Taubes - Chapter 07 - Thermodynamics for Dummies, Part 2

Taubes says,

“the energy we consume
and the energy we expend
are dependent on each other….

These are dependent variables, not independent variables.
Change one, and the other changes to compensate.

To a great extent…the energy we expend from day-to-day
and week-to-week will determine how much we consume,
....while the energy we consume and make available to our cells…
will determine how much we expend.

The two are that intimately linked.
Anyone who argues differently is treating an extraordinarily complex
living organism as though it were a simple mechanical device.”

A 2007 article by the dean of Harvard Medical school and his wife,
who specialized in obesity research said

“An animal whose food is suddenly restricted
tends to reduce its energy expenditure
both by being less active
and by slowing energy use in cells, thereby limiting weight loss.

It also experiences increased hunger
so that once the restriction ends,
it will eat more than its prior norm until the earlier weight is attained.”

Taubes says  that the diet advice
given by our Health Authorities is wrong;

“eating less and/or exercising more
is not a viable treatment for obesity or overweight
and shouldn’t be considered as such.

It might have short-term effects…
Eventually, our bodies compensate.”

I believe Taubes is correct in his statements here,
and I know that, in my own body,
my food-intake and physical activity are connected.

After a day, or days, of little food-intake
I feel more tired and sleepy,
and I don’t feel energetic enough to accomplish my normal tasks,
let alone add in extra physical activities
I find that I can “push through these physical feelings” for awhile,
but exhaustion always seems to catch up with me.

After days of a great deal of physical activity,
I find myself ravenously hungry.
I can choose not to eat extra food….although it is difficult,
but eventually if I don’t eat more food
I wind up taking a very long nap….
which, of course, reduces the physical energy I’m using.

I’ve now had 5 full years of maintaining a large weight-loss
by eating less and exercising more.
I can report that this appears to work better in the short-term
than in the long-term for my own body,

During the past 3 years, each year it has become more
difficult to eat only the amount of food it takes to maintain my current weight,
AND, each year, I have found myself with less and less energy
for physical activities.

I am looking for Alternatives,
which is one reason that I am interested in the theories in this book.