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.
Episodes
50 episodes
50: What's Enough? Part II: Obsessions
Half of the things that we think we “have to do” are not essential. “I have to watch that football game”. “I have to get my daughter’s teacher a Christmas present”. “I have to get new clothes for work”. “I have to get t...
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.&nb...
48: What Will Weight Loss Advice in 2035 Look Like?
The world, technology, and the pace of our lives seems to move faster and faster each year. Your life not that long ago is different in so many ways from the one you’re living today. But what about the food you eat? Has that c...
47: Food Addiction
Food addiction is a somewhat controversial topic. Can you really be “addicted” to something necessary for life (i.e., food, air, water)? Based upon the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and Yale Food Addict...
46: Food Judgement and Demonization is Holding Us Back
There’s literally nothing you can eat that is universally agreed upon to be good for you. Not even fruits and vegetables. You can build out the old food guide pyramid with the foods that people are judging, demonizing, and vilifying...
45: Weight Loss: It's Not (All) About the Food
Weight loss is the result of consuming less calories than you burn (calories in < calories out). Most weight loss diets are sold to you with the idea that some foods are “good” for you (i.e., fat and protein) while others are “bad” for...
44: Do You Know Your Behavioral Obesity Risk Score (BORS)?
In today’s episode Todd discusses the 25 things that DO MATTER for weight change and the 14 things that DO NOT seem to matter to weight change, based on his analysis of The Paper Database.He also discusses the possibility/utility of crea...
43: The 5 Universal Laws of Weight Loss
There are hundreds of diet types and thousands of diet do’s and diet don’ts for weight loss. And yet, what does every diet type have in common? The 5 Universal Laws of Weight Loss.It doesn’t matter if you eat low carb or high...
42: Why Estimating Your Metabolic Rate Just Isn't Worth It
To lose weight, the standard advice is to follow this simple formula: estimate your metabolic rate to see how many calories you burn (calories out), then log your food to make sure you consume (calories in) fewer calories than you burn. B...
41: There are 3 and Only 3 Ways to Cut Calories
Low carb, low fat, high protein, alternate day fasting, cutting out ultra processed food, eating multiple small meals a day, time restricted feeding, Keto, Paleo, you name it, what do they all have in common (besides energy balance)? They...
40: Nutrition Rules and Decision Fatigue
Many of us have a nearly unlimited access to a wide variety of ultra-processed, highly palatable, energy dense food. And yet, most of us don’t gorge ourselves on these ultra processed foods at every waking moment like a bear in September....
39: How Much Weight Can You Actually Lose on a Diet?
Weight loss conversations should start out like this: weight loss is a lot harder than you think it is and it is a lot harder than you’ve been told it is. You’re going to lose less weight than you think you should and you’re going to lose...
38: Everyone is Lying to You About Weight Loss
Diets aren’t sold with facts; they’re sold with testimonials. And the reason diets are sold this way, is because if you actually knew how little weight you were going to lose on a diet or how hard it would be to maintain your weight loss,...
37: Learning How to Live Your Life
What do you spend your leisure time doing? Is it something you enjoy doing, or is it something you used to enjoy doing but are still doing it out of routine or habit? In today’s episode, Todd and Jeff discuss some of the things in t...
36: Carbs: Which Ones Should You Actually Eat?
Not all carbs are created equal, with some being better than others. But how can you tell? In part III of our miniseries on carbohydrates, The Nutrition Grouch reviews the nutrition epidemiology literature to discuss what types of c...
35: Carbs: Common Misconceptions and Fallacies
In part II of our miniseries on carbohydrates, Jeff Burkart of Brave Chicken and I talk more about how in most cases carbs, are not only NOT harmful, but in many cases they're actually beneficial to you.Some of the topics in today's epis...
34: Carbs: The Most Misunderstood and Vilified Macronutrient
Most rational people realize that there are different varieties, types, and sources of carbohydrate. But the dialogue around carbs is not a rational one. We’re far more likely to hear about how carbs are bad, period. They make...
33: Everyone Needs an Enemy
It may sound crazy, but everyone needs an enemy. Not the kind that wants to hurt you, but someone or something to fight against. If you don't find something to fight against, you may find yourself lacking purpose and floundering in ...
32: How Much Junk Food is Too Much Junk Food?
We all eat (some) junk food, but exactly how much is too much? What exactly is junk food and are some junk foods worse than others?In today's episode, The Nutrition Grouch explains that while there is a strong dose respon...
31: Why Nutrition is Not a Transactional Service
You can pay someone to make so many of life's problems go away but this simply isn't the case with your nutrition. No one else can do the work for you, you have to do the work.While there are a number of products and services that...
30: The Major Mistake Nutrition Education Keeps Making
We keep treating nutrition and weight management as a logic and reasoning problem when it is not. The math is simple, eat fewer calories than you burn, and you'll lose weight. If you know the number of calories in a food, you'll mak...
29: Why I am Transitioning from Nutrition to Wellness
Good nutrition is not the same as wellness. In fact, nutrition is only a subset of a subset of wellness. And yet, if you listen to many of the experts in the field, you'd think that good nutrition is the be all, end all, of health.<...
28: Kitchen Essentials and Other Meal Planning Tricks
In episode 27, I provided you with the foundation of meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking, in what I like to call "the weekly meal cycle". But I couldn't tell you EVERYTHING you needed to know in one episode.So, today's ep...
27: The Weekly Meal Cycle: How I Meal Plan
The weekly meal cycle is a concept that I coined to describe all the steps that go into meal planning: from finding recipes to creating grocery lists, grocery shopping, cooking, eating, running out of food, and starting the process all over aga...
26: The Importance of Flexibility and Having a Plan A, B, C, and D
If you can't perform your preferred mode of exercising, what's your backup plan? If you can't run, do you bike? If you can't bike, do you swim? If you can't swim, do you lift weights? If you don't have weights available,...