Counting Calories
January 31, 2024
It seems like weight loss is back in style these days. Articles on the subject permeate beyond traditional magazines and now make it into sections of publications like the Wall Street Journal (the consequence of weight loss drugs making the pursuit very lucrative for drug companies). Despite being all the social rage, many Americans struggle with weight loss. Sure, those with means can now look to the likes of Wegovy and Ozempic, but many cannot afford those drugs or fear potential side effects. Besides, if weight loss goals coincide with building muscle or a more athletic physique, the old adage goes, “Abs are made in the kitchen!” If going at it without these “miracle” drugs, tackling weight loss goals, even with the support of calorie counting apps and exercise routine organizers, can be incredibly challenging.
The simple reality is, especially for those who find themselves most in need of doing it, dieting is hard. First, dieters have to decide on a healthy, sustainable calorie figure to stick to. If that wasn’t challenging enough, actually putting that goal into practice can be a whole other beast. Tracker apps, like MyFitnessPal, can help dieters understand what their nutrition looks like for the day, but they cannot prevent the sometimes inescapable allure of indulging. Even further, it can be difficult to estimate the nutritional values of a given meal, so the accuracy of what is being tracked will always be in doubt.
Even if somebody does successfully shed weight, keeping it off is far from smooth sailing. Daniel Engber of Scientific American notes, “Research suggests that roughly 80% of people who shed a significant portion of their body fat will not maintain that degree of weight loss for 12 months; and, according to one meta-analysis of intervention studies, dieters regain, on average, more than half of what they lose within two years.” While that data can be discouraging, if somebody is truly set on meeting their health goals, they need the determination and discipline to be part of the 20%.
With the turn of the New Year, many Americans have weight loss resolutions on their mind. A month in, quite a few of them might be finding sustained implementation difficult. Dieting and counting calories are certainly not easy, but how many things worth doing are? Of course, for those who find dieting alone too challenging, recent medical discoveries have yielded the “Ozempic” option.