Althouse: "It's True, Hot Baths Burn Calories."

April 13, 2017

"It's True, Hot Baths Burn Calories."

But: "calorie counting is almost useless and often misleading."

16 comments:

cubanbob said...: Basic rule of thumb: the higher the glycemic index the more likely the calories will be turned to fat. Its hard to gain wight eating spinach. Its easy to gain weight eating French fries.; 4/13/17, 5:31 PM
Etienne said...: The only way to diet is to keep food moving slowly through your intestines, with smaller quantities of sugar and carbs, in a big ball of fiber.

Do that, and you will keep your colon clean, and your intestine lining thick.

Leaky bowels (thin lining) allow sugar and converted carbs to ride the outer wall and be absorbed into blood.

This is bad. We (eaters) call that a diabetic diet.

Elvis Presley died of complications to chronic constipation. He would have lived longer with todays technology, but he was doomed.; 4/13/17, 5:59 PM
Hagar said...: I wonder if all these calorie counts printed on menus and food packages really are based on some reliable way of counting them or just a hope and a prayer that they will pass muster with the Feds and no one will find a way to prove them wrong with evidence acceptable to the courts.; 4/13/17, 7:37 PM
mockturtle said...: Etienne, if it were, indeed, true that Elvis died from constipation it was no doubt related to his opiate consumption.; 4/13/17, 7:45 PM
heyboom said...: November 2015 diagnosed Type 2 diabetic with an A1c of 10.6. August 2016 off my meds with an A1c of 6.1. Lost 40 pounds by limiting carbs and sugar. Didn't look at a calorie at all. Maintaining today but still able to eat foods I enjoy. My A1c is 5.0.

Somewhat of a vanity post, but my point is that I am a case study that calorie counting is indeed irrelevant. Just watch those carbs and sugar!; 4/13/17, 7:46 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: If just sitting in hot water melted off the flab, I'd make like Marat and set up camp in the bathtub.

I lost 20 pounds over the winter by giving up sweets and bread and pasta and starchy vegetables (not a full-blown Atkins diet, as I permitted myself to eat those things one day a week) and got back to exercising, which I had gotten lazy about. Eating fish and meat and veggies and not eating ice cream and croissants seemed to do the trick.; 4/13/17, 10:14 PM
heyboom said...: Eating fish and meat and veggies and not eating ice cream and croissants seemed to do the trick.

Lucerne makes a low carb ice cream that has only 10g of carbs per serving. I get the butter pecan and it tastes fantastic.; 4/13/17, 11:10 PM
mockturtle said...: If just sitting in hot water melted off the flab, I'd make like Marat and set up camp in the bathtub.

Speaking of which, did you get your book yet?; 4/13/17, 11:15 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Yes, I just did, and it is engrossing. I am presently being reminded of just why I hated Rousseau so much.; 4/14/17, 12:30 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: heyboom said..

Lucerne makes a low carb ice cream that has only 10g of carbs per serving"

Thank you for the tip! I'll look for it.; 4/14/17, 12:32 AM
Jon Ericson said...: I like reclining in my 450-gallon wood-fire-heated hot tub. For hours. I drink gallons of water.
Only on infrequent weekends, unfortunately.
Otherwise, I shake my shaky fist at Inga-bot, and the other dropped-on-they-head confusimaticon.
Grrr.; 4/14/17, 3:38 AM
Jon Ericson said...: How many confusimaticon victims will there be? Only she?; 4/14/17, 4:35 AM
urbane legend said...: heyboom said...
November 2015 diagnosed Type 2 diabetic with an A1c of 10.6. August 2016 off my meds with an A1c of 6.1. Lost 40 pounds by limiting carbs and sugar. Didn't look at a calorie at all. Maintaining today but still able to eat foods I enjoy. My A1c is 5.0.

Somewhat of a vanity post, but my point is that I am a case study that calorie counting is indeed irrelevant. Just watch those carbs and sugar!

This. Works every time. Not diabetic but I needed to lose weight. I cut out the sugar and carbs and the weight disappeared. And I have a sweet tooth that would kill five ordinary people. Discovered it didn't have to control me.; 4/14/17, 5:52 AM
Eleanor said...: I've recently lost 40 lbs by buying smaller dinner plates and walking the dog. No counting anything, no giving up or limiting any kind of food, no meetings, no personal consultant, no gym membership. No food delivered for free by Fedex. Doctor approved. She said,"The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat less and move more. All diets that feature deprivation eventually fail, and no diet works without exercise." The losing weight part of her advice works. We'll see if the keeping it off part works, too. I'm fully satisfied with what and how much I eat, and the dog loves the exercise.; 4/14/17, 7:11 AM
Gerrard787 said...: Certainly glad the MD who wrote the article isn't my doctor. Counting calories and limiting their intake is incredibly effective in controlling weight.; 4/14/17, 11:26 AM
OGWiseman said...: These articles are so damn absurd. Read this one and a couple of his others he linked to. Money quote from a linked one:

"So yes, the first law of thermodynamics remains immutable. Energy balance is a true concept. A person will not lose weight if they eat more calories than they burn, and vice versa."

Calories In, Calories Out is a goddamn immutable fucking law of the universe. His point is that most people don't have the discipline and willpower to control their calories in the long-term. But if they don't, it's not because counting calories doesn't work. Ask and fitness athlete, model, bodybuilder, etc. They ALL count calories.

If you lost weight just by reducing sugar and carbs it's because YOU'RE EATING LESS CALORIES!

This anti-science crap that gives people an excuse to not be in charge of their own bodies infuriates me.; 4/14/17, 12:32 PM