Majority of Low-Carb Dieters are in 'Calorie Denial'
 

Have just come across this press release which is being sent out by the Slim-Fast Foods Company:


Majority of Low-Carb Dieters are in 'Calorie Denial'Thursday May 6, 5:20 am ET
- Two New Surveys Reveal Startling But Surmountable Disconnect Between Doctors and Low Carb Dieters on Key to Weight Loss Success -


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifty-two percent (52%) of Americans trying to reduce their carbohydrate intake see no need for counting calories, believing they can lose weight and keep it off by cutting carbs alone, according to a national survey of 1,000 consumers commissioned by Slim-Fast Foods Company. The results show most low-carb dieters are in a state of "calorie denial." According to the majority of doctors (76%) interviewed in a separate survey, this attitude can hurt chances for long-term weight loss success.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040506/NYTHFNS2 )
Experts reviewing the data are concerned by the attitudinal disconnect given the FDA's announcement in mid-March of its "Calories Count" approach, which underscores the need to control calories when managing weight. The report issued by the FDA's Obesity Working Group includes recommendations calling for more accurate food labeling, consumer education on healthy eating and weight management, and for restaurants to provide calorie and nutrition information. The FDA report and the physician survey point to the critical role doctors can play in combating obesity by helping consumers identify weight loss strategies that make it easier to control calories.

"Americans are under tremendous pressure to lose weight," said behavioral psychologist Dr. John Foreyt of Baylor College of Medicine. "As a result, people are willing to believe what defies science -- the notion that cutting carbs without cutting calories will generate lasting weight loss. The reality is, it is still important to control calories when following a low carb diet or any other type of diet."

Slim-Fast Foods Company is committed to helping educate consumers about the efficacy of calorie control, based on the company's 25 years of extensive research, including over 20 clinical studies on its weight loss plan. To provide low carb dieters with an effective strategy for losing weight and keeping it off, the company is in the midst of rolling out a whole new line of great-tasting Slim-Fast Meals and Snacks for use as part of a low carb diet. The new line offers low carb dieters the same calorie controlled, nutritious, variety that has helped millions achieve long-term success by following its clinically proven plan.

Leading health experts, such as Dr. George L. Blackburn, MD, PhD, are also encouraged by the FDA's renewed "Calories Count" approach and commitment to consumer education. "Consumers don't always know which low carb foods will benefit a weight control diet unless they can count the calories," underscores Blackburn, Director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School. "People on low carb diets first need to count calories to lose weight and thus follow the FDA's advice."

While Slim-Fast found the results of the two surveys startling, the company believes the disconnect between consumers and doctors is surmountable and is committed to helping consumers achieve a clear understanding of the importance of calorie control in achieving long-term weight loss success.

Additional Survey Findings

Do calories matter when you are going low carb?

* Consumers Say: Almost half (46%) of low carb dieters trying to reduce
their carbs are confident they can lose weight by just cutting carbs
without cutting calories.

* Doctors Say: 86% of doctors say it is important to reduce calories on a
low-carb diet. And 63% of doctors are concerned that their patients
following a low carb diet are not reducing their calories.

Can you lose weight and keep it off without cutting calories?

* Consumers Say: Over half (52%) of those on a low carb diet believe
that they can lose weight and keep it off long-term by cutting carbs,
but not cutting calories.

* Doctors Say: The vast majority of doctors (76%) say that a diet that
cuts carbs without also cutting calories will not be successful long
term.

Does portion control matter when you are going low carb?

* Consumers Say: One-third (34%) of low carb dieters believe that they
do not need to control portion size.

* Doctors Say: 83% of doctors say it is extremely or very important to
control portion sizes while on a low carb diet. 61% of doctors are
concerned that their patients following a low carb diet are not
controlling their portion sizes as well.


Should people following a low carb diet worry about getting all of the essential nutrients their body needs?

