There is No Obesity Epidemic

In 1998, more than 30 million people became overweight. And guess what? It happened while they were sleeping.

That's right. In June of 1998, the number of overweight people in America increased by 50 percent--overnight! How did this happen? Did they all go on a massive potato chip binge? No. In fact, not one of them had gained a pound. Instead, a handful of researchers had decided to decrease the maximum healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) from 27 down to 25.

And instantly, millions of people were suddenly overweight. Their weight hadn't changed, but the reigning standards had. And suddenly we had an obesity epidemic on our hands.

Why Do We Call It an Epidemic?

The term obesity epidemic is in itself confusing. Typically when we speak of an epidemic we're referring to a literal epidemic of infectious disease (like the bubonic plague, for instance). But obesity isn't infectious. At least, I've never heard of anyone "catching" thirty pounds at the office.

Of course we also use the term epidemic to describe anything that is spreading rapidly through the masses. I might say we're having an epidemic of cell phones, for example, because since 1990 the number of cell phone users has increased by a staggering 37,000 percent! Now that's an epidemic of technology if I ever saw one.

When the media throws around the term "obesity epidemic," they appear to be attempting to describe a crisis of massive weight gain making its way through our society. This, however, may be an incredibly inaccurate picture of what's really happening with our weight.

How Much Weight Have We Really Gained?

We're constantly bombarded by the message that, as a society, we're fatter than ever. For the last several decades, we've been steadily gaining pound after pound and crossing the invisible line into obesity. Or have we?

In reality, the average weight gained is only a few pounds.

"When talking about the rise in our weights, many public health experts like to cite the dramatically increasing number of obese Americans. For instance, between 1980 and 1994, the number of obese Americans increased by 55 percent. While this seems like a large increase in obesity, it does not really reflect the amount of weight most Americans were gaining. Most Americans did not increase their weight by 55 percent; Americans gained, on average, only about seven to nine pounds, depending on their height."

- from Fat Politics: The Real Story behind America's Obesity Epidemic 

Where Did the Epidemic Go?

Would it surprise you to learn the obesity "epidemic" has plateaued? It's true. We aren't becoming more and more obese, packing on endless pounds until every last one of us is clinically obese. Nope. The epidemic has apparently decided to take a break... for the last decade.

"No doubt Americans have gained weight over the last few decades. But if we are so concerned about an epidemic, why aren't we celebrating its apparent end? The incidence of obesity is no longer increasing. According to government statistics, obesity rates for women have leveled off and stayed steady since 1999, sufficient time to consider it a plateau. They have also leveled off for men, having been stable since 2003. Same is true for kids: The prevalance of obesity for children and teens is no different today than it was in 1999."

- from Health at Every Size

More to Come...

My intention is not to inarguably disprove the theory of an obesity epidemic, but to inspire questions regarding the accuracy of the information we've been told. Believe it or not, the debate over the presence of an obesity epidemic is just the tip of the iceberg. There are more discrepancies on the topic of weight to sift through, and this is a discussion I plan to continue right here on this blog.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade.

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30 Days of RRARF, Day 1: What is RRARF?

Diet experiments are fun. And if not fun, at least they could be called interesting. RRARF is definitely going to be interesting.

What is RRARF?

Contrary to how it may sound, RRARF has nothing to do with dog chow or bulimia. RRARF actually stands for: Rehabilitative Rest & Aggressive Re-Feeding. This therapeutic diet was engineered by Matt Stone, who describes the diet in his free e-book:

"Most people crave refined sugars, sweets, junk food, rapidly-absorbed white flour products, caffeine, alcohol, and other drugs because they are tragically undernourished and their adrenal glands have been overtaxed by everything from dieting to working too much to experiencing some major emotional trauma. RRARF attempts to combat all of this in one fell swoop (the saying ‘fell swoop’ makes no sense, but hopefully you know what it means)."

Why RRARF?

