Seven Myths About Obesity
With an epidemic as widespread as obesity, there is bound to be a misconception or two on how to treat it. The New England Journal of Medicine published a list of seven common beliefs about obesity that are not supported by sound scientific evidence.
Small changes = big results
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Myth: Cutting a few extra calories or walking a little bit more each day will yield a lot of weight loss over time.
Fact: This claim relies on the half-century-old formula that 3,500 calories equals one pound of weight. That assumes that the rate at which the body burns calories will remain the same as you lose weight, which is not true.
As the body loses weight and becomes more efficient, it uses less energy (calories) to sustain itself. This means that the 250 calories you cut from your diet when you were 200 pounds will not have the same effect on your body when you’re down to 150 pounds.
This is not to say that you should stop making small changes to help you lose weight. But when you do so, realize that the more weight you lose, the more changes you’ll need to make to keep losing it.
