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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?

#851

Post by SCNP »

beloch wrote: post #817

- Stop looking for weird tips or gimmicks. They're usually bullshit. - Recognize that media and the weight loss industry have absolutely no interest in helping you lose weight permanently. The incentives are wrong. They want a captive audience and repeat clientele. If there's any truth to what they say it's incidental. e.g. Blueberries are not a magically healthy food that will transform you into a greek god or godde…

"The path to being healthier starts with observation. Keep a food and activity journal and crunch the numbers." Downloading MyFitnessPal and actually using it alone was such an eye-opener. That mirror to the face is sometimes all a person needs to commit properly.

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

#852

Post by chasebank »

abotsis wrote: post #847

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.

Really? Trader Joe's is primarily junk food masquerading as health food. I'm jealous!

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

#854

Post by VerminOctopus1 »

crazy1van wrote: post #782

The weight change = calories in - calories out theory assumes that calories out is some easy to deduce number. Calorie expenditure can't be determined by just plugging your height, weight, and activity level into an online calculator. The body is more complicated than a bucket with a fixed size hole in it and all you have to do is pour water in at a rate less than it drains out. The body produces hormones to signal t…

Yes identifying the exact “calories out” number would be a monumental task. That said, we have a very strong understanding of the ballpark amount of calories it takes to keep your body alive and working for a single day - it’s around 1800, give or take a few hundred calories depending on a few features that you mentioned. With this in mind, it is simple to run a calorie deficit, even if you don’t know exactly how much that number is.

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

#855

Post by swat535 »

Eating less is key, but there a few items that important to keep in mind:

1. You have to replace your food with healthy variants, fruits, vegetables, proteins, etc. Otherwise your body will not be satisfied and ironically eating healthy food with the right portion will fill you up just fine.

2. Drink water during the day, this reduces craving, keeps you hydrated and is refreshing!

3. Get your sleep under control. In my experience, if you lack sleep, your body will signal the need for more calories

4. KEEP TRACK. This is very important, every morning, before your routine, go on a scale and get your weight. You can get one of those fancy scales that automatically stores data; this is important because weight loss is not visible initially and you will be discouraged.

5. This is a lifestyle change, so be kind and patient with yourself, even if you slightly gain some back, it's ok because if your _mindset_ is of a healthy life, then you can always get back on track quickly.

Last point: Junk food really is poison for your body. Your body has been gifted to you through millions of years of evolution and it doesn't do it justice to fill it with disgusting sugary foods!

Best of luck to you.

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

#856

Post by cschep »

brimble wrote: post #834
birksherty wrote: post #745

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They are so adverse to exercise, that suggesting exercise seems offensive to them. They emphasize that it's entirely about diet. Disagree completely. Exercise does not lose weight. The amount of exercise one needs to lose the calorie gained from a burger is not possible to achieve on daily basis. Weight does not just come from air. It's all about what you eat. That's the science. Exercise helps to build muscle and…

I tried to lose some weight with strict calorie counting once . ~1400/day. No loss in about 60 days, with zero cheating. I also started doing a lot of cardio at the same time (bike riding, running). No help there, either. Gained a ton of fat fast when I stopped and went back to eating normally (for me). Yeah, I'll stick to weight lifting. Dieting (past a certain point, anyway) fucks up my metabolism.

These kind of comments without more context really serve to confuse the situation. If you only ate 1400 calories a day (a brutal challenge for lots of people) and you didn't lose weight it's because your BMR is 1400.

So.. are you 5'2" female or a 6'3" male? 1400 is (potentially) appropriate for one and brutally low for another. Gained fat FAST after eating more? Well sure if you went from 1400 to 2800 and your BMR is 1400 that's gonna make anyone gain weight. Faster than your normally would because your metabolism changed based on your previous input? That doesn't track with conventional knowledge.

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

#857

Post by aenis »

knicholes wrote: post #710

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 ar…

Yeah, this!

I was doing 13,000km by bike every year for years and kept gaining weight until I hit 122.5kg. I was able to go on a 40km hike, cycle for 200km and bench press my body weight easily, but kept getting heavier. I stopped all excercise except for walking and moderate cycling (I have a habit of watching coding tutorials while on a starionary bike), and started alternate day fasting. I lost 18kgs in 3 months while eating anything I want on the feasting days. Never felt better.

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

#859

Post by laboo »

Convince yourself that you really, really want it.

Every day/night, spend 30 minutes sitting alone in a quiet space, emotionally involved in how much you want to lose weight.

Then during the day -- and this is important -- don't fight the urge to eat. At all. Just live your life.

Once your daily meditation/prayer/yearning starts to take hold, you will automatically start making better choices.

This advice goes for anything you want to change about yourself. You have convince the part of your brain that runs your life moment-to-moment that you want to behave differently. And the only way to do it is by getting that part of your brain to understand how much you want it. You have to prove it by going emotionally deep over and over and over.

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

#860

Post by unfocussed_mike »

Spivak wrote: post #798
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…

I found this really helpful to change the way I look at willpower. https://psyche.co/ideas/the-best-way-to-exercise-self-contro...

Wow, this really is fascinating!

Thanks so much.

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