I've been following Matt's research into restoring metabolic health for some time, and while I've supported many of his general recommendations, I've never actually done the full RRARF program. From my own research into the work of Diana Schwarzbein, Julia Ross, Jon Gabriel, Linda Bacon and others, I know that metabolic recovery is an essential part of the healing process. But I told myself I didn't need to do RRARF all the way because I've been working on healing my metabolism for about two years now with great success.

But... I've had some personal breakthroughs lately that gave me some insight into a few areas that I really need to work on. For one thing, I want to kiss diets and counting calories (or anything else) good-bye forever. I'd rather work with my body to the point where I can rely on my own internal signals for eating. I genuinely feel that if I can get my body to regulate my appetite, then that will pave the way for natural regulation of other things like hormones and body fat levels.

And after listening to Matt's audio seminar sessions on lowering the weight set point and on addictive eating, I realized that I need to give sugar the boot, too. Not only because this seems to be the in vogue thing to do (have you read about Coconut Mama's 21 day sugar detox?), but because I'm thinking this may be the main culprit interfering with my body's natural regulation systems. (I'll go into much more detail on giving up sugar--and even all things sweet--in an upcoming post.)

Make no mistake: RRARF is not a weight loss diet. As I said, I'm kissing those good-bye. Matt explains the point of RRARF like this:

"To be clear, RRARF – Rehabilitative Rest & Aggressive Re-Feeding, is a plan designed to achieve one primary goal above all others – raise that mitochondrial activity. It does this through a combination of lowering cortisol levels, restoring the health of the adrenal glands, raising the hormone leptin, increasing leptin sensitivity, topping off nutritional reserves, and flooding the body with a surplus of energy – long known to raise body temperature, increase metabolic rate, increase lipolysis (using fat as fuel), etc."

How to RRARF

Here's a brief summary of how Matt suggests doing RRARF:

1. Take a month off from exercise.
2. Eat as much food as you can within 30 minutes of waking.
3. As soon as you feel inclined to eat--eat again!
4. Get extra sleep.
5. Stay well-hydrated.
6. Minimize mental and emotional strain, within reason.

And although prejudiced individuals may have you believing Matt's plan involves binging on Krispy Cremes and Gatorade, this is not at all the case. In fact, Matt lays out some pretty strong guidelines for what the ideal foods for RRARF should be (although he stresses not to get neurotic about food):

1. Rich in saturated fat, particularly short and medium chain saturated fatty acids (like butter and coconut oil).
2. Rich in unrefined starch.
3. High in calories.
4. Low in fructose.
5. Low in polyunsaturated fat.
6. Devoid of refined carbs, junk food, processed food, fast food, etc.
7. Devoid of caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and other drugs as much as possible.
8. High in protein (but not too high).
9. High in vegetables.

These are the basics of RRARF, but I will be delving into much more detail about the meaning behind these recommendations over the next 30 days. I'll also dish about how I'm doing following the different parts of the plan. Some of these points are surprisingly easy for me to follow... others are going to be far more challenging!

If you want to find out more about RRARF, check out Matt's free e-book here. For more about the perils of dieting and how to restore metabolic health, check out this revealing video presentation by Matt.

Any questions? Ask away below in the comments!

Other RRARF Posts:

Day 1 on RRARF: What is RRARF?
Day 2 on RRARF: Why I'm Doing It
Day 3 on RRARF: Rest and Relaxation  
Day 7 on RRARF: Benefits Already!
Day 8 on RRARF: Eat the Food!
Day 9 on RRARF: Adieu, Le Sucre!  
Day 21 on RRARF: Deprivation is Dieting 
Day 23 on RRARF: Life Without the Scale
RRARF vs. The Milk Diet

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop's blog.

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Podcast with Matt Stone: The Body Weight Set Point and Metabolism

Yesterday I had the opportunity to interview one of my favorite bloggers and health researchers, Matt Stone from 180 Degree Health, about the body weight set point. After listening to his new audio seminar, I knew this was something people needed to hear about.

