Many women today seem really focused on what the scale says, getting hung up on the numbers instead of thinking about their overall health. A common belief is that counting calories and balancing how much you eat with how much you burn off is the way to go. People often think if you eat less and exercise more, you’ll lose weight. This has led to the idea that a diet with low fat and whole grains is the way to get healthier.
The problem is, these ideas aren’t as solid as they sound. For instance, programs like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig focus on cutting calories and tracking food intake. While this can help with accountability, the overall philosophy isn’t foolproof. Calorie-reduced diets might work temporarily, but many people end up gaining the weight back eventually. Plus, while exercise does burn calories, it also tends to increase appetite, which can lead to eating more and getting caught in a cycle.
What we often overlook is that proteins, fats, and carbohydrates serve different roles in our bodies. Proteins help with cell function, fats are crucial for hormone production and cell structure, and carbs provide immediate energy. If carbs aren’t needed right away, they’re stored in fat cells for later use.
The whole idea of calories in versus calories out doesn’t fully explain why people gain weight. Comparing this to a restaurant that gets crowded, merely saying that more people are entering than leaving doesn’t explain why it’s happening—like if there’s a big game nearby or a special event drawing people in. The same goes for counting calories; it’s nearly impossible to be precise enough to avoid gaining weight over time, as even a slight imbalance adds up over the years.
So what really affects weight gain or loss? It’s more about how hormones interact with the food we eat. Hormones play a huge role, influenced by everything from fats needed for hormone creation to the insulin spikes from carbs.
Interestingly, professional athletes like sumo wrestlers gain weight on high-carb diets, which is the opposite of the typical advice for weight loss. It’s also been hard for researchers to get people to gain weight on diets consisting mostly of meat.
Instead of focusing on dietary fats as the culprit, it makes more sense to examine how excess carbs and insulin contribute to weight gain. High-carb diets increase insulin levels, which promote fat storage, and both obesity and diabetes are linked to heart disease. This makes it clear that managing carbs might be more crucial than reducing fat.
Focusing solely on weight can also be demotivating. It is useful in the beginning as a marker of progress when changing eating and exercise habits, but over time, it doesn’t reflect true health gains. People with serious health issues are typically more motivated to make lasting changes and often see the most weight loss, even if that wasn’t their main goal. Meanwhile, those fixated on the scale might feel more stressed and less successful, leading to unhealthy eating habits.
If you need a way to track progress, consider taking measurements or photos instead of relying on the scale. This approach gives a clearer picture of how your body is changing.
The article reinforces the idea that it’s important to consult with a healthcare professional before making health decisions, and it encourages readers to share their thoughts on moving away from scale-based assessments to different methods of tracking their health journey.
