The Economists’ Diet: The Surprising Formula for Losing Weight and Keeping it Off By Christophe Payne and Rob Barnett

　　经济学家的饮食：由Christophe Payne和Rob Barnett给出的减肥和保持体重的惊人公式

　　Do you indulge in QE (quantitative eating)?

　　你沉溺于定量饮食吗?

　　Do you have a high marginal propensity to consume chocolate?

　　你有很高的巧克力边际消费倾向吗?

　　Then you might be piqued by a diet book from two self-described “formerly obese economists” on how to lose weight.

　　那么你可能会被一本自称是“前肥胖经济学家”的关于如何减肥的膳食食谱所激怒。

　　To be honest, the economics within this book is very much a side order rather than the main course.

　　老实说，这本书中的经济学只是一道配菜而不是主菜。

　　A diet is described as a “self-imposed eating-austerity programme”.

　　节食被描述为一种“自我强加的饮食紧缩计划”。

　　There is some discussion of people’s general failure to give enough weight to the long-term consequences of their actions; a phenomenon known as hyperbolic discounting.

　　关于人们普遍未对其行为所带来的长期影响给予足够重视有一些讨论，这种现象被称为“双曲贴现”。

　　And there is some neat use of the concept of diminishing returns.

　　这里有一些关于边际收益递减概念的简洁应用。

　　Eat a wide variety of foods and you may always get pleasure from trying something different.

　　吃各种各样的食物，你就总是能通过尝试不同的东西获得满足。

　　But limit your diet and you will soon tire of eating more.

　　但如果限制你的饮食，你很快就会厌倦吃更多的东西。

　　But the “surprising formula” promised by the book is scarcely a shocker: eat less.

　　但是这本书中所保证的“令人惊讶的公式”并不令人震惊：少吃。

　　The authors think this is more important than exercise since the latter tends to make you hungry; it is easy to undo all the good work of a cycle ride with a snack.

　　作者认为少吃比运动更重要因为后者容易使你饥饿;零食轻易就能抵消骑自行车的所有好处。

　　Eating less requires you to confine yourself to one square meal (defined as some grilled meat and two side portions of vegetables) a day.

　　少吃要求你限制自己一天吃一顿正餐(限定为一些烤肉和两份蔬菜作为配菜)。

　　The other meals should be very light; a non-creamy soup, a salad or a bowl of non-sugary cereal.

　　其余的两餐应该要非常清淡：清汤、一份沙拉或者一碗无糖麦片粥。

　　If you do end up splurging on a big meal or a treat, then the other meals should be skipped altogether.

　　如果你在一顿大餐或者一次款待上肆意挥霍，那么剩下的两顿应该要一律略过。

　　But the authors are not too prescriptive.

　　但是作者也没有硬性规定。

　　The aim is to find a diet that works for each individual.

　　目的是找到适合每个人的饮食。

　　And the best way of achieving that is to weigh yourself every day.

　　达成这个目的最好的方法就是每天给自己称重。

　　Only then can you see whether the diet is working.

　　只有这样，你才能看到这种饮食方式是否奏效。

　　The book is full of perfectly sensible advice, such as avoiding faddy diets, the lure of “low-fat” foods and the temptation to drink all your calories in the form of fizzy drinks, alcohol and sugary coffees.

　　全书充满了极其明智的建议，例如避免“流行饮食”、“低脂食物”的诱惑以及以碳酸饮料、酒精和含糖咖啡的形式摄入所有卡路里的诱惑。

　　At nearly 300 pages, however, it is rather repetitive.

　　然而，在近300页的篇幅中，这是相当千篇一律的。

　　But, as experienced economists, the authors may have realised that, when it comes to diet plans, demand is almost infinite.

　　但是，作为经验丰富的经济学家，作者可能已经意识到，在饮食规划方面，需求几乎是无限的。