Thursday I had dinner with a friend and one of my greatest heros in nutrition and health, Dr. Jim Hill. If his name sounds familiar, he's the person who started the National Weight Loss Registry and who started America on the Move (wearing pedometers and walking 10,000 steps a day.
Let me share something about him you might not have known and how it's changed my thinking.

In a classic article in Science, Hill showed that cutting only 100 calories a day from our diets will prevent weight gain in most of the US population. The majority of people only gain a pound or two each year, and their calculations showed that anything a person does to make this 100 calorie difference will lead most of us to lose weight. We can do it by walking an extra 2000 steps each day (about one mile), or we can do it by eating 100 calories less than we otherwise would.

The best way to trim 100 or 200 calories a day is to do it in a way which does not make you feel deprived. It is so much easier to rearrange your kitchen and change a few eating habits so you do not have to think about eating less or differently. This is the silver lining to this dark, cloudy sky. The same things that lead us to mindlessly gain weight can also help us mindlessly lose weight.

How much weight? Unlike the 3:00 AM infomercials, it would not be 10 pounds in 10 hours, or 10 pounds in 10 days. It is not even going to be 10 pounds in 10 weeks. You would notice that, and you would feel deprived. Instead, suppose you stay within the Mindless Margin for losing weight and trim 100-200 calories a day. You would probably not feel deprived, but in 10 months you would be in the neighborhood of 10 pounds lighter. It would not put you in this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, but it might put you back in some of your “signal” clothes, and it will make you feel better without costing you bread, pasta, and your comfort foods.

What small changes have worked for you?

周四，我和一位朋友，营养保健专家基米-希尔（Jim Hill）博士一起共进晚餐。他的名字是不是听起来很耳熟，是他开创了美国国家体重减轻登记处，并且倡导美国人运动起来。（携带计步器。每天走一万步）

让我来说说你所不知道的希尔吧，还有我的思想是怎么改变的。

在《科学》杂志的一篇著名文章中，希尔认为对于大部分美国人来说，从每天的食谱中减少100卡路里的热量，就能够防止体重的增加。大多数人的体重每年只会增加一到两磅，对他们的调查显示，只要你减少了体内的100卡路里热量，无论通过什么方式，大部分人的体重都是可以下降的。我们可以每天多走2000步（大约1英里）来消耗100卡路里的热量，或者我们可以每天少进食100卡路里的热量。

当然减少100到200卡路里热量的最佳办法最好能让你不挨饿。重新安排下你的食谱，改变一些吃东西的习惯，这样就不会让你必须少吃或者吃不同种类的食物了，这是最好的办法。这些无意中使我们体重增加的事情同样可以使我们的体重减轻。

多少重量？不像夜里三点的电视购物，它会让你在十个小时或者10天或者十周内增加10磅体重；你会注意到，你会觉得饿。相反，你可能在无意之中就减轻了体重或者每天减少了100到200卡路里热量，你也不会感到饥饿。但是在10个月内，你就会减轻了10磅体重。虽然这不会让你登上体育画报的泳装封面，但是你可以穿回你以前的衣服了，而你节约了面包、意大利面或者其他美味食品，这也会让你感觉舒服。

你已经做了哪些小的改变呢？