Do the maths: Count those calories or count the cost
That sobering assessment of how to become — and remain — trim and fit comes from Mike Gibney, former professor of food and health at University College Dublin.
“If you want to diet, it doesn’t matter whether you cut down on fat or sugar, or what have you. It’s the calories that count,” said Prof Gibney. “There is no getting away from that.”
Speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk radio, Prof Gibney warned against relying too much on diet literature whether in book shops or on the internet.
“If you go into a bookshop you will find dozens of books promising you to lose so many pounds in so many weeks. If you go on the internet, it is even worse.
“All those fancy books that are written telling you to reduce your sugar intake and that protein is important are complete nonsense.”
Prof Gibney, author of Ever Seen a Fat Fox?, an exploration of human obesity, said vigilence and continuity were essential ingredients for any diet to work.
“The relapse rate for obesity is the worse than the relapse rate for the worst form of cancer. It is 95%. You cannot take your hand off the tiller for one minute.”
Gibney debunked the long-held belief that residents of Spain and other parts of southern Europe rarely become overweight. “The biggest problem of obesity in Europe is the Mediterranean region.”
He also challenged the gym’ll-fix-it approach to losing weight. “The most important thing is cardiovascular fitness rather than muscular fitness. Walking is far better than lifting weights in a gym, especially for older people.”
