I don't know how weird it is, but one thing I do is to consume 5 mg of psyllium husk [0] (in powder form, consumed mixed with water) whenever I get a food craving outside of normal meal time. I find it helps tide me over until the next meal and helps cut down on cravings.
Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
981–990 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#982Stop eating carbohydrates for 60 days. You're body will very likely hate you for it for a week or two so you got to get past that (you're basically breaking an addiction and suffering a withdrawal). Then the weight will magically melt off. After 60 days, don't start with the carbs again. I'm at 10 years now.
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#983You're correct in that carbon dioxide exhaled is a key factor and it's because it's the by-product of burning energy and rebuilding the body (mostly at night so get good sleep too!)
What this means though is there's no easy way, you either need to build a faster metabolism or exercise more.
Of course, eating less helps too as you're not storing more energy than you need. It's a balance. As pointed out in other responses, eat less carbs/sugar (no soda or bottled juices!), eat only good fats (non manufactured) and don't eat anything in a packet/can that has numbers in the ingredients. Frozen or canned vegetables are ok if they're 'plain' without sauces etc. Basically, eat real food.
Buy smaller plates. My partner has a uncanny ability to fill up a dinner plate no matter how big so I ask her to give me the smallest dinner plates we have and don't mound them too high :) If I'm still hungry I've found just a regular hand full of peanuts takes away the hunger pangs. This helps between meals too, plenty of water also helps.
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#984I did 72hr fasts and averaged about a pound lost per day at the fastest (i mostly ate eggs and cream cheese when i did eat anything). I exercised pretty heavily too but entirely cardio (physically weaker obviously so don’t want to fail lifts). I went from 255lbs to 200lbs over the course of two months (currently sitting at 180 but that’s because I’ve released it quite a bit)
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#985Earlier quoted context omitted.
The key to losing weight is to maintain a caloric deficit. You can do this and have the occasional celebratory meal. You don’t have to eat like a monk. Some people use strategies like IF (intermittent fasting), but just being sensible and accessing good nutritional advice is helpful. Eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, and drinking enough water, has been shown to be very helpful. Your point about cooking is also…
> The key to losing weight is to maintain a caloric deficit. You can do this and have the occasional celebratory meal. How to maintain a caloric deficit is highly personal. I made my own strategy after thinking carefully about what would work and what would not work. I aimed for a fairly controlled daily calorie intake with a 500 kcal daily deficiency, and then thought hard about how to achieve that within my limits.…
I agree, it’s very personal, and that’s key to keeping one’s mind happy and motivated, otherwise one would be wolfing down ice cream before long.
I enjoyed reading your strategy. The thoughtfulness that it came out of is clearly important. Mine differed from yours (I have a substantial breakfast and very little dinner), but there are some common themes — eg vegetables for dinner and choosing more fibre.
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#986I'm not sure what you mean by "weird". A diet is weird, and I'm very much older than most of you and have been successful with hi-protein diets. Atkins was the first of these, I'm guessing. 20 years later it was "Protein Power". Most similar to Keto of current fads.
Eat lean protein (fish, chicken, beef - canned or fresh; even sardines). The original diets ignored fat, but I don't think it's to your benefit to do so. For greens, stick to cabbage, kale, chard etc, mostly raw.
After two or three days of this, you sense a very particular change in your body, and you detect notes of ketone in your breath and a bad taste in your mouth. You continue, and drink lots of water. You feel the change in your muscles and fat, too. Avoid artificial sweeteners, unless you're so hooked on sweet that you can't cope.
You can add dairy, but dairy is higher carbo and higher fat. 0% cottage cheese, farmers cheese work well; milk, yogurt, etc. should be avoided.
You will cheat, but get back on the horse and continue.
If you need "crunch", the most dogmatic protein diets tell you to get a bag of deep fried pork rinds. It works, but you have to like them.
You can add seeds and nuts to the diet; you can have as many bell peppers as you wish; onions, too. Protein stirfrys. Avoid grains and root veggies.
After a short while, your brain will change. You'll likely crave French fries less, and you never should have been drinking sweetened sodas and fruit shakes in the first place. The loss can last a long time.
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#987 Wegovy
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#988Lots of vodka and cigarettes.
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#989I'm far from being an expert, but the CO2 is just a byproduct of your body's metabolism. And although oxygen only makes up 21% of the air, your lungs don't extract 100% of it and even if it did, it wouldn't get used, or you would pass out.
Or even worse, you would get used to having 100% oxygen delivered to your lungs, your red blood cell count would drop and then you would pass out as soon as you stopped using the O2 tank.
I've read a comment about gut bacteria, and I've also read a study about it and I was able to lose weight. If you think about types of gut bacteria that are helping you digest your food like little populations, you need to stop eating bad food like pizza, fast food, etc so that you can starve the population that's constantly secreting hormones that make you hungry for that kind of food. Then the craving goes away.
Declare war on those bacteria. No, it's no easy, it's pain and suffering. The first two weeks are hell. Then it gets easier and easier.
What I did was: - Sunday I cook meals for the week, two small portions every day. - Two options of tasty but healthy food. - Like mashed potatoes and grind meat or chicken and rice. - One small cake that should last the entire week as an emergency craving snack. - A ton of fruits. - A cheat meal on Saturday.
Do your best to stick to it, if you feel hungry you can try to eat one more portion, or fruits and in the worst case, a piece of cake.
The cake should also be very 'fit' like carrot cake with no fillings or frostings.
I have no weird tips or hacks, I've tried and fooled myself too many times.
There are no cheats, there are no tricks.
Re: Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
#990I'm far from being an expert, but the CO2 is just a byproduct of your body's metabolism. And although oxygen only makes up 21% of the air, your lungs don't extract 100% of it and even if it did, it wouldn't get used, or you would pass out. Or even worse, you would get used to having 100% oxygen delivered to your lungs, your red blood cell count would drop and then you would pass out as soon as you stopped using the O…
I think you're correct on the oxygen. If the atmosphere is richer in it you will just breathe shower or shallower.
If you try breathing to fast for your body needs you might faint. I think it's called hyperventilation and it's not pleasant.