Standing on the scale doesn't burn many calories, however. (Photo by Alan Cleaver)

It’s become something of a running joke around here that “eat less and exercise more” is overly simplistic, and not all that sexy. In that respect, this mantra is kind of like Bejeweled (actually, there is Bejeweled pron out there. Verily, the internet is full of things. Whether those things should exist is left as an exercise for the reader).

However, sometimes it’s useful to know more precisely how much we should be eating. This is especially true if you’re not on any kind of scripted dietary program, or one that gives you a daily allotment of something other than plain old calories.

Handy tool is handy.

I browse through a lot of health and fitness related news every day in order to try and find things that can help our readers here improve their lives. In doing so I come across a fair number of unusual topics, but more often than not most of the things I read tend to get repetitive. That’s why, when I opened up my reader this morning, I darn near spewed a mouthful of coffee all over my dual monitor setup after I saw one of the headlines.

Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle are registered trademarks of Warner Brothers

Dieting is a touchy subject. We all have our own ideas as to what is the “best” way to lose weight, and with very little research we can often find studies that back up our claim. What’s more, we’re all pretty defensive of our choices. Getting together in a room full of low-carb and low-fat dieters and asking them which is the better way to diet is as fraught with danger as standing in the middle of the lobby of the Marriott at Dragon*Con with a bullhorn and asking what the best Science Fiction series is.

In the spirit of full disclosure I have to admit that I am a low-fat, calorie counting dieter. That’s what Weight Watchers® really is, when you get right down to it. They just wrap it up in a convenient system and assign food point values. I’ve been on Weight Watchers for over 9 years now and while the amount of weight I have lost has varied consistently I have managed to maintain the large majority of my loss following that program. As a result, I am obviously biased toward low-fat diets and a big proponent of them. I truly believe that portion control, exercise, and healthy food choices are the key factors in losing weight and keeping it off.

A study released in the Annals of Internal Medicine seems to back me up on that.

Cause and effect? Not so fast.

No less an authority than Weight Watchers themselves has come to the defense of what one of my buddies used to call “rotting grain water.” Admittedly, not everything in the land of barley and hops is hosannas and bunnies – empty calories are empty calories – but neither is it nothing but bad news in a twelve-ounce package.

Lurking in the fizzy amber intoxicant are some minerals, B vitamins, and antioxidants. Regardless of whether you’re on either a muscle-building or a weight-loss diet, these vitamins and antioxidants are good for you. Pleasantly absent are things like cholesterol and fat. Modest intake of beer and wine (one drink per day) has even been shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease in men over 45 (and women over 55).

As the man in the jaunty red sash says: “Hooray, beer!”

Where have I been you may ask? Well, I got out of habit. Had some issues at home, moved, unpacked, set up the new place, then there was a busy month or so…next thing I knew I had been away from ShrinkGeek for months. So why is it so hard to come back?

The quick answer is: habit. I am out of the habit of pulling down some health information from the intartubes that may be of interest to the geek community, writing it up, formatting it, and posting it. When I was in the habit I would always be on the lookout for something to post and would be rearing to go on a new article. But once I got out of the habit I found it very hard to get back in. Would start up an article, lose my direction, and put it on the back burner.

So while trying to figure out how to jump back in I started thinking about habits in general. How do you start/end one? For myself, something big needs to happen to end one, such as moving, to take me out of my routine. Starting it is a bit harder as in many situations there is no sense of urgency. Then I started thinking about the troubles I have had getting a steady workout routine and diet in place.