The calorie theory

Apparently American women are struggling to lose weight because they take in more calories than they expend.  Really?  If 59% of American women are actively trying to lose weight, yet the obesity statistics are still rising, then either most American women trying to lose weight are simply taking in too many calories, or as fast as they’re succeeding, more women are putting on weight to take their place.

This just doesn’t make sense.

The Calorie Theory is not rocket science.  It’s really simple:

1. Eat less than you expend and you’ll lose weight. 
2. Eat more than you expend and you’ll gain weight.

Is losing weight really this simple?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret we taught our 2,000 weight loss clients in Melbourne, Australia; “baked cheesecake is your safe cake”.  According to calorie theorists, the average slice of baked cheesecake packs a whopping 430 calories.  Compare that to other choices from the coffee shop…

Dessert	Calories
Apple crumble	540
Pecan pie	452
Baked cheesecake	430
Gelati	321
Tiramisu	310
Lemon meringue	303
Sticky date pudding	235
Chocolate cake	180

   Source: caloriecount.about.com

According to the calorie theory, baked cheesecake would NOT be an ideal choice for somebody trying to lose weight.  That single piece of cheesecake is more than 1/5^th of the daily calorie intake for a normal 2,000 calorie diet.  So why on earth did we recommend it as the best choice when eating out at the coffee shop?

Two reasons: 

1. Because a baked cheesecake contains the highest level of protein compared to everything else
2. Because cheese has a significantly lower impact on insulin (see below)

Insulin score food testing by Sydney University in 1996 showed that cheese impacts insulin around half that of the control food, white bread.  Take a look at the charts for yourself now.  Cheese also has an 18% lower impact on insulin than it does on glucose (GI) compared to other cakes which have an exponential 46% higher impact on insulin.

Now can you understand why “baked cheesecake is your safe cake”?

We’ll demonstrate in a later blog how insulin affects weight gain and weight loss.  Once we do, perhaps we will have debunked the calorie theory for the first time.  After 7 years of observing people maintaining their ideal weight after having lost between 10kg to 90kg, this advice has stood the test of time.

For more information on the relationship between the acclaimed Glycemic Index and the Insulin Index, see David Mendosa’s webpage on the subject.