Chris Kresser’s recent podcast — Why It’s So Hard To Lose Weight – And Keep It Off — is a must-listen! A highlight (emphasis mine):
Anybody who says obesity is as simple as, you know, too much fat or too much carbohydrate or something like that is either misinformed or is intentionally misleading you. It’s far more complex than that, but I can boil it down into one simple phrase, which is modern lifestyle + genetic predisposition = obesity.
I encourage folks to listen, but if you don’t have time, there’s a transcript on the podcast page.
Chris mentions that the practical implications are for a future podcast, but this is a great intro to a fairly complicated subject.
Speaking of Chris and weight loss, I’ll be starting his “Advanced Weight Loss” class this Saturday. It’s a special class that was offered to the first 150 folks who purchased his Personal Paleo Code last fall. The workshop will likely be available to others later this spring. I’m really looking forward to his take on this subject!
Weight Maven is written by Beth Mazur. Beth believes that obesity is more symptom than cause and that the real problem is our Western diet -- especially sugar, refined grains, and industrial oils. Beth writes about nutrition, ancestral health, & food policy. And cats! 
Agree that this was brilliant and a “must listen” for all who are on the weight loss train. I wish there were a forum or blog where those of us on this adventure could freely exchange ideas. LLVLC doesn’t quite hack it, and Carbsane has (for me) become too vitriolic and sarcastic. Any ideas?
After I posted that it occurred to me that maybe Mark Sisson’s forum does what I’m looking for. Of course it’s possible to comment on Paul Jaminet’s blog but it’s not a “forum” per se.
Mark Sisson’s forum is a good one, though I guess it might be a little tilted toward the hardcore CrossFit crowd. If Chris or Paul don’t start a forum one of these days, maybe I’ll have to!
Does “modern lifestyle + genetic predisposition = obesity” incorporate the psychology of eating? Now, I understand that you believe that psychology = physiology (as I just just read in the link to the right: About ‘emotional’ eating). However, I’m not completely sure. There are a lot of people who are passionate about eating. I have heard women say that they simply like food; it is very important to them; they plan their activities around food. What about people who eat because they were physically or emotionally abused or who associate eating with happier times? If they begin to eat a certain, more healthful way, will food become less important in their lives? Honestly, I’m not trying to be argumentative; I just don’t accept the position that following a certain eating style (Paleo or any other) is the answer to emotional eating.
I do like C Kessler’s comment about people not being too hard on themselves if their weight loss efforts are not successful as they would like because of genetics.
Congratulations on winning attendance to the class on Saturday. Thank you for all the research that you do and your reports.
I think “modern lifestyle” includes quite a bit. Part of that is how much stress is a factor, part is how much food is now a 24×7 aspect of our culture (both good and bad).
Nor do I believe that eating paleo (or similar) is the only thing involved in resolving ‘emotional’ eating. It’s not the only thing I’ve done … I did 60 sessions of neurofeedback.
But I stand by the idea that if the physiology isn’t there, working on the psychology is going to be much harder. I think many people may find that much of their compulsive eating can be controlled by normalizing blood sugar and providing the brain the nutrients it needs. Then the work can happen to unlearn what I call the “fight or flight or food” phenomena, i.e., using food for comfort.
I’m with Yoni Freedhoff that that doesn’t mean a life devoid of enjoyment of food. But it does mean you control the food and not the other way around.
But I stand by the idea that if the physiology isn’t there, working on the psychology is going to be much harder. I think many people may find that much of their compulsive eating can be controlled by normalizing blood sugar and providing the brain the nutrients it needs. Then the work can happen to unlearn what I call the “fight or flight or food” phenomena, i.e., using food for comfort.
I hadn’t thought of it that way. Thanks.