Fear of Less Food? Seriously?
Cooper wrote this comment yesterday that has been ringing in my head ever since: “I had to train myself that nothing bad was going to happen to me if I just ate less!”
What Are You Afraid of Anyway?
This is a telling line about the bang up job the diet and fitness marketers have done spreading lies about the ‘dangers’ of eating less. This is nothing more than pure fear mongering, it’s socially irresponsible, it’s deceitful and it really does ruin people’s lives.
This problem is so systemic that even well intentioned health care practitioners are also promoting this sort of unfounded ‘danger’ (as we discussed in this previous post ->Does Your Doctor Know Best)
In fact it’s not a stretch to suggest that the entire supplement and modern healthy food movement is entirely based and dependent upon this fear. And as we’ve discussed this fear even gets in the way of personal and family relationships precisely at the moment when someone overcomes this fear (but the others haven’t).
If the mass population accepted the fact that their weight loss issues (and most if not all of their lifestyle health risk factors) would be solved by eating less food (and doing some…any exercise) what value would a ‘healthy food’ or supplement be?
Would anyone ever buy a supplement to help with their weight loss or general health? Would anyone actually seek out and pay a premium for organic, or low fat options, or whole grain or high fiber or vitamin enriched options or whatever other BS is being peddled in the name of health?
Not likely.
Most of the ‘nutrition’ industry is dependent on a mass fear of eating less. Unfortunately this completely destroys most people’s ability to enjoy food at all…instead eating becomes an event wrapped in waves of guilt and personal shame.
You’ve got to hand it to them…they’ve done a masterful job of bending our minds in the effort to sell more useless products…They’ve managed to take one of the most pleasurable and fun things in life (FOOD) and make you feel completely crappy about it…and then of course they are standing there with the solution to make you feel better (insert healthy food item, supplement etc…)
However. Once you remove the fear of eating less (as many of you have experienced) food becomes fun again and we can eat what we like and still be satisfied and proud of our bodies too.
John
34 Responses to “Fear of Less Food? Seriously?”
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March 11th, 2010 at 10:56 am
This is so true John. I’ve recently experienced this myself as I have adjusted my diet and exercise routines. Yeah sure, because I did drop 24lbs in my first 6 weeks or so of my new routine some people were worried that I wasn’t eating adequately, but I definitely was. I just wasn’t overeating like I did before. I wasn’t hungry, my nutrition was probably the best that it had ever been in my life, and I felt great.
Along a similar topic I wish that calorie estimates on foods would come from more than bomb calorimetry experiments, because that isn’t how the human body works. Sure part of this is factored into things like using your BMR to estimate your caloric intake but we don’t process our food as a straight up combustion, it takes energy and some foods more than others. You touched on this with your post on alcohol consumption awhile back, and how the caloric content isn’t really very accurate at all. I think everyone could do with having a better (scientific) knowledge of this subject. But the nutrition industry is dominated by people out to make a quick buck.
March 11th, 2010 at 11:10 am
John, what are you doing to stay distracted on the days you eat less. I can cut like 500 cals a day, and I can do ESE, but I get distracted at work in the morning
March 11th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Anthony,
I do you mean that you start thinking about food and want to eat more?
You gotta find other things to do…if you’re not busy with work then you have to occupy your thoughts with something else, something you enjoy…if you’re missing the enjoyment of food, then you’ll need to replace it with something else enjoyable.
JB
March 11th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Thanks John for the answer yesterday. I forgot that shoulder measurements also included increased growth in the back and chest. By the way your pics look great, mabey a little to skinny.
(just joking)
Keep up the great work.
Ryan
March 11th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
I fear to eat less (but I do) , because i think i will lost all my muscle. I can’t help, this is so deeply in my mind that I cant think and believe the opposite.
March 11th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Hey John,
Your point regarding Michelle Obama was very correct. You could also say that the American society in general is over consumers in more than just food.
