First Lady Michelle Obama suggested that taking small steps like exercising a little more or skipping a cookie ("little things") added up over time and make a big difference in weight gain. However, Tara Parker Pope journalist for the NYT suggests otherwise in her article "In the obesity epidemic, What's one cookie." Numerous scientific studies show that small caloric changes have almost no long-term effect on weight. When we skip a cookie or exercise a little more, the body’s biological and behavioral adaptations kick in, significantly reducing the caloric benefits of our effort.
Unfortunately, a little change does not necessarily add up to a whole lot of weight loss as suggested by the First Lady. Read the full article from the NYT to learn why not.
Additional blog posts on nutrition.