The Nutrition Grouch
The weight loss industry is, has been, and always will be a dumpster fire. People like to say health & wellness (of which weight loss is a part of) is “broken” or full of “misinformation” but that is being too generous because it implies that some of it is good or that it is actually fixable. It is damaged beyond repair. If it were possible, I would burn it to the ground and start over.
While it is impractical to try to summarize what’s wrong with the industry in one podcast description, my premise is this: there is a truly astronomical amount of information that neither our media nor our professionals are able to communicate to you in a meaningful way without losing all context, applicability to real life, and/or the ability to see how all of the pieces fit together.
The media should just stop covering health & wellness because their soundbites explain nothing and are little more than headlines and talking points. They may raise awareness but not understanding, leading to the illusion of explanatory depth. Academics actually know what they are talking about and could help educate us but are too busy with their work and only some are engaged with the public. Most academics look down on and laugh at the quacks and zealots in the field but it’s the quacks and zealots that have the real power.
Businesses do not have the right people in place (PhDs or medical professionals) to drive product and service development (that’s left to the MBAs). After the brand is established, the number one rule is that you must protect and promote the brand no matter how myopic, self-serving, or unimportant that brand is. Healthcare is for the (already) sick and public health is so surface level.
When it comes to their health, the public is lazy. They want the most entertaining, convenient, and positive information available, even if it is at the expense of achieving their goals. Hard work, I think not. Let me take the path of least resistance and “do it on the side”. There’s no reason for real change.
Instead of being stuck in pedaling the news of the day, disconnected factoids and tidbits, overly reductionist, cliché, idealistic, magic cures, easy fixes, secrets, tips, tricks, hacks, fads, gimmicks, cherry-picked, binary, good/bad, flashy, insanely optimistic, exaggerated, fantasy land, sunshine and rainbows, theoretical, testimonial based weight loss information -- let’s come up with a more comprehensive, systematic, sustainable, realistic, semi-automated, results-oriented, pragmatic approach to weight loss with a slice of common sense.
I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time (years and decades) thinking about the thousands of nuances of weight loss (just Google Energy Balance Nutrition Consulting, The Paper Database, or The Science of Dieting). I’ve also spent thousands of hours trying to understand why the health & wellness field isn’t actually science based despite the information being readily available.
I am so fed up and exhausted by it all. It is so broken that on many days I want to say forget it. I’m done with this. It can’t be fixed. I’m a smart motivated guy that can take my talents elsewhere (LeBron). But something keeps drawing me back. It’s like a sickness or a bad relationship. I just can’t get out of it. At my core, it’s who I am. In this podcast I want to offer you truly science-based weight loss advice, critiques of the weight loss industry/diet culture, and thoughts on my experiences and failings in the profession. And with that, I bring you The Nutrition Grouch.
The Nutrition Grouch
49: What's Enough?
How much of anything do you really need? What’s enough to make you happy? In today’s episode The Nutrition Grouch wrestles with the idea of “what’s enough?”.
So many of us have so much, and yet, it never seems to be enough. Humans have an insatiable appetite for more. But more isn’t always better and more doesn’t necessarily lead to happiness.
In obesity, we clearly have exceeded, “what’s enough?”, in terms of calories. But why do we consume some so many calories in the first place? I think it at least partially has to do with our appetite for more, leading us to overextend, spread ourselves too thin, and stress ourselves out.
So, in asking, “what’s enough?”, I’m not only asking you to consider what’s enough in terms of calories and pleasure, but I’m searching much further into everything outside of nutrition in your day-to-day lives, material possessions, needs, wants, and desires.
By asking, “what’s enough?”, and scaling back on both our caloric and non-caloric needs, wants, and desires, perhaps we can reset our “what’s enough?” equilibrium and carve out more time for meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking, things that will ultimately lead to increased health and happiness.
Some of the topics in today’s episode include:
- What’s Enough?, is not minimalism, it’s more like essentialism (1:41)
- The myth of “having it all” and being able to “do it all” (2:10)
- It sucks getting rid of something you later actually need (6:16)
- What were some of your greatest Christmas gifts growing up? (9:05)
- Expectation setting (9:05)
- The Joneses aren’t that happy (11:32)
- Can money buy you happiness? Yes and no (13:39)
- Focusing on what you don’t have rather than what you do have (18:02)
- “If you’ve got your health, you’ve got the world by the balls” (25:52)
- How many cups of coffee do you drink? (28:19)
- Use only what you need (29:29)
- Flattening your high (31:36)
- Dopamine fasting misses the point (34:01)
- The Hungry Brain’s advice: moderate palatability foods (36:06)
- What’s Enough: Food Frequency, Portion Size, Energy Density (42:27)
- Mel Robbins: The Let Them Theory (49:26)