There whole economy is based on consuming more than what they really need. Example: 2 cars vs. 1 car families, 3000 square foot homes vs. 1500 square foot homes. In reality, what the President should be saying is “consume less people”. Of course every retailer in the USA would have him out of office in no time. The point is the truth hurts. American’s large spending spree and deficit will never get truly fixed until the politicians tell the citizens to spend less. John, maybe you should run for President. It’s easy for you to say less is better. (Barban for President) you got my vote. Of course I can’t vote due to being a Canadian
Take care,
Ryan.
March 11th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
John, did my massive Facebook rants on the futility of Michelle’s campaign inspire that article yest. just checking
March 11th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Ryan,
I can’t run for president cuz I live in canada. I suppose I could run for prime minister…canada isn’t much better than the US. I think the US government and the federal reserve are causing a depression right now and just making things categorically worse than it should be…and we’re stuck following suit to some degree.
Everyone in north america is living on borrowed money and time…and it’s going to completely fall apart around us when more of the baby boomers retire and there is no money to go around to take care of them.
As soon as the government gets its dirty hands off of our money we can get to work taking care of people who need it, instead of wasting money on bureaucrats who just spend time fumbling around wasting even more money on ineffective programs nobody ever asked for.
As you might have noticed I’m a free market capitalist and I see no value in a government that obtains revenue via coercive taxation.
Researching economics is my amateur hobby (although I’m feeling the serious urge to obtain a degree in it now)…nutrition and exercise is my area of expertise…but it seems more and more that knowing anything about nutrition or exercise is kind of pointless if you can’t apply the economics of how it gets distributed to the masses. Hence the point of that post and why nobody will ever hear the message of EAT LESS.
JB
March 11th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
John,
At the end of the day when you have a Prime Minister or President saying we should be out spending vs. saving we have major problems.
Just like food retailers won’t say please eat less. Of course that’s bad for business, but who cares, it great for the abs.
John you said yesterday that a shoulder width of 51 was achievable for me. Being that I weigh 162 pounds does that mean I would have to gain 10 to 15 pound to reach that goal? You say that it’s very difficult to gain more than 10 pounds (naturally) on average.
Just wondering,
ryan
March 11th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
John,
From reading your blog for a while, it’s pretty clear that weight loss is just a matter of eating less. Pretty simple.
What about if someone wants to improve their health. To make it more concrete say traditional health markers from a blood test. In that case, would they be better off cutting down on sugar and sweets and eating more fruits and vegetables (assuming they’re already doing ESE) or would it not make much of a difference? Is it also just a matter of eating less in this instance also?
Would a person doing ESE who cut out sugar from his diet have significantly better health markers than if he hadn’t?
Thanks
March 11th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Ryan,
Don’t get caught up on ‘weight gain’ vs ‘muscle gain’. Remember that 50% of your muscle mass is in your legs, so to weigh the same as me at the same body fat % (assuming you’re my height and somatotype) you would also have to have the same size legs. This is why body weight is a poor indicator of your AI ratio.
Just focus on your measurements…you might not get to my exact size, but you might also have a smaller waist than me etc…
Just focus on training and building your muscles as big as possible (forget about body weight)…I believe that our genetic limit for muscle size is also very close if not right on our golden AI ratio.
JB
March 11th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Wow, John. Didn’t expect you to go all Wealth of Nations on us
Amusing, though… keep it coming!
The only time I fear eating less is if I do two workouts in a day, or before a race or soccer match. But, once you get used to eating less, it takes far less food to fill you up, so . . . bonus on that.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Tim,
That is a great question and I am one step ahead of you. I just got a check up done and my blood taken yesterday…as soon as the results are in I will post them on my blog.
Eating less total calories and losing bodyfat has been shown to improve just about every measurable marker of health you can think of…even in the absence of exercise. It appears that just being at a low bodyfat percentage from a low calorie diet is all that you need to do. The actual composition of those calories hardly matter.
