Prof W Stroebe sheds light on weight loss, calorie restriction and staying healthy. Plus letters from Simon Cooper, Laura Marcus, David Chan and Avril Levi
Weight control is not the same as calorie counting. Amelia Tait (After years of torture, I broke free of the tyranny of calorie counting, 8 August) suffered from anorexia and, for people with that condition, calorie counting is different from normal weight control.
Having been anorectic, it is probably difficult to get out of the habit. Although there are many (fortunate) people who do not have to control their weight at all and never gain weight, there are others (nearly half the population of the Netherlands, according to recent research) who are chronic dieters or, as eating researchers refer to them, “restrained eaters”.
