Weight a minute.

March 11, 2010 4:42 AM

Please recommend a reliable and accessible book/website/other source of information about diet and exercise and the process of losing weight. Bonus points for information that is tailored for women. Please note: I just want facts, not an exhortation to follow this diet or that diet.

I know the basics of course, but it would be really interesting for me to understand the scientific basis of weight loss in an accessible format. I'd also like to understand more about different exercise options and the effects they have on the body. I have information gathered magpie-like from here and there, but it would be good to have one reliable source I could go to for this sort of thing. I don't want to read a diet book which presents all of its information as an argument for one particular kind of diet over the other. I'm sure they work, that's just not what I'm looking for.

posted by Ziggy500 to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Best answer: You should know that there are two basic and competing sets of theories about weight gain and loss right now. One is a simple calories in--calories out model, in which all foods are treated as equal, and a calorie is a calorie. This is probably the currently dominant medical model. A very good resource for learning about the process of losing weight that takes this model as axiomatic is The Hacker's Diet, which is entirely available online, clearly and concisely formulated, and agnostic as to actual diet.

The second prevalent model concerns itself with the effects of insulin on the storage of fat, and argues that certain foods (types of calories) are less likely to cause you to gain weight, or, conversely, that when eating them you are more likely to lose weight. The paleo-diet is based on this, as is the work of Gary Taubes who is mentioned a lot around the internet. Taubes' book, Good Calories Bad Calories, was kind of previewed in a long article he wrote for the NY Times Magazine, which you can read online. Most of the writing about this second theory of weight loss is significantly more polemical than that about the other theory, because the theory is still fighting for widespread acceptance.

Exercise is a similarly controversial topic. There does seem to be substantial evidence that High Intensity Interval Training is very effective for both weight loss and getting in shape, although some of the notions for which it is sometimes lauded, like "after burn," appear to be specious.
posted by OmieWise at 5:16 AM on March 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Stumptuous?
posted by ghharr at 6:35 AM on March 11, 2010

Best answer: I would start by reading Michael Pollan's Food Rules first. Get it from the library, it won't take more than an hour and it will color the rest of your diet exercise planning with a wonderful degree of common sense.
posted by ptm at 6:48 AM on March 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: For a lot of really good information about hormones and the biochemistry of weight, I can't recommend Gina Kolata's Rethinking Thin strongly enough. What I like about this book is that she's not trying to sell you anything or convince you that a particular body weight is correct for you.
posted by decathecting at 7:27 AM on March 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: You are all best answers... thank you.
posted by Ziggy500 at 8:34 AM on March 11, 2010

The best book I've ever read on this topic is Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. It's a comprehensive look at over a hundred years of obesity research and explains all the conflicting information you hear in the media, why certain things that aren't true came to be accepted as gospel, how certain hormones and molecules work in the body, etc. He also interviewed over 600 doctors and physicians for the book.

This seems to be exactly what you're looking for, since it's not a diet book and doesn't give guidelines, but instead reports directly on the science and what it says.
posted by Nattie at 2:17 PM on March 11, 2010

Best answer: Following on Nattie's brief answer here, take a look at her much more detailed answer the other day on the same topic. It's a wonderful summary of the topic.
posted by Forktine at 2:49 PM on March 11, 2010