I have paid no attention to the type of food I ate during my weight loss over the past 6 months…so I will be a perfect test subject for your question.
So far I can tell you that my resting blood pressure is 105/61…so this is on the lower end of what is deemed ‘normal’. In other words, most people who are physically active and in good health would likely be in this range.
My resting hear rate is about 65 (which is rated as ‘good’…which is two levels better than ‘average’…’above average is in between ‘average’ and ‘good’)
So based on these two simple numbers I seem very healthy/fit.
Next up is all my blood work data…I asked them to check as many things as possible. Once I have the results I’ll report in on all of them.
If you’re curious about your own numbers go book a physical and get all of these things tested on yourself too. Seeing my numbers might be a decent guide, but you’ll never know what is going on in your body until YOU go a get tested.
JB
March 11th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Andrew,
Nothing to fear as far as exercise…a friend of mine ran a half marathon while she was 45 hours fasted…she also played a soccer game and a hockey game during those 45 hours.
Food intake is almost never a limiting factor to exercise performance…it’s all in your head. As soon as you let go of that fear you’ll be fine.
JB
March 11th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Thanks John.
Looking foward to your next post.
Ryan
March 11th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
If you’re running low on muscle glycogen, isn’t it quicker to ingest carbs to refuel than to wait for your fat stores to be converted? That’s what I fear. I don’t fear working out fasted, but I do find that I run down a bit more in the 2nd half if I don’t take in at least a little fuel.
March 11th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
John, I have to apply ur advice since I’m having 24 hours of physical work, 2 AI workouts and 2 fasts during next 4 days. I know I know it isn’t hardcore like a half marathon, a soccer game and a hockey game while fasting is
Props to ur friend!
March 11th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
John, that statement got me, too! It really sums up the whole situation nicely. A real gem, Cooper.
I’ve never taken a supplement for weight loss or muscle building, but I do take some supplements just to avoid vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I don’t know how much Vitamin D and K I get in my diet, for example, so I supplement them. Do you think that’s unnecessary? I don’t stuff my face with as many vegetables as I possibly can (I like baby carrots and steamed broccoli, but I don’t ingest a large quantity of them,) so I don’t know how many nutrients I really get from my diet. I figure it’s good “insurance,” so to speak.
March 11th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Jordan,
You probably aren’t doing yourself any harm with those vitamins…as long as it’s not a burden to your pocketbook it’s fine. I’d just say be cautious not to get carried away with it and start adding more and more things to your supplement routine.
In most industrialized countries we all get more than enough nutrients and there is rarely a need to supplement any more.
JB
March 11th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Andrew, what kind of race? If performance is an issue then yeah keep a gatorade around…but in general sports like soccer are intermittent enough that glycogen/glucose shouldn’t be a limiting factor.
Do a test on yourself. Try one game with and one game fasted without gatorade and other with and see how much different you feel. (keep a gatorade around for both, but try not to use it in the first one)
JB
March 11th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Thanks, John. I don’t take too many, and I definitely don’t “mega dose.” Just a handful of basic vitamins and minerals. And most importantly, I don’t have any unrealistic expectations, like weight loss, muscle building, cure for cancer, blah blah blah.
March 11th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
A little off topic, but this comment addresses what John and others have said about how unsuccessful dieters view the successful weight loss of others.
I’m probably only 3 pounds or so away from 10% body fat. When I tell people that I’m dieting, I get puzzled looks and comments such as “Why are you dieting? You’re skinny.”
I’ve found the best way to reply is to tell them that my goal is to reach 10% body fat and explain that this is a percentage where a person can see a six-pack as long as he has developed his muscles. Everyone seems to understand as if this is a socially acceptable reason to eat less.
I’m wondering if others have had similar experiences.
