Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#701

Post by curiousllama » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:34 PM UTC

SoftwarePatent wrote: post #681

Timpy wrote: post #514

This is a weird tip I think I could only share with the hacker news crowd. Once I learned about gut bacteria I started thinking of my cravings as something external to me. Like instead of saying "I'm hungry and I'm in the mood for something sweet" I would realize "the hormone ghrelin is sending hunger signals to my brain and the gut bacteria in my body is asking for something that's not actually in my best interest."…

+1 this works! I’ve seen it called “urge surfing.”

Hah love it. I’ve always called it my “monkey brain”

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#702

Post by kojeovo » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:35 PM UTC

My favorite thing is to combine IF with activity. As in, I will do fasted activity early in the day. What that means in reality is:

- skip breakfast

- go for a walk / run in the morning

This will mainly use your stored fat for energy and is 1 less meal you consume

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#703

Post by eropple » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:35 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #651

StevePerkins wrote: post #513

Lift weights two or three times per week, and walk just barely enough to avoid being completely sedentary. Nothing crazy, I'm talking about using the weight machines at a gym, and walking just ~8k steps per day with a pedometer watch to gamify it. I'm a naturally obese person, and I've read a thousand of these threads over the years. Nearly every comment is either: * Telling you to "hack your body", with keto or what…

> Nothing crazy, I'm talking about using the weight machines at a gym, and walking just ~8k steps per day with a pedometer watch to gamify it. This is a little crazy if you work in an office though. It's like over 1 hour of walking per day. Where do people find the time?

For me: get a dog. Find a two mile loop. Take the dog for a walk.

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#704

Post by unfocussed_mike » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

Qub3d wrote: post #656

unfocussed_mike wrote: post #606

Things that are easier if you live alone: Just don't buy rich foods over which you have no willpower. Don't go down those aisles in the supermarket. Don't keep biscuits (by which I mean cookies) and snacks in the house at all. Don't buy "meal deal" lunches that give you a discounted fizzy drink and snack. It's all very well people telling others that they need to develop willpower over knowing when they've had enough…

> Just don't buy rich foods over which you have no willpower. I started working with a dietician recently (which has benefits, but is not at all necessary) and they phrased is as, "its easier to practice willpower for 30 minutes once a week at the grocery store than every hour of the day the food is in the house."

It's really reassuring to hear that, because in my mind I always think my strategy is still inferior to those people who can ration out their own snacks.

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#705

Post by gadders » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

miroz wrote: post #506

gadders wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can just average your calories over the day and have three smaller meals.

You''ll be more hungry eating 3 small meals than eating one bigger meal.

Quite possibly.

The fundamental thing is calories in/calories out. Then you just need to find a strategy that helps you implement that that you can adhere to - keto, intermittent fasting, low fat, whatever. Track your calories under a few regimes and see which is easiest to stick to. People might argue one is better than the other, and that could well be true, but I think only at the individual level. What works for me might not work for you.

What worked for me (losing 14kg in 6 months) was only having two meals a day (lunch and dinner, breakfast was a coffee), and having the same (low calorie) meal for lunch every day.

Eating the same thing every day is not a bad idea: https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/health/the-gro...

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#706

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:37 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#707

Post by frans » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:37 PM UTC

It's surprisingly cheap to build yourself a gym in a spare room buying some second hand weights and stuff. The good thing is that a trip to your gym takes you 20 seconds. If you put up an old laptop, you can watch netflix or listen to podcasts/audio books. Try to get hooked to a multi season series that you can only watch on your own because your partner doesn't like it.

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#708

Post by galangalalgol » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:39 PM UTC

StevePerkins wrote: post #561

JKCalhoun wrote: post #547

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exercise is great, but I found it was not enough. I looked for low-hanging fruit in my diet (example: soft drinks) and cut those (lost 10 pounds just losing the lunchtime soft drinks). Even with the exercise (have "closed all three rings" since COVID) I hit a wall below which I am not losing weight. From experience though I know I need to cut the portion size of my meals. Years ago when I was preparing to undergo sur…

> Exercise is great, but I found it was not enough. I just want to reach through the screen and shake you while screaming. This is what I'm talking about, with every mention of exercise being dismissively pivoted back to diet hacks! Exercise is not a substitute for eating better, it is a tool for helping you eat better. Of course you should cut out sugary soft drinks and eat smaller portions! It's just that a minimum…

That simply hasn't been my experience. When I'm getting exercise regularly I get hungrier for worse types of food. Lifting makes me want fried chicken, fatty brisket, and chocolate. When something theows menoff my lifting habit, job change, kid etc. I continue to gain for a bit then I start eating much less and at least a little better. When I find time for lifting again, its almost subconsciously that I find myself stuffing my face with blocks of hard cheese and think "when did I come into the kitchen? How did I get here?" Despite my cravings being mostly for fat, I think under regulated blood sugar plays a part but no tests have shown that.

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#709

Post by qeternity » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:39 PM UTC

mjbeswick wrote: post #641

qeternity wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keto makes eating less super easy. Insulin is such an evil hormone.

Insulin isn't evil, it's a fantastic hormone which allows us to rapidly lower excess blood glucose and store excess carbs efficiently. It allows us to recover rapidly from exercise and make use of excess food in times of plenty.

You're right. Insulin insensitivity is evil.

Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

#710

Post by knicholes » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 2:39 PM UTC

I'm shocked to see how many people are saying that exercise is the way to lose weight. Exercise is a great way to strengthen your lungs, heart, and other muscles, but it's not going to be the way you lose fat. Diet is the answer. I know this because I've seen it time and time again, and because of recent research showing that a tribe who moves far more than we do burn about the same amount of calories as those who are sedentary. The calories just go to other things.

A very simple solution that definitely works is Clean Simple Eats. They give you a weekly shopping list and the recipes you need to eat every day. I said simple, not easy. It takes will power to stop eating everything in sight. It takes will power to spend so much time in the kitchen.

You don't need a weird tip. You need to do what is time-tested and true. Diet, sleep, and exercise. That's how you'll gain health and a better body composition.

80% diet, 20% exercise