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Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

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

#801

Post by wpietri »

unfocussed_mike wrote: post #704
Qub3d wrote: post #656

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I find it useful to think of those as just different kinds of people.

In high school, a friend of mine had an exchange student. My friend's family were all naturally thin. They were truly surprised that once a package of something sweet was open, the exchange student would return at regular intervals to have some until it was all gone. They weren't being tough or anything; they just didn't experience the cravings.

I am like the exchange student. So as much as possible, I just don't keep that stuff around.

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

#802

Post by Clubber »

IMO if any of these weight loss hacks actually worked, we'd know it. Eat less and moderate exercise is still the best way to go.

Some ideas (pick any or all):

  Buy fruit or veggies when you have cravings.

  Don't buy much junk food. If you do buy junk food, don't buy your favorite stuff. For example, if you like chocolate, buy the "ok" chocolate, not the "damn this is great!" chocolate. Same with chips. For the double hack, just buy the "what's on sale," in this category.

  Don't buy food you don't have to "fix," particularly junk food.

  Exercise every day. It can be as simple as walk for 5-10 minutes or do body weight squats or jumping jacks. If you can only do 5 minutes, that's better than nothing. Committing to 5 minutes is easier than committing to 30. Once you start the 5 minutes, chances are you'll do more. For example, I commit to walking to the closest park. It's probably 7 minutes there and back. If I really don't feel like doing more, I don't. Most of the times I end up doing a couple miles. It's a leisurely walk.

  Keep at it, that's the important part. Make the starting changes so easy it's manageable. Once you adapt to your minor change, add another change. When you feel weak willed due to a stressful event, go back a step rather than removing all steps.

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

#803

Post by geden »

I went from a pandemic high of 87kg to 75kg and now a steady 77kg with the app Noom. Was very sceptical but just followed it blindly for three months. It’s very simple, runs you at a calorie deficit by tracking food intake and calories burnt through exercise. Crucially though it combines that with a carefully measured daily CBT style course around eating, to help lock in new habits.

It was a definitely aimed more at women than men and was a bit USA centric but I let that wash over and got very decent results.

I felt it was a bit expensive and by their own admission it doesn’t cope well as an app when you reach your target. I’m unsubbed now but have a new base level weight I’m much happier with.

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

#804

Post by arthurofbabylon »

Get morning sunlight within 1 hr of sunrise. Direct - not through glasses/windows.

Early morning sunlight configures our endocrine system, which has a major impact on digestive processes, feelings of motivation, and basically every system in our body.

It’s a domino effect. Just one minute of sunlight is sufficient to kick off numerous positive dynamics.

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

#805

Post by Spivak »

pc86 wrote: post #628
flexie wrote: post #246

Just eat less. Much less. And don't drink alcohol, juice, milk, ice tea, or soft drinks. Drink water. My suggestion: Skip breakfast. Take a cup of black coffee. A lunch consisting of a salat made of half a cucumber and a medium sizes tomato and either 1) a can of tuna (in brine, not oil) or 2) smoked salmon (100 gram), will make you quite full without adding more than 200 calories. Afternoon snack: Lots of chewing gu…

A couple nits from someone who has owned multiple gyms, done nutrition and weight loss counseling for various specific populations, etc. 1. This is overly prescriptive advice ("eat this exact thing", "no tea!", "no breakfast!", "no dessert!") that isn't appropriate for everyone, and will set a lot of people up to fail. 2. I don't have a problem with chewing gum specifically, but it's a crutch. There's nothing wrong w…

I feel like 4 is needlessly pedantic because there's no way people in real life are able to realistically gauge their personal caloric discharge except by modulating intake and watching for symptoms of deficit. I know too many people who have been burned by exercise burning too few/too many calories.

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

#806

Post by wpietri »

water-your-self wrote: post #275
imperialdrive wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eat the same, eat whatever you crave. Eat junk if you insist but give an occasional serving of fruits and/or vegetables a chance. Don't ever read the ingredients unless you're deathly allergic to something. Alcohol is poison, but as long as you recognize that, proceed however the hell you want. Get a chair that makes you uncomfortable. Sit up straight, move around, take a walk around the block, try moving to music (d…

This is mostly terrible advice. Being aware nutrition and ingredients in the foods you consume is very important. Dont accidentally eat 40% of your daily sugar intake because you were craving a powerade.

For sure. We live in an age where foods are engineered to maximize repeat purchase. In our evolutionary history, the main way to get concentrated sugar was to try to take it away from bees. If candy bars were similarly guarded at the convenience store, you can bet that people's consumption of it would be much closer to the recommended level.

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

#807

Post by MrPatan »

wodenokoto wrote: post #740
MrPatan wrote: post #719

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're so right. > * Telling you to "just eat well and exercise". Which is about as useful as telling drug addicts to "just stop using drugs", I like to liken it to telling poor people that overcoming debt and becoming wealthy is a matter of spending less money than you earn. True and useless! > 1. Exercise helps you eat well I've noticed this as well. Also: I'd like to be proven wrong on this, but I believe the poin…

> I'd like to be proven wrong on this, but I believe the point of exercise that builds muscle is that it increases your energy costs at rest ... I can't see this fact anywhere though. Is that stupid? So obvious to everyone that nobody even mentions it? What kind of sources are you looking for? It's pretty common bro science, and often repeated on HN and reddit.

Exactly. How come it's not given more importance? Is the effect not big enough? Seems to me it's the one that would dominate everything else. You're not-exercising during a bigger part of the day than exercising, after all.

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

#808

Post by toto444 »

prepend wrote: post #453
rootlocus wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who lost 20kg in 5 months by eating less, I don't appreciate being called full of shit. First, too much water can cause hyponatremia. Drinking 2 to 3 litters of water / day is fine, but reach 5L and it's getting dangerous. And one of the main advantages of drinking water is it keeps your stomach full, meaning you don't feel hunger, and thus eat less. Second, what's the purpose of your 3rd point if not to r…

> but reach 5L and it's getting dangerous Maybe if you drink it all at once. 5L/day is perfectly fine for everyone in the world. If you’re drinking more than 2L/hour, that’s a problem. So space it out and drink a liter an hour or two and you’ll be fine. In the US, that’s two gallons and is a ton of water. It’s pretty common to see friends carrying a gallon jug around to make sure they drink their gallon a day.

Are you qualified to make this statement (genuinely asking) ?

I tend to drink a lot and have read several times that drinking too much can be bad and change your electrolise balance or something like this.

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

#809

Post by jasonhansel »

015UUZn8aEvW wrote: post #739

People get mad when they hear this, but: A) Obesity is HIGHLY heritable. Tons of twin and adoption studies prove this. The correlation between the adult BMIs of adopted (non-related) siblings raised in the same household is virtually zero. This means that parenting practices have no long-term impact on body fatness. The correlation between the adult BMIs of biological siblings raised in different households is strong…

> our environment is much more conducive to obesity than it was in the past.

What specific aspects of our environment are you considering? To some extent one can change one's environment.

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

#810

Post by supermatt »

Merad wrote: post #738
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…

> walking just ~8k steps per day You kind of gloss over this, but 8k steps is around 3 miles of walking for the average person. You might be able to get that "naturally" if you live in an urban area and go out on foot every day to get coffee, groceries, etc., but if you're a typical WFH software engineer living in the suburbs, you're probably going to have to spend 45 min to an hour every day walking for exercise to…

It’s 6pm. I’m WFH. I’m seeing 7451 steps on my iPhone. I wouldn’t say I’ve walked anywhere today, but I water my horses a few times a day (at bottom of garden).
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