The New Science of Weight Loss
by Lou Schuler, MensHealth

If there's a god of weight loss, he's probably laughing.

For the past 40 years, virtually every weight-loss model has been based on the same principles, and virtually all of them have been wrong. The experts intoned, "Eat less, exercise more." They said that weight loss is all about "calories in, calories out." They informed us that a pound of fat contained roughly 3,500 calories, so if you simply deleted 500 calories from your daily meals or increased your daily exercise by 500 calories, or some combination thereof, you'd lose a pound of fat a week. And if you wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, you just had to double your savings to 1,000 calories a day.

Which is exactly how an anorexic would approach the problem: Starve and strain until you get that perfect, fat-free body, regardless of the muscle you lose or the damage you inflict on your metabolism. And if Lara Flynn Boyle has the body you want, go right ahead and try it.

For the benefit of the rest of you, I want to make two arguments, supported by the latest nutrition and exercise science. That science points toward a new, improved approach to weight loss. First, I want to show that when you eat has a profound effect on how your body deals with the calories you feed it. And I want to present a more sophisticated approach to exercise. This approach not only preserves your body's metabolism, the key to weight control, but also makes more productive use of your precious time and energy.

Grab a bite to eat, then chew on this.
10 lb of Fat
According to a Gallup poll, the average man believes he's overweight by the equivalent of this pile of lard. He's right, and it's likely gathering around his gut. Sure, he can easily hide it under a sweater, but abdominal fat is the worst kind, surreptitiously releasing fatty acids and other toxic substances that increase your risk of disease. Make that 39 diseases. Maybe you ought to nip this in the bud, huh?