PBS Frontline: Lose Weight, Gain Health on the Ornish Program

In this 2011 Frontline interview with Dr. Ornish, he reveals simple and rational ways to lose weight and improve your health.

An easier way to eat fewer calories is not just to change the amount of food, but the type of food.

“..there’s no mystery in how you lose weight. It’s: You burn more calories or you eat fewer calories. You can burn more calories by exercise, for example, which is why any kind of exercise can help you lose weight. And you can eat fewer calories in one of two ways. One is, you can just eat less food, which is why you can lose weight on any diet if you eat less of whatever it is, because if you eat less food, then you’re going to eat fewer calories. The problem is, you get hungry, and sooner or later, most people get tired of feeling hungry and deprived, they get off the diet, they gain the weight back, and then they usually blame themselves for not having enough discipline or willpower or motivation, when the real problem was that they were just going about it in the wrong way.

An easier way to eat fewer calories is not just to change the amount of food, but the type of food because fat has 9 calories per gram, whereas protein and carbs only have 4. So when you eat less fat, you eat fewer calories without having to eat less food.

Read the full interview here.