Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#31

Post by trjordan » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:30 PM UTC

The only diet that works is the one you stick to. So figure out the combination of what drives you and what you can live with, and do that.

For me, I fall apart when I'm hungry. So my diet is based around "efficient" foods (most fullness for least calories) and easy-to-follow guidelines that I can fall back on when I'm too hungry to think straight.

- Protein makes me full. Lean protein makes me stupid full.

- Vegetables make me feel like I've had a real meal. It's hard to add so much oil or butter to a vegetable to make the calories matter.

- I can eat infinite carbs. Carbs + fat is an easy way to put down 2,000 calories in a single meal.

- Most places have a salad. When in doubt, order the salad. Add protein.

- Cooking at home means meat + veggie. I make whatever I want, as long as it's meat + veggie.

- Breakfast doesn't make me full for long. Coffee is equally effective.

Figure out what works for you! Maybe keto is easy to follow. Maybe lifting makes you crave fewer pizzas. Maybe you can outrun your food habits by training for marathons. Maybe you should eat 7 meals a day, 3 of which are soylent.

It's all about the habit. If you can figure out what the happy output is, optimize for the fewest inputs that get you there.

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#32

Post by georgewsinger » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:31 PM UTC

nutritionfacts.org for science-based nutritional advice.

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#33

Post by cirgue » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:31 PM UTC

Drink lots of water, eat a wide variety of mostly non-processed food, find physical activities that are fun and engaging enough that you will do them for entertainment.

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#34

Post by jtuente » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:32 PM UTC

This article covers more than just fat loss, but goes over the whole spectrum of how to plan your diet.

http://physiqonomics.com/fat-loss/

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#35

Post by stusmall » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:32 PM UTC

This is probably the worst site to ask. The replies will range from Soylent to Doritos to vegan without much moderate voices in between. A lot of insurance plans will completely cover a visit to a nutritionist or talk to your GP. Don't listen to the fads and hysteria on the internet that offer diets that are simple to describe but hard to live by.

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#36

Post by mohaine » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:33 PM UTC

icc97 wrote: post #21

Going vegetarian is what I did, for moral reasons primarily, but it has lots of health benefits. Assuming that you want to do it properly, that is you want to replace meat with various vegetables, nuts, and beans etc that provide protein you automatically increase your intake of healthy foods. You can of course just eat chips, cheese and margerita pizza which won't help. But being vegetarian does open your eyes to a…

I've seen lots of people try and it does seem to work for weight loss short turn but the effect does not seem to last. At some point you start liking the food and weight comes right back. (ditto for pretty much any special diet)

As for the health benefits, I'm not so sure there either. I eat a mostly meat diet and my wife has been vegan for last 10 years and vegetarian for the 15 years before that and my numbers are better pretty much across the board.

Sure it seems like a vegetarian diet should be better for you but with nutritional science in the state it is it is hard to know much of anything for sure.

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#37

Post by jules » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:33 PM UTC

salehk wrote: post #20

To simplify my life, instead of micro counting calories an nutrients i've setup some simple rules for myself. 1. Eat out as little as possible cook everything at home, so I know exactly what is going into my body. 2. Make sure I eat a salad or a meal that includes vegetables once a day. 3. SHAKES!!! I make shakes daily a great way to get nutrients and fill yourself up. My shakes generally contain (berries, banana, po…

If you don't find shakes appetising you could eat the berries separately, and make a salad with the greens and plant protein, and eat some almonds, and skip the bananas. Eating it in this form will also be more filling with fewer calories.

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#38

Post by kidsil » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:34 PM UTC

Don't get diet advice from engineers.

I appreciate the interest in knowing what your virtual colleagues do, but honestly some topics covered on Ask HN simply cannot be answered with the same expertise as tech related questions.

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#39

Post by darioush » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:35 PM UTC

Stop eating once you're no longer hungry.

Re: Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?

#40

Post by Govindae » Wed, Aug 09, 2017, 5:36 PM UTC

miguelrochefort wrote: post #17

I often recommend people to "reset" their diet. For 30 consecutive days: - Think of food as a source of nutrients, not pleasure. - Only eat once a day. - Only eat beef. - Only drink water. After 30 days, introduce 1 new ingredient a week.

This is great advice because every additional ingredient you add reduces your risk of colon cancer.