March 11th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Eddie,
yeah it seems that if you give them a more specific goal, almost a technical experiment type of goal like yours then it makes more sense to them…but if you just say that you want to lose a bit more weight they might not understand what for…especially if you are already much leaner than they are.
JB
March 11th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
A little off topic, but interesting nonetheless – probably more related to Brad’s post about ‘Did low-fat Fail?’, but a major added benefit of eating less is simply that the world has to produce less calories to feed people. There are enough calories produced on Earth to feed everybody on it each and every day – the problem lies with distribution. For further info http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_barber_how_i_fell_in_love_with_a_fish.html
March 12th, 2010 at 12:59 am
I have probably spent the last 7 years on a bodybuilder nightmare of bulking and cutting. Just in the last 2 months when I found your site have I realized that 2 things I have been told is completely false…………
1. If you dont eat every so many hours your metabolism will slow to a crawl……
2. If you dont consume enough calories you will lose muscle mass….
So I tried 2 months ago to try something new since I was not getting anywhere with what I was doing.
STOP EATING SO DAMN MUCH FOOD!!!!!
and guess what…..I am losing weight, waist is smaller and still have pretty much the same strength levels…….
If anyone had the fear of less food it was me and to be honest I look and feel 10 times better.
John,,,,,,,heres another one that I did for years that I heard on the bodybuilding sites…
Eating breakfast will help you body burns fat more efficient…..
Now I only eat breakfast if I feel hungry but I would say 4 days out of the week I dont even eat breakfast.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Al,
The bodybuilding/fitness/diet culture has caused the same problem you had in so many other people. And now it’s getting out into the mainstream population…eat breakfast, eat 7 times per day, bulk and cut, eat massive amounts of protein for muscle, yadda yadda…there isn’t a shred of scientific evidence to any of these claims…and when any of this garbage gets studied in a good scientific trial it gets proven false.
Thanks for sharing and enjoy your new life. Feels good to finally be out of the woods on this stuff doesn’t it!
John
March 12th, 2010 at 10:50 am
I’m in my 5th year of maintaining a large weight-loss, weighing around 115 lbs, after a lifetime of obesity…(high of 271 lbs).
I have a “petite” build in that I am female, 5’0″, and medium-small boned.
I am also over 60 years old and have a rather sedentary life-style by choice.
My BMI is 22.5
I am not muscular nor lean…(nor do I wish to be).
Due to the above-facts, my daily calorie burn to maintain my current weight is quite a small amount.
The charts estimate that I have a RMR of 988.
Although a daily intake averaging 1200 calories causes me weight-gain,
I’ve received negative comments from a great many online “Experts”
who
refuse to understand or accept that the bodies of small, older, inactive females
don’t require a lot of food..especially when it involves a “reduced obese” person.
(15% to 20% less exercise burn according to research of Dr. Leibel, Columbia University….
which BTW, is an issue which I would love to hear you and Brad Pilon discuss sometime in one of your podcasts.)
Anyway, during my online participation in various weight-loss forums,
…because I work very hard to keep my daily average food intake is low enough to maintain my current weight,…
people frequently tell me that I “need to watch out that I don’t develop Anexoria”…
I was even told this in a “private” message by a 370 lb female,
who appeared to be terrified for me,
despite the fact that I would have to weigh below 90 lbs to achieve a BMI of under 17.6 (the official Anexoria BMI).
In fact I weigh 25 lbs above the criteria for that diagnosis,
and would have to lose about 28% of my total bodyweight to achieve it.
Fear of undereating, and
Fear of Anexoria….so common among the Obese,
but the Anexoria Reality involves such a small percentage of the population.
I must admit I was amused by the late great George Carlin’s statement: “Anexoria..What kind of goddamn disease is this anyway? “I don’t wanna eat!”, “Well, go fuck yourself.”
Another podcast I would find interesting would be a discussion on the intense Marketing of eating disorders,
by drug companies, and psycholgical treatment, medical facilities, etc.
as well as the generalized definition of “disordered” eating…
which now includes EDNOS…”Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified”.