* Consumers Say: Over half (55%) of those trying to reduce their carbs do not worry about getting all the essential nutrients they need in their
diets.

* Doctors Say: 95% of doctors say it is important to get essential
nutrients when following a low carb diet. 45% of doctors are
extremely concerned that their patients following a low carb diet are
not getting the essential nutrients they need.



http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040506/nythfns2_1.html

You mean they are committed to selling us their crappy meal-in-a-can food.



This is really rich considering they are they ones that are in denial. They deny that something as complex as human digestion can be modeled after something as simple as burning a substance in a laboratory and measuring how much heat it gives.

Not to say that calories don't matter one bit. They do. But a lot of low-carbers can get away with eating a significant amount of calories more and still loose weight or maintain than they could when eating carbs.


They should study this instead of stubbornly insisting that it defies the laws of physics.

I agree Angeline. Personally, I'm now following a low-cal/low-carb regimen. That's because I found that as far as weight-reduction goes, calories, for me, do count. However, IMO, carbs, not calories, count when I am maintaining. When maintiaining, too many carbs will give my body the insulin it needs to store fat, whereas, if I control carbs, my body won't have the excess insulin to use for fat storage.

For those of us who have been fat for most of our lives, our bodies have become very efficient at storing fat, so for us, maintenance requires that we continue to keep our carbs low. And that amount varies from person to person.

I have found this out for myself through anecdotal experience. I have been in a "stall" for almost two years. Looking back on it, it goes like this:

1. When I started LC, I did actually reduce my calories without realizing it, and I reduced my carbs and lost weight.
2. My stall started when my calorie intake matched my body's requirement to maintain my current weight. I could eat more calories than I needed and not gain weight, but I wasn't eating fewer.
3. So I was stalled. During that period, I occassionally upped my carbs in an attempt to jump-start my weightloss. This actually caused me to put on a little weight. As long as I kept my carbs down, I would not gain weight, but I also did not lose.
4. Now I am incorporating low-cal into my low-carb regimen and my weight is on the way down again.
5. When I get where I want to be, I'll stop worrying about calories, but I will always watch my carbs. And because my body is so well trained to store fat, I will never be able to eat the amount of carbs someone who has not had an IR problem is able to eat.

It's all related. And what I see in the scientific community is an attitude that it has to be one thing -- that there's one magic key -- and most of time it's either fat or calories. I think it's fat, carbs, protein, and calories. If you can figure out how to manage all four so they work for your body, you have your own personal key. And it's different for everyone.

I think carbs are more important than calories as well.

That said, I do think it's important not to overeat. I am an emotional eater, and eating when you are not hungry and indulging in excess on low carb treats is just not healthy in my opinion.

So what I'm doing (I'm on the Four Corners Diet), is I'm keeping my net carbs to 40 (I don't count low starch veggies, so it's really more than that), and I'm working on eating until I'm satisfied but not stuffed, and not eating for emotional reasons. Hopefully this alone will lower my caloric intake. Also, I don't count minute things like coffee, spices, herbs, cream, etc. like some folks do. So that ups my carbs a bit as well.

I counted calories for years and years and now have a horrible aversion to it, so I'm using the "tricks" mentioned above to lower my intake.

I do agree that the main thing is keeping the carbs down, but even too much of a good thing (too many low carb portions) will stall you. Even Atkins said to eat until you are satisfied, not Thanksgiving stuffed.

That said, I love low carbing and the health benefits I have derived from it. I'll never quit! I am losing very slowly (1 pound a month), but hey, that's 12 pounds gone in a year! Some would give up, but not me, I feel so good, I'm in this for life!

My experience has been calories still matter. No matter how few carbs I eat, I won't lose weight if I eat too many calories.

I actually agree with this article. I think a lot of low carbers are in denial about it, they're blaming their lack of weightloss on everything *but* excess calories.

However, the combination of low cal and low carb is a winner because low carb makes it possible to cut your calories without suffering from hunger.

