Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: The Mathematics of Dieting"; February 20, 2011

The subject of weight loss lends itself to analysis from an anatomical, physiological, sociological, biochemical, pathological, psychological, histological, and epidemiological point of view--one at a time, please.

But mention "The Mathematics of Dieting" and even the most frustrated overweight people become fascinated with the intricate workings of the machine we all inhabit, the human body. Like a car, a television remote, and a NASA rocket, we too need fuel, and as one would expect, there are relatively strict numerical formulations involved in the conversion of food to energy. The energy was may utilized immediately during a calisthenics class--or the "energy" may be stored visibly as body fat, encircling one's body like a corset of AA batteries.

3500 calories equals one pound in either direction. To gain a pound, the American equivalent of falling off a log, one must eat an excess of 3500 calories over one's metabolic needs. To lose a pound, not as easy as it seems, one must burn off 3500 calories--by swimming for 6 hours, for example.

How many calories do you eat per day? You can find this number approximately by multiplying your weight by 15. Therefore, a 200-pound individual is ingesting 3000 calories daily in order to stay the same weight. Any physical exercise must be taken into account and additional caloric requirements considered. But the math is still the same, and since many American do minimal if any physical exercise daily, the above calculation is quite accurate...and startling.

A 300-pound worker at my radio station was totally fascinated by "The Mathematics of Dieting" like a child hearing about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. And no cross examination was needed: he silently added up his foods for the day and the math was correct. And if that person were to cut out 500 calories per day from any meal or snack, he would lose one pound per week.

Let's invert the formula and express it a different way. Since there are 365 days in a year and 3500 (let's pretend 3650) calories in a pound, any additional of 10 calories per day results in a one-pound weight gain in one year. A single 20 calorie biscuit per day will add two pounds per year. A 150 calorie can of soda per day will make anyone gain 15 pounds per year.

Review your daily food habits with this in mind. Are the extra pounds (daily or yearly) worth it? You might find ways of cutting back on calories that seem insignificant, yet it all adds up. Enjoying flavored seltzer (no artificial sweeteners, please) instead of juice or soda could remove 15 pounds of visible or visceral fat--all by itself.

"The Mathematics of Dieting" is a practical way of explaining that your weight is an understandable phenomenon. There will be a variation amongst people of about 15% due to slow metabolism, certain satiation hormones, and other biochemical parameters. But the basics are most definitely real, so write down what you eat, calculate your energy intake per day (weight times 15), see if exercise or its absence needs to be accounted for...and change for the better.

What's the first step in understanding the metabolic workings of your own body? Do the math !