March 12th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Phyllis,
Congrats on your weight loss. And yes people are very scared of eating low calorie…it might be the biggest misconception of all in the health arena.
You know better than anyone else how many calories you need to maintain your current weight…so anyone who tries to tell you otherwise or talk you out of it or scare you into eating more can politely go EFF themselves! I got your back Phyllis!
I think you’ll like my latest post on BMI charts.
Also I like your suggestions for the podcast topics and I think we’ll tackle both of them in the near future.
An interesting note that might help you when you get tangled up in discussions about calories (I suggest just avoiding the conversations all together)…the minimum number of calories most adult humans need in order to hit minimum requirements for protein, carbs and fats to avoid deficiency only adds up to approximately 800 calories per day…anything above that is just to maintain whatever bodysize seems to fit for you.
So don’t worry at all about eating 900 or 1000 calories per day…that is perfectly fine.
Two girls I work with are in their early 20′s and are vigorously active runners who play sports and weight train and both of them only eat 1200-1400 calories per day (and have fantastic bodies)…so it’s perfectly reasonable that you are significantly lower than they are.
Please by all means keep the podcast suggestions coming.
JB
March 12th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
800 calories. Fascinating! Not that I would try to eat that little on a regular basis, maybe occasionally, but that’s very, very interesting to know. This is the kind of stuff we’re not going to hear anywhere else.
March 12th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
John…….I will tell you what really pisses me off is I have worked my ass off with cardio and weight and by no means an I out of shape or fat but I have never been able to achieve that “lean” look and if you really look around at bodybuilders and weightlifters is that sure they are strong and can lift but they are really no much more that “fat” strong bodybuilders. I would have to say that probably less than 5% of them ever get lean enough to actually look decent. I was in this same group. So after seeing your site I decided to change things up and instead of working out 6 days a week and eating because I was scared of losing muscle…….I decided to cut the workouts to 3 or 4 days a week……trying to get better sleep…….fasting 2 days a week and then just eating conservative on the days I am not fasting.
I have found that I am losing fat……..sleeping a lot better probably due to not being sore every day of the week and also not digesting food around the clock…..
Whats funny is I always was eating a good clean diet but probably getting in around 3000 to 4000 calories a day…….even though 90% were clean calories…..I was still getting pudgy……
March 12th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Al,
Isn’t it wonderful to not always feel full all the time as well?? That constant bloated feeling. Since I started fasting, its amazing how I can go hours without food (even on my eating days) without even thinking about it. I actually enjoy that slight feeling of hunger, or simply the feeling of having an empty stomach now. It’s so nice to not feel like I have to scour around for something to eat at the first sign of even the slightest hunger pang.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:08 am
I think we need to do a “rephrase”…
Instead of “fasting”… lets just call it “taking a break from eating”
(ala Pilon, who wishes he would have thought of this a few years ago)
B
March 15th, 2010 at 12:24 am
Hi John,
Ive been an avid follower of your blog, and have been following ESE for the past year.
I just got started in the personal training industry, currently working at a commercial gym. Your blog has really given me perspective on informed training and proven results and methods verses fitness trends and fad diets and exercises.
I came across this article on yahoo, I thought you might enjoy reading it.
In a nutshell, the study showed what should have been obvious in the first place. The best way to control diabetes was diet (=lose weight) and exercise
I subscribe to many medical and fitness journals, and I find it ironic that NO study ever likes to say “lose weight” or “eat less” but DIET and Exercise is recommended all the time.
It seems as though society has a problem even suggesting that people should lose weight through less eating.
Just my thoughts on the matter
March 15th, 2010 at 5:23 am
Not too sure how I found this blog but glad I did find it. Think I was looking for something else on google. Don’t know I agree 100% with what you say, but have bookmaked and will pop back to read to see if you add any more posts. Good blog