I agree, I needed lower calories to lose weight, and maintain! The key however is that my experience is that low carb helps with appetite control, which leads to lower calories without effort. In other words, I am not fighting my hunger response all day, I am just naturally eating less.

brobin

The most dramatic example I know is my mother, who was eating under 1000 a day, and not losing weight.

By switching to Atkins, her calories went up to 1600-1800, and she lost weight.

She's a calorie counter from way back...she can do it in her sleep. So I have no room to doubt her.

I just don't know what science would say.

I'd really like to understand better what is happening inside your body when you lose weight. There's so many things that could account for a perceived lack of weight loss like retaining water, building muscle, constipation and so on. Just stepping on the scales tells you almost nothing about what is going on. I hear a lot of theories, like fat cells filling with water then emptying, or eating carbs you carry around a larger store of water, but I never have really heard of anyone studying this or publishing the mechanics of it.

I love these articles.

I get 2200-2500 calories per day and have lost 50lbs in 3 months.

Obviously I'm starving...

I do think a lot of low carbers are in calorie denial.

Some people walk away from reading Dr. Atkins NDR thinking this is a diet that allows one to eat as much as they want whenever they want, so long as they watch carbs. For many people, it's simply not true. Even Dr. Atkins says this. If you are hungry you should eat until satisfied but do not eat until fully stuffed.

In other words, if you want to lose weight, you should be feeling a "lightness" in your stomach most of the day. This is not the same thing as hunger, but rather you should be in a state of "non-hunger"... not hungry, but not "full" either. A surprising number of low carbers do things like force themselves to eat to lose weight, or eat as much as they want and they don't realize the calories could be stalling them. It's kinda crazy IMO.

Millions have achieved long-term success using the Slim Fast plan? Where on earth do all these people live? I know an awful lot of folks who have tried it, but none have managed to stick with it for more than 2 weeks and none of them are any slimmer for having tried it. Talk about a diet where you regain all the weight you lost as soon as you go off it.... :p

Lies, damn lies & statistics!

I hate this type of article, not because of what it is trying to say but the lousy way they try to justify it.

If 55% of consumers do not worry about getting the essential nutrients, then 45% do worry about it.

If 45% of doctors are concerned their patients aren't getting enough of the essential nutrients, then 55% of them aren't concerned.

Same percentage here people! Quit trying to re-phrase it so that consumers look stupid!

And throwing in the 95% of doctors saying getting all your essential nutrients is important is just stupid, other than the fact that I wouldn't want to have one of the 5% of doctors who doesn't think getting essential nutrients is important as my doctor!

As for the calories issue, I think it's quite plain and already proven through recent studies that if calories do matter, a diet low in carbohydrates means that they matter less than they do on a high carbohydrate diet.

Personally, I believe calories matter. But, it would be a moot point without my low-carb diet because without it, I can't reduce my calories for any significant period of time without it leading to a binge/relapse back to old eating patterns. And I'm sure that low carbing means that we can eat more calories than those who just cut calories but are still eating high carb.

Valerie

One thing to keep in mind is that when you are very heavy, you can eat a lot and lose weight, because you need a lot of calories. When I was over 200 pounds, I was eating 2200 to 3000 calories and losing weight easily (I did exercise too). However, I really stalled around 190. To lose the last 15, I really needed to cut back the calories and ramp the exercise.

On maintenance, I need to keep the calories below 2500 and exercise or I gain weight.

brobin

The only time calories don't matter, IMHO, is during induction. You need to concentrate on breaking the carb addiction and "resetting" your system. Even Dr A touches on decreased appetite/fewer calories/faster loss... but I think a LOT of people take this free rein during induction as license to overeat for the duration. Yes, SOME can eat 3,000 calories a day and still lose, but I'd wager they'd be the minority.

If I keep my carbs under control, my calories typically stay low as well. It just seems proportional to me, and I average 1300 calories a day (and I need to get some more in).