Calories in, calories out myth - debunked and a fantasy

According to a very interesting article called Diets fail because advice is wrong, say researchers which I came across on the BBC News website the other day, the "eat less and you will lose weight" mantra on which all dieting advice is based on today doesn't actually work.


What these diet companies, along with government bodies, and healthcare professionals are telling us (and have been telling us for years) is that if we reduce our daily intake by 500 calories then we can expect to lose 1lb (0.5kg) in weight every week. Therefore, the reasoning goes, if you stick at it for a year, you can lose 52lbs (23.5kg). The researchers have shown that it takes much longer to lose that kind of weight. Everything from our age, our genes and the type of food we eat will impact how much weight we lose and in what time frame. They've also shown the psychological impact of setting up people for failure by setting unrealistic and unachievable goals. It's what we call the Diet Mentality at Beyond Chocolate.

The part of the article which I found most troubling is an interview with Helen Bond, from the British Dietetic Association who, when asked about the calories in/calories out theory admitted,

"We all recommend it - it's what we are taught. But I don't know what the scientific evidence for it is. It's not very motivating to tell someone that if they cut their intake by 10 calories a day every day for the next three years they will lose a pound of weight. But saying 'cut out your daily habit of a 250-calorie chocolate bar and you will lose about 25 pounds and, if you stick at it, the weight will stay off' - that is.

Well, lots of Fairy dust to Helen for honesty.

I feel quite sorry for Helen. I have this image (which I'm sure is pure fantasy) of a bright, committed woman who is constantly frustrated at working in a medieval environment. Deep down she knows that telling people it's possible to lose 25lb in a year by eating a bit less chocolate - whoever we are and whatever our diet looks like beyond that chocolate bar - doesn't make sense. She can see with her own eyes that the calories in/calories out equation hasn't helped anyone. There have never been so many people on diets as there are today...and we've never been fatter. The old guard can cling on to their diet myths but Helen knows there's another way. Maybe she's heard of Beyond Chocolate! Maybe she is at this very moment plotting a new course for the British Dietetic Association, one which shuns calories altogether and embraces mindful eating. In fact, back in 2003 The Independent on Sunday published an article in which they quote Dr Wendy Doyle of the British Dietetic Association saying that "the Beyond Chocolate appraoch is pretty much spot on". So they've known all along.

Well, while I wait for this great day, I shall continue to fantasise about what this revolution would look like...

Can you imagine a government policy paper outlining the 10 Beyond Chocolate principles and being adopted by healthcare professionals across the land? Can you imagine millions of women meeting each week to practice tuning in, to learn how to eat when they are hungry, to eat foods they like, with mindfulness and enjoyment. Can you imagine these women talking, connecting, laughing, supporting each other, celebrating? Talking openly about their relationship with food. Can you imagine hundreds of millions of pounds being spent to fund local cookery clubs? Places where people can gather to cook and eat good meals. A place to taste new foods and be shown how to cook them. Hundreds of millions of pounds and government backing... just think of what Jamie Oliver manages to do with a fraction of that. Imagine thousands of mini Jamie's doing their thing up and down the country. Inspiring people to eat fresh, local food. Imagine a system of publicly funded allotment projects where you get free produce in return for putting in some elbow grease. A place where young and old can work side by side. Where age old green thumb tips get handed down. Imagine each neighborhood having as many public steam baths as there are libraries. Imagine women gathering to bathe and steam and lounge and chat. Hundreds of women of all shapes and sizes and colours, without their clothes, their makeup, their bags and shoes and jewellery. Just bodies. All beautiful. Imagine the school curriculum completely rewritten to include subjects such as 'Body Image' and 'Consumerism'. Programmes that give girls a place to talk about the changes going on their bodies in those critical teen years. A chance to ask questions, to exchange stories, to meet inspiring, older women who challenge the media's definition of beauty. Programmes that teach children about the mechanics of the consumer society, about supply and demand and the theories behind advertising and merchandising and PR. Generations of children being taught that as consumers they can vote with their wallets. Millions of children watching an advert for cereal and thinking: "Yeah, the Monkey's cool but that doesn't mean the cereal is too". Just imagine...

