Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

I typically need 40 minutes of "intentional" walking per day (i.e. two laps around my subdivision) to supplement my "incidental" walking (i.e. going from the bedroom to kitchen to bathroom). I'm highly skeptical that anyone needs a trip to the gym to walk. It's walking!

Sleep more, rest more, move more, hydrate more, eat less, choose nourishing foods.

Getting better sleep helps you not eat at night. Staying hydrated makes you rest better, and nourishing foods will help you move more.

I just posted this elsewhere — kcal[0] is a recipe/food manager with a specific focus on tracking macros. After figuring out the right numbers I used the app to set goals and track my intake. I lost about 40lbs over the course of three months going on and off calorie deficit cycles with it. And have been able to maintain easily since then. Understanding caloric needs and adjusting intake really is all there is to it.

[0] https://github.com/kcal-app/kcal

^This

That is the formula. Step one count what you are doing. Step two dump out pretty much all refined sugars. Watch out for 'fruit drinks', which are usually just soda without the fizz. Step three move around more. Also that formula is not static. You will find it moves around a bit and you have to revisit it. If you are deducting at 1100 calories and 20g carbs. You may suddenly find that you have stopped. That number may now be 1000/15g.

Also you are going to have to break habits. Old habits. That takes time. You will need to find something else to put in its place usually. Start with no sugar it is one that is 'easy' to watch for, unfortunately it is in many processed easy to get foods.

Find a set of recipes that are low carb and that you like. Do not use the 'i lost 20 pounds in x weeks' garbage out there. I have seen a few that were 'start with 2 cups of fruit'. That is sugar. Not as bad but still not what you are looking for at the start. Usually some sort of green veggie dish with a meat, no pasta/rice. There are a lot of pasta and rice dishes that pass themselves off as diet. They are pretty much your entire carb quota in one day many times.

My wife joined a club that helps her do it. Stay away from the ones where they do not use a nutritionist. Just watch out as many will try to sell you their plan stuff. The plan is what you want, not their overpriced diet food. If they say you can get there with fruit and nuts. Find a different one. Not saying you can not eat that. But it can not be a major portion. She may have like 1-2 servings of it a week. Even then she moderates how much.

There are a lot of "hacks" that might work or not with various good/bad side effects.

The general way is to maintain a caloric deficit while keeping your protein intake decent and lifting weights so that you don't lose lean muscle mass (and end up being skinny fat). There are some programs that are from a fitness trainer who's other programs which I've had success with that I can recommend. Let me know if you're interested.

Bottom line - no hacks. Just consistent effort over a period of time.