guys who went for 3-4 months both did a variant of low carb and both lost close to 4 stones.

Love the little experiments they do in between too.

(Doug) #3

Rob, agreed on the frequent difficulty, there, and that even if we don’t doubt the results of a calorie count, the effect is not necessarily predictable. On the “Calories Out” part, I think that we often don’t take excretion into account, nor that hormonal and metabolic changes may skew the equation vastly.

For 3 decades, I gained 5 pounds per year, when on a caloric basis I should have gained 5 pounds in a week, endless times. After eating a lot, there were times I’d feel warmer through the night - understandable if the body knows there’s extra fuel and “turns up the thermostat,” and/or is using extra energy just digesting all that stuff. Yet this didn’t go far in explaining where all those calories went without gaining weight faster. If some were going all the way through the digestive system without being burned or stored as fat, that too would go towards an explanation, but again it falls far short of balancing the equation. I think there is some mystery, still.

Unfortunately, it can work the other way as well, when we get much more balanced in metabolism, and weigh less - we may be frustratingly thrifty and efficient with calories, then.