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Interview with The BS Detective
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by Jamie Hale
I conducted the following interview with the BS Detective- James Krieger.
You seem to receive a fair amount of e-mail from irate people, which I also experience. Why do you get so many people upset?
In the health world, just as in politics, people tend to get married to a particular philosophy or idea. They believe in that idea so strongly, that any challenge to that idea can create a defensive emotional response. Muata of www.mrlowbodyfat.com perfectly described it when he talked about how people in the health world separate themselves into "tribes". These tribes will defend an approach so much that they defend it as if their lives depend on it. People become convinced that their approach or philosophy is the one and only correct approach for everyone.
Are there more Bsers (a person who makes claims, and has no idea if those claims are fact or fiction, they've have never bothered to do the research) or Liars (a person who intentionally misrepresents what they believe to be true) working in the fitness industry?
I think there's a lot more BSers. I think there's also a lot of people that lie in between. They've done some research, but they may not have the background to truly evaluate the research, or they may be so married to a particular idea that they will dismiss any conflicting research or interpret it in a way so that their idea is still defensible. Often, I think the process of confirmation bias is a very unconscious process, and is not deliberate.
Of the articles you have written do you have a favorite, and what is it if so?
I'm not sure I have a particular favorite. My most recent article (http://www.weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=415) on how NEAT decreases more than expected with weight loss, and how that abnormally low level is maintained even after maintaining the weight loss for a year, was an eye opener for myself. I knew that NEAT decreased with weight loss, but I had no idea that the effect was maintained even after a year of weight loss maintenance. When I was a researcher for a corporate weight management program, we told our clients that maintaining weight loss would be a part time job for the rest of their lives, and this study confirmed that. Unfortunately that's something people don't like to hear.
Other than that article, my article on insulin (http://www.weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=319) and my critique of chapter 14 of Gary Taubes's book (http://www.weightology.net/?p=265) are also among my favorites.
With so much information available concerning exercise and nutrition how can the lay person distinguish between fact and fiction?
It's tough because the lay person usually doesn't have the background or the time to critically evaluate claims regarding exercise and nutrition. Even information that is well referenced can still be false. I think the biggest tip-off to false information is people that claim to have absolute truth. In science, conclusions are usually tentative, and can be overturned if more reliable evidence indicates it should be overturned. Someone who claims to hold absolute truth is not being scientific.
If you had one piece of advice for newbies working in the fitness industry what would it be?
Learn how to read scientific research for yourself. Don't rely on other people's interpretations. Investigate all claims for yourself. If someone references a study, find the study yourself and see if the claim is true.
I would love to see a James Krieger book. Any plans for a book?
I have a number of book plans. I want to write a book on NEAT. I also want to write a book on passive overeating and why it's so easy to overconsume in our society. I also want to write a book on the myriad of factors that are contributing to the obesity epidemic and how they are all simultaneously interacting to create the problem. Finally, I want to write a book on building muscle.
James Krieger is the founder of Weightology, LLC. In addition to helping people achieve their weight loss goals, James is a published scientist and author. He has published weight loss and nutrition-related research in prestigious scientific journals, including the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the Journal of Applied Physiology. To learn more about James Krieger visit his site @ www.weightology.net[/i]
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