The Truth About Calories and Weight Loss | Dr. James Hill

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:00)
For every 10 people who lose weight, only one will keep it off for good. But here's the shocking part. Most people don't fail because they're lazy or lack willpower. They fail because they're following the wrong strategy. So what's the right strategy? After decades of research, Dr. Jim Hill has studied thousands and thousands of people who have successfully maintained weight loss long term. The difference? It actually all comes down to just a few things. By mastering these strategies or habits, you can lose weight and keep it off. No gimmicks, no fad diets, just science-backed proven methods.
I just wanted to jump on here with an exciting announcement I am hosting. The second ever Forever Strong Summit, April 26th, 27th in Houston, Texas, 2025 There's going to be two days, the VIP Day on April 26th. You will learn from former Navy SEALs, from former Secret Service, from individuals that you do not want to miss. Myself, my inner tribe will be there to support you to learn everything from muscle health to science to nutrition. You don't have to be an expert. You don't even have to have a background. All you have to have is a will to win and stay strong. I will put a link in the show notes below. Please go to my website, drgabriellelyon.com. We sold out last year and I would hate for you to miss this opportunity. So if you're waiting for a sign, if you're thinking you need to change something up and you need community, friends, we've got you covered. Dr. Jim Hill, welcome to the show.

**Dr. James Hill** (1:53)
Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (1:55)
I feel like I'm sitting with a celebrity.

**Dr. James Hill** (1:57)
No. I've just been around for a while.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:01)
You are the co-founder of the National Weight Control Registry.

**Dr. James Hill** (2:05)
Correct.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:06)
For people who don't know what that is, that has really been a tool that has absolutely changed the game for our understanding in what it means to lose weight, but more importantly, keep it off.

**Dr. James Hill** (2:18)
Yes.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (2:19)
I would love to hear a little bit about your background for the listener or the viewer, because you are, I would say, an icon in the weight loss metabolism community.

**Dr. James Hill** (2:30)
I started research in this area in the late 70s, early 80s. So literally, I've been around for a long, long time. And in the late 70s, obesity was not seen as a problem. Yeah, there was some obesity out there. It was maybe 10% in the population. Nobody really cared about it. That wasn't one of the big issues. It wouldn't have made anybody's top 10 list of things to study. I actually started out studying how the brain regulates energy balance. So I was struck by the fact at that time, most people kept the stable weight throughout their lifetime despite changes in intake and expenditure. It's like, how does that work? So I was really interested in the role of the brain in maintaining energy balance. And I studied energy expenditure a lot. A lot of people look at food intake. I was looking at energy expenditure, the calories you burn. And I thought the calories you burn might be an important part of regulation.
And then it was really in the mid-80s that the national surveys began to pick up a pretty dramatic increase in obesity. Okay? And suddenly people got interested and I thought, this is perfect for what I'm looking at. And so I thought the reason people were getting obese is because they had a low energy expenditure. It wasn't what they were eating. It was their energy expenditure.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (4:00)
Yeah. And we have to just point out that this is how new obesity research is.

**Dr. James Hill** (4:05)
That's right.

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (4:06)
That there was a point in time where obesity wasn't thought of. People had no idea what was happening to them.

**Dr. James Hill** (4:13)
No idea. No idea. And still, in some parts of the world, obesity and diabetes is so new that they're still trying to get a handle on it. But we've been dealing with it for a while. So my hypothesis that it was energy expenditure, no, first wrong. But not wrong. We learned a lot from it. And what I learned is that for most people, their energy expenditure was exactly what would be predicted from their body composition. Boy, and I thought, I'm going to find this defect in energy expenditure and be famous. No. So I began to look at other things. Is it food intake? Is it metabolism? And that led to a journey to try to both understand why obesity occurs and in my recent years, really trying to do something about it. Can we prevent it? Can we treat it?