What Matt and I discuss in this podcast goes against everything we're told about diet, weight and exercise. And yet I know anyone who's ever been on a diet is going to be nodding their head when they hear what Matt has to say.

• Ever feel like your body is fighting against fat loss?
• Wonder why it's so hard to stick to a diet?
• Does restrictive dieting lead you to cravings and binging on "bad" foods?
• Are you cold, tired or irritable when you're trying to lose weight?
• Are you "check" dieting?

Learn why Matt (and many other leading researchers) believe the focus should be on the weight set point, and not on weight. I personally believe this could be secret to finding a healthy, permanent weight without being chained to a life of deprivation and misery.

Listen to the podcast now to learn about the body weight set point and metabolism:

Listen to internet radio with The Nourished Life on Blog Talk Radio

You can also click here if you want to listen to an additional in-depth presentation from Matt about the weight set point, dieting, metabolism and health, or to find out more about his free e-book or the new audio seminar. You might also want to check out his blog to hear the latest on achieving true metabolic health.










This post is a part of Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade.

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How Much Protein Do We Really Need? Part Two (Calculating Lean Body Mass)

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Yesterday I talked about how much protein we really need and why I feel eating 1 gram per pound of lean body weight appears to be the best starting place. I wanted to expand on that today with a little how-to:
 
How to Calculate Your Lean Body Mass

Figuring out your lean body mass and body fat percentage is something that should be simple but rarely is. There are a few ways to do this, but many of them are unreliable. I've had online body fat calculators tell me I have anywhere from 16% to 36% body fat. I know I'm really somewhere in between, so you really have to take some of these numbers with a grain of salt.

This is the free body fat percentage calculator I use. It's been the most accurate one I've found online. It takes into account waist and neck measurement (plus hip measurement for women), in addition to height and weight. It also does the lean body mass calculation for you, which is convenient. Hopefully you'll find this accurate, too, but people with different body types may have varying results. If you use this calculator, let me know how it works for you.

Tanita scales like this one boast a very high accuracy in measuring body fat. Many users report these scales are accurate within 1-2%, which is pretty impressive. However you (understandably) may not be interested in plunking $50-100 down for a scale. Neither am I at the moment.

You can also use calipers to gauge your body fat, have a water displacement test done, or head to your local gym which may have a variety of body fat calculating tools available for you. However, you don't always get what you pay for, so don't assume methods like water displacement are more accurate just because they're more expensive. In fact, some have reported wildly inaccurate results even with this method, which is often considered the gold standard of body fat measurement.

Once you know (or think you know) your body fat percentage, all you have to do is a simple calculation to figure out lean body mass:

[100 - Body Fat Percentage] x 0.01 x  body weight = lean body mass

So, for me, this would be:

[100 - 28 = 72] x 0.01 x 143 = 102.96 lbs of lean body mass

So using this method, I need roughly 100 grams of protein every day. My actual intake right now tends to fall between 80-100 grams, which feels right and isn't too much of a stretch for me.

Some Parting Words on Protein

While protein is important and we all need some, don't take these numbers so seriously that they rule your life. I recently ran across a forum post where someone was freaking out (seriously) that they'd been eating 15 grams of protein less than they figured they needed each day. They were petrified that they'd lost significant amounts of lean body mass during the previous weeks! (Which, aside from being ridiculous is also downright impossible.)

The body isn't that rigid in its requirements, trust me. Like I mentioned in my Counting Calories is Pointless post, to even assume we can figure out with accuracy exactly what our body requires is pretty off base. Numbers can be useful, but they aren't the end all be all. Learn what works for your body and your lifestyle. Pay attention to your biofeedback and use a little common sense. Think of the numbers we've talked about in the last two posts as a starting place that you can tailor to fit with what works best for your body.

Remember: As important as it is to eat enough protein, it's even more important to choose the right protein. High quality dairy, eggs, legumes, seafood and meat are among the top sources. Avoid soy like the plague: it's an anti-food.

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