Comments on: Food for thought

By: john milton

john milton — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:07:24 +0000

I will not eat the cookie every day….. wonder if the same holds true for ice cream ? just kidding
john milton´s last [type] ..Autism

By: Jay

Jay — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:31:57 +0000

Makes sense, we aren’t as static as the health industry tells us we are.

Its a good thing too.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:18:47 +0000

I think that should read “skinny person not BURNING those calories”

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:17:24 +0000

Interesting discussion – I’m leaning towards Vava’s comment. I burn a lot of calories in a day, but don’t necessarily eat any more than a skinny person not eating those calories. I’m starting to try and change my habits to healthy food eating, rather than calorie (or WW point) counting.

As for cookies – we just don’t have them in the house, poor kids! LOL

By: Scott Keeps Running

Scott Keeps Running — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:47:24 +0000

I run, therefore I can eat more cookies.

By: Karyn

Karyn — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:17:11 +0000

I had a cookie one day after lunch at work last week. That lead to 3 the next day. And 3 the next with another 2 at the next break. By the weekend, I was eating bags of candy and McDonalds again. I got control only when I felt so ill yesterday that I had to miss my gym workouts. And the scale put me back into the 150′s which took me months and months to get out of. That one cookie was NOT worth it.

By: Vava

Vava — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:23:15 +0000

The only thing missing in this analysis is the TYPE of extra calories that you consume when you eat that cookie. Namely, processed sugar which your body immediately converts to fat by way of a spike in your insulin levels. If that extra 210 calories came from lettuce, for instance, you would be unlikely to gain any weight.

The whole calories in must equal calories out thing is a bit misleading and a massive oversimplification. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend that everyone read the book “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes. It is an eye openner.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:55:23 +0000

Well, you just convinced me to add a cookie a day to my diet. Thanks.

By: bill Wallace

bill Wallace — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:39:10 +0000

I think the premise is fine. You are adding calories and not working them off. Plus the body adjusts

By: FatBastard

FatBastard — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:39:26 +0000

Mmmm, cookies! (in my best cookie monster voice)

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:55:28 +0000

I want to know how many people stop at one cookie… .

Seriously — it works out to be complex math, but it’s still math. As your average daily calorie consumption rises, you will gain weight in the form of both muscle and fat. This will in turn cause an increase in metabolism, and so your weight will stabilize. But if you repeat this trend often enough, you will be overweight.

Been there. Done that.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:06:13 +0000

I think that is the point of the original article. That it’s not just maths. The body adapts to what you put into it or takes out of it.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:04:53 +0000

The only time I’ve ever eaten only 1 cookie is when I’ve only had 1 cookie available!

By: Jody - Fit at 52

Jody - Fit at 52 — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:46:56 +0000

This weight & calories stuff is always interesting. The thing is, once you start letting yourself have that one cookie.. does it lead to more little snacks or nibbles here & there??? Now that you have to watch out for if all else stays the same!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:15:58 +0000

Eat just one cookie? If I am eating a cookie, then I am eating a 2nd, a 3rd, and more. Cookies in the diet are just not going to work for the average person trying to get healthy. Math or not to prove or disprove it, just not going to work.

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:30:30 +0000

I will not eat the cookie every day….. wonder if the same holds true for ice cream ? just kidding

By: Sally

Sally — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:50:11 +0000

Wouldn’t this just make the temptation of eating that extra cookie or treat higher?

By: South Beach Steve

South Beach Steve — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:37:59 +0000

I don’t know for sure where I stand on the cookie issue, but I am not a real believer in calories. Maybe I should explain a bit, I think there is something to it, but the system has inherent flaws. For example, a cooked carrot and a raw carrot have the same calories. Which do you suppose is more easily digested? While it is not the only factor, the speed in which food digests has an effect on our bodies ability to use that food.

By: Danny

Danny — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:20:39 +0000

I disagree.

The whole idea of adding 210 calories a day is hypothetical in the first place. In reality, if you add a cookie to the diet, the person may not eat as much mashed potatoes during dinner. But in the hypothetical realm, 210 extra calories a day will add up to an extra pound in a couple of weeks.

As the person gets heavier, their basal metabolic rate will go up. and so when they gain 8 kilo (18 pounds), they will require about 200 more calories than they did before, and so the extra cookie will be a wash.

of course, presumably the person will be hungrier and eat more, and i think the extra cookie presumption means to say on top of what the person would otherwise eat.

i would say that most people don’t keep eating more and more and more. and yet, if left unchecked, most people continue to gain weight over time. and that is because if you let yourself eat even a little more than what you need, that little bit adds up every day.

By: Tish

Tish — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:50:08 +0000

I don’t understand the science of it, but I always knew it was not an exact correlation. Those little ‘extra cookie a day’ habits do tell in the end (and the tummy, and the jowls) though.