Ooooh! It is nice to indulge in a little fantasizing now and again. Post me your fantasies of a post diet world. We can collect them and be ready with the best ideas when Helen spearheads the revolution.

Woman's Hour Diet Special - A bit of a rant!

Today Woman's Hour dedicated the entire show to a dieting phone-in with the following premise:

"Are you a habitual dieter? What strategy has worked - or gone horribly wrong - for you? Why? How much have we been conditioned to think we have to watch our weight every minute of the day? And can dieting ever be the answer, or should we just learn to love ourselves the way we are?"

We know that quite a few Beyond Chocolaters called in to take part in the show (thank you to all of those of you who did, by the way, we appreciate your support HUGELY!) eager to talk about their experience and spread the word. They wanted to talk about how much better their lives were since they'd stopped dieting, how much more in control they felt about food and how they viewed their bodies in a completely different light. They wanted to talk about the fact there is another way -  the only viable alternative to dieting or 'just learning to love ourselves the way we are'. They know from experience that when we have a happy, healthy, balanced relationship with food and and our bodies - we reach a happy, healthy, balanced weight as a consequence. When we stop focussing on the symptom, which is the weight, we can start to make changes. When the researcher who screened their call to decide if they would be aired on the show or not asked how this had come about they went on to talk about Beyond Chocolate and how it had changed their approach to weight-loss completely. 

Result: none of them were aired because they were considered to be 'promoting a company'. Instead, Woman's Hour interviewed a real estate agent who had lost lots of weight and whose best tip for success was to 'eat less but don't deprive yourself and move more'. Then they talked to cognitive behavioral therapist (another man - Excuse me, this is WOman's Hour is it not?) who said some pretty reasonable things about the problem being our emotional attachment to food and then said that it would be great if 'people had downloads they could listen to when they get the urge to eat'. Of course, no mention was made of where those downloads could actually be found (pssst...we've got a few good ones here - the Stop Overeating and 1 Minute Mantra ones are just the ticket).

I'm sitting in front of my computer listening to this and thinking of the millions of women out there who have tuned in to listen with the hope of finding an alternative, of learning something new and inspiring so that they won't have to go on another diet doomed to failure or just give up and learn to live with being overweight and instead all they get is a real estate agent telling them to give up drinking and eat less so that they shrink their stomach....and I feel furious. 

Not because I want Woman's Hour to promote Beyond Chocolate so that we can get rich (that would be the day!) but just to break this cycle of talking absolute drivel every January and to give desperate dieters - and the growing number of women who have given up altogether - another way forward. There are thousands of women who have turned their lives around thanks to the Beyond Chocolate Principles - it's doable, realistic and we don't take the piss by ripping people off and selling false promises - it's absurd that more women don't know about it.

The media won't give Beyond Chocolate any air time because that would be a gross and unfair promotion of a money making business (What money?! I haven't paid myself a decent salary since I started 10 years ago - I do it because I'm passionate and determined to get the word out!). On the other hand, dieting companies like Weight Watchers and Lighter Life are busy making millions by infiltrating doctor's surgeries with glossy brochures and the National Obesity Taskforce....the mind boggles.

Rant over.

What is really the right amount to drink?

Melanie Flower, from Natural Healthcare, who came on our Professional Training Course last year has written a brilliant article which provides a definite answer to how much water to drink question - in a nutshell: be your own Guru! 

Inspired by Melanie's article, we have decided to launch a 'Be your own Guru' water containing, amongst other things,  pure extract of self awareness, over 12 different insights and a touch of common sense. Coming soon from your nereast tap.

Hopefully Melanie will approve...  Hop on over to her blog to read more about how to decide on the amount of water you need each day....