Man goes on diet and loses weight. No fatty meat etc etc.
However, I think this might just have something to do with it:
I am lucky enough to live in France, in the Vosges, with their silent forests and trout-filled lakes, and most days, if the thunderstorms hold off, I walk for at least four hours, or swim or mountain bike for two. Meanwhile, everyone I know back in Britain seems to be getting unhealthier by the day.
Two to four hours exercise each day? Yup, that\’ll take the weight off, pretty much whatever you eat.
IIRC:
Weight gain/loss in lbs approx equal to: 3500 (calories in – calories burned) for the average person.
It’s calories absorbed minus calories burned.
That’s true, but it’s nothing like so simple.
Body weight and energy balance generally is controlled by a system of dozens, possibly hundreds of hormones and messages and complex feedback systems. Both calories in and calories out are actually tightly controlled – you eat getting on for a million calories a year, the balance is maintained to within 1 or 2 percent. We can’t even measure the energy content of foods to better than about 10%, so we’re certainly not doing that by conscious calorie counting. And people didn’t always have scales.
Every other biochemical balance is controlled. Sugar (unless you are a diabetic), salt, water, carbon dioxide, temperature, pH, potassium, nitrogen, and so on. Why would anyone imagine that something as vital as energy would not be?
Does anyone not know about the obesity paradox?
Starting out from my house, I can walk for ten miles through nice countryside, or along the coast. I can go for a swim in the sea, or pick wild blackberries in the hedgerows. I have everything I need for a slim and healthy lifestyle.
Ten miles out, I pop into the pub, and having trecked ten miles back, the chip shop hoves into view.
I’ve gained half a stone this year, and the chippy has gained about 30 quid as a direct result of my spartan lifestyle.
So I’m helping the economy while I exercise.