Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

Understand that different people experience hunger differently. Some people say they can lose weight without feeling hunger pain. That may not be your experience. The weight loss industry as well as doctors and dieticians emphasize weight loss without hunger, because hunger is such a strong biological driver.

Personally, I am searching for a different way to experience hunger.

So far I have learned a few things:

1. I experience different kinds of hunger - low blood sugar leads to cravings (and eating sugar can cause a blood sugar crash, which will in turn cause cravings); social hunger means I feel hungry around lunchtime; empty stomach hunger can feel like a stomach ache; post workout hunger means I need to feed my body to continue building capacity; starvation hunger leads to reduced mental and physical capacity and exhaustion in the short term, and leads to physical deterioration in the long term.

2. Hunger will always speak up, but it doesn't get the only vote

3. Cravings are managed by planning.

4. Learn to notice when you eat. I did an experiment with jelly beans. I put 3 jelly beans on my desk in front of me while I was working. They disappeared and I did not remember eating them. I did it again and concentrated on noticing when I actually ate them. It was very difficult. Only put as much food in arm's reach as you plan on eating.

5. My goal for exercise is health, not weight loss. When I exercised for weight loss I became despondent because I always gain weight at the start of an exercise program. I started walking 2 miles a day at lunch and gained 15 pounds over the course of a month.

6. Weight is only one number. Track your waist size, or your ability to lift weights, or your lap times, or just about anything ALONG WITH your weight.

7. Learn what different foods do to you. This can be very confusing and time consuming, but it will benefit you for the rest of your life.

8. Protein and fiber are good. Fat can be good. Carbs in whole fruits and vegetables are good. Processed carbs are the literal devil.

9. We eat like kings. Imagine a king 200 years ago. Only a few of them could have ice cream and all the rich foods we eat now. I eat 'celebration' foods from different cultures regularly - tamales, barbecue, cake, etc. The American assumption of "you can have it all, and as much as you want" is not good when it comes to diet.

10. Find a physical activity you enjoy. Physical activity is a triangle - weight lifting, general movement (aka "cardio"), and limberness/freedom of movement (often represented by stretching). Each one of these helps the others. If you only lift weights, you may neglect your ability to enjoy a long hike for instance. Gains ain't shit if you can't have fun.

11. I'm almost certainly wrong about a lot of important details, your experience WILL vary. Don't follow someone else's plan uncritically. There are many good places to start, but realize you may need to update the plan after your initial success.

I, for one, am intrigued by the idea of a set point diet. The basic idea is that your body maintains homeostasis, and wants to maintain a certain weight. This is why, for example, if you lose the pounds, they come back. The idea is further that there is something in our environment -- in the food, or the air, or the water, perhaps -- that has ratcheted up the set point for many people (presumably depending on which genes they've expressed).

I know there's a book on the topic, and info on the internet. I don't know whether it works.

I've been thinking about writing a kids book with Red and Green armies waging a battle in their tummy and feeding green things helps the good guys win. Too many red (fats, sugars, simple carbs) arm the baddies. Maybe a child psychiatrist would tell me this is a horrible idea, so I haven't asked any. :)

You asked for weird so I’ll give you weird: when I fill my pantry and fridge from stuff from Trader Joe’s, I lose weight. I’m not sure why, and it’s hardly backed by science, but it’s true for me.

Get Invisalign. It’s dentist mandated intermittent fasting.