Weight Loss Lies

Phil: A new study's just come out called the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2022. They evaluated the dietary patterns of adults seeking weight loss and residing in the greater Pittsburgh city of Pennsylvania. I do take issue by doing it in Pittsburgh versus wider. They only had 116 people aged between 35 and 58. But tell us what they found. 

Sally: Well, what they found in the study, Phil, is that as people, you know, when people had a goal to lose weight, they had them keep a 24 hour record of their food. And they took all of this data and compiled it into a healthy eating index score. And what they found was that most people that think that they are eating better, are actually not. And so they found that those people, their diet quality was only improving by about one point when they thought that they were doing a lot better. 

Phil: Yeah, I think, you know, if we're ever gonna cure this obesity situation and overeating, you know, we've gotta figure out how to click that switch off in people's brains. Because I would guess that a lot of these people, and again, very small limited study, but a lot of these people said, "Oh, I'm on a diet, of course I'm eating healthier." And they just don't translate it, which is why, with the Retail Dietitians Business Alliance and the retail dietitians that are in our supermarkets, it is so important to have somebody holding your hand during this process, that can really call you out. I learned years ago that if you really want to lose weight, it's like, you know, driving a car, that was the example that was given to me. You always wanna look at that speedometer. You always wanna look at that scale and on a daily basis, be able to measure whether you're progressing or not. 

Phil: And to be honest with each other. Otherwise, you know, you're never gonna change, you know, your behaviors.