Every year it happens, just like clockwork. The holidays are loaded with cookies and mashed potatoes with gravy and ham and chocolates and yams with brown sugar and marshmallows and parties -- and then after the caloric orgy come the New Year's resolutions, and nine times out of ten, these resolutions involve losing weight -- usually some ridiculous amount. Somehow I don't think it's different people making these resolutions every year; that there's an entirely new crop of fat people that pop up every year deciding to join Jenny Craig or Nutra-System or Weight Watchers, or order whatever the latest product is that's being hawked as recommended by Oprah (who is herself the poster child for Maybe You're Fighting The Wrong Battle).

If a drug doesn't show efficacy while undergoing studies, often the study is terminated the the drug under development scrapped. Any drug that shows as little efficacy in patient follow-up as diet plans do over the long-term would be scrapped. And yet every year, just like clockwork, the post-holiday amping up of weight loss plan advertising starts anew.

It isn't just about diets, either. This is the time when ads for fitness clubs and infomercials for exercise equipment ramp up as well. Funny how when we live in a society in which long hours are regarded as being synonymous with hard work and company loyalty at a time of diminishing jobs, and when schools are giving out "family homework" and commutes to work are getting longer, now it's no longer enough to go to Weight Watchers; you're now expected to add another two hours to an already hectic day to go to a gym and lift weights and walk on a treadmill.

And yet here is the most high-profile dieter in the country, Oprah Winfrey; a woman who is successful and beloved by many (even though I am not one of them), still defining her human worth solely through her weight, and right now she's regarding herself as worthless because despite having the resources to have a personal chef and a personal trainer, she STILL can't keep the weight off.

Maybe her body is trying to tell her something.

I read an article recently in which a woman who had lost a great deal of weight was still having trouble reaching her "goal weight", and so she was spending 3-4 hours a day at the gym. Do YOU have 3-4 hours a day to spend at the gym? I don't. And even if I did, that's not where I want to spend my time.

Now comes yet another study saying that unless you enjoy going to the gym, doing it just for weight loss is like running on a, well, treadmill -- you're not going to get very far:

Physical activity has many proven benefits.

It strengthens bones and muscles, improves mental health and mood, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer. Exercise is also good for your brain.

It may not be a cure-all for obesity, however.

Though better nutrition coupled with exercise has long been the favored prescription for losing weight and avoiding obesity, a new study suggests diet actually plays the key role.

Researchers from Loyola University Health System and other centers compared African American women in metropolitan Chicago with women in rural Nigeria. On average, the Chicago women weighed 184 pounds and the Nigerian women weighed 127 pounds.

Researchers had expected to find that the slimmer Nigerian women would be more physically active. To their surprise, they found no significant difference between the two groups in the amount of calories burned during physical activity.

"Decreased physical activity may not be the primary driver of the obesity epidemic," said Loyola nutritionist Amy Luke, a member of the study team.

I'm not saying that exercise is a bad thing. God knows I feel better when I take a half-hour walk at lunchtime now that I no longer have time before leaving for work in the morning. But the notion that obese people are REQUIRED to do endless hours in the gym in order to fight a battle they can't win ought to be debunked.

Of course this won't do it, not in a world in which Kate Harding gets trolls like the one described here. And not in a world in which women are judged solely based on the amount of space we take up. Sure, the doctors (like rail-thin Barack Obama's choice for surgeon general, Sanjay Gupta) talk about obesity and health, but when there's a study like this one, which obliquely points to the possibility that SOME obesity may be due not to "laziness" or consumption of fast food, but something in the foods that are widely available in this country that is at least contributing to increased levels of obesity. Or to the extent that physical activity is a factor, activity that's related to actually doing something, such as housework or yard work or playing a friendly game of tennis or softball, or taking a walk through the woods and enjoying the sounds and smells of nature may have a greater effect than grimly plodding along on a treadmill while looking out of the gym windows at a beautiful sunny day.

You'd think that after all the research, we would have reached a conclusion that there is no magic bullet for being thin. Yes, there are people who have spent their lives struggling with weight who, by devoting their entire waking, nonworking lives to the pursuit of thinness, have managed to fight their bodies' tendency to store fat. But does that mean that everyone should have this as a singular focus? Should fat people be doomed to denying themselves the pleasure of a social evening with friends because it might involve food? Should fat people have to isolate themselves in a cocoon of iPod-fed music, spending every waking hour at the gym when others can get by with a good brisk walk for an hour? Should fat people have to regard a restaurant menu as an enemy while their thin compatriots can feel free to order the fetuccine alfredo if that's what they're really wanting that day?

We're exposed every day, especially online, to the latest "magic bullet" for weight loss. Açai berries. Hoodia. Celebrity physicians put their name to this stuff. And yet, despite this, and all the diet plans and the gyms offering $20/month memberships, people are still fighting this battle. We're in a kind of Iraq War with our bodies in this country and thinking like John McCain -- that if we just pour enough money and resources into this battle, we can win it; even if we don't know what that victory looks like other than that it fits into a certain pair of jeans. We're not thinking about the cost to our social or even physical well-being.

This article on "The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating" from the New York Times web site got me thinking, because I AM eating many of these foods. I love Swiss chard, especially the red kind. Blueberries are my favorite fruit. I put cinnamon in my coffee every morning because I like the flavor and smoothness it gives coffee, and if it helps my LDL, so much the better. Garlic. Olive oil. Whole-grain bread. Lean meat and fish. Fresh fruit. Broccoli. Brussels sprouts, when tossed with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic, then roasted for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven, is the most heavenly vegetable on the face of the earth. All yummy, all things I like. Last time I tried to eat a Wendy's hamburger, I said "Yuck....this tastes NASTY." I don't have time to take a long 45-50 minute walk in the morning anymore, but I do have time in the middle of the day to take a half-hour brisk walk of three loops around the parking lot with a friend. And I am still what the TV doctors would call obese. And so are many others with perfectly "healthy" eating habits who DON'T frequent fast food joints.

Funny how they never want to study people like me. After all, why should they? There's a multibillion dollar industry at stake, one which relies on being stocked with fresh souls every January.

Labels: weight