It's the Calories!

Two pretty reliable facts about weight loss: it is challenging and there are plenty of people who claim to have the magic solution. I was able to, several years ago, but it took great willpower and counting calories. For me, no high fat, low fat, balanced carbs, good carbs, macronutrient, high fiber, whole grain or other diets, just calorie counting and exercise. In the spirit of that effort, we now have...

The Twinkie Diet?

Mark Haub, a professor of nutrition at Kansas State who tested the hypothesis that it's the calories that matter over the type of food eaten. He devised a 1800 calorie diet based on a protein shake, a multivitamin, and all the junk food he could fit in under the limit. Twinkies, Doritos, Hostess, Little Debbie, and Oreos. He kept up with his previous moderate exercise, no changes there. Admittedly, he did cheat a little by having some celery and green beans, but the results?

He lost 27 lbs in 2 months. Furthermore, his "bad" LDL cholesterol dropped and his "good" HDL cholesterol increased by 20% each. 

Another interesting tidbit is that he had been on what he considered a relatively "healthy" diet before, of fruits, veggies, whole grains, etc. He did not lose any weight eating on that diet, which he postulates was due to making healthy choices, but still eating too much.

For the record he does not condone the food choices (and neither do I), but he pretty strikingly illustrated the point about what matters when it comes to weight loss, it's the calories!

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/

Dr. Haub's twitter account: http://twitter.com/themarkhaubdiet

K State news: http://www.kstatecollegian.com/news/little-debbie-diet-may-not-be-so-sweet-1.2323537