My New Year's resolution
was to lose 20 pounds by the end of 2014.

I only have 25 lbs to go.
 

Does weight-loss make fat people healthier?
          Not necessarily.

Is permanent weight-loss even possible for the majority of people? 
          No.

Since neither of these questions can be answered in the affirmative, what are fat people to do?

The Weight Loss paradigm is that fat people should feed their bodies less food than they need to survive in the hope that they will eat themselves and become smaller, and also healthier.

The Health at Every Size (HAES) paradigm is that people at every size can make behavior choices based on their own prioritization of health; the path they choose; and their current situation.

Research indicates that,… although there are never any guarantees and health is never entirely within our control, … working toward healthy behaviors is the best way for us to support our bodies, rather than, choosing to use food and movement in an attempt to manipulate one’s size while hoping that good health comes along for the ride.


What is Behavior-Centered Health?
          It is a health practice in which healthy choices and behaviors are the Goal, rather than a particular size, weight, or shape.

What is Health at Every Size?

1. Accepting and respecting the diversity of body shapes and sizes.
   
   
2. Recognizing that health and well-being are multi-dimensional and that they include physical, social, spiritual, occupational, emotional, and intellectual aspects.
   
   
3. Promoting all aspects of health and well-being for people of all sizes.
   
   
4. Promoting eating in a manner which balances individual nutritional needs, hunger, satiety, appetite, and pleasure.
   
   
5. Promoting individually appropriate, enjoyable, life-enhancing physical activity, rather than exercise that is focused on a goal of weight loss.

 
Much of the weight-loss and maintenance information available to us is both inaccurate and unhelpful. Like Dorothy of Oz and Alice of Wonderland, during my lifetime of research on those issues, I've seen some "weird shit".

Here in my DietHobby online scrapbook I work to sort out and save reasonably accurate information that might prove helpful to me and perhaps to others.

The article below deals with the issue of Energy In and Energy Out, which is not as simple as most people believe.

People have different body weights because each of them has an individual physiology and psychology which ultimately determines their own individual levels of "energy in" and "energy out" AND which also determines how their own individual bodies respond to it. 

A snapshot of the unaveraged data contained in scientific research of Individual BMR or RMR (metabolism rates) bears a strong resemblance to a blood spatter pattern at a violent crime scene. Metabolism rates are all over the place, but these widely varying numbers are then averaged out to create the calculations we see formulas like Harris-Benedict, Mifflin, etc.  An Average is a Statistical number for mathematical convenience. It is not an accurate number for Everyone, and sometimes is not even accurate for Anyone ... similar to the following joke: 

A biologist, a chemist, and a statistician are out hunting.  The biologist shoots at a deer and misses fifteen feet to the left, the chemist takes a shot and misses fifteen feet to the right, and the statistician yells "We got 'em!"

People the same sex, age, and size can take in the same amount of "energy" and do their best to engage in the same amount of activity, but wind up with very different weight results. 

In tightly controlled feeding studies, the same absolute amount of extra calories can result in very different amounts of weight gain. Also, the exact same amount of caloric deficit will result in widely different amounts of weight loss. 

In general, this basic fact of human nature is overlooked, or ignored. 

Here is a recent article by obesity specialist, Dr. Sharma addressing this problem. 

Why The Energy Balance Equation ...