Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?

I am overweight and just curious. My theory, though untested, is that getting an oxygen tank might speed up passive weight loss substantially. 84% of all weight that is lost is in the form of carbon dioxide, and I wonder if upping the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled would lead to more weight loss. Oxygen only makes up 21% of our air. I am making the assumption that the lungs can handle being 100% saturated.

I got a psychogenic fever and lost a few kg in a week that didn't come back

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27227051/

If you hit the right buttons in the sympathetic nervous system you activate a special population of fat cells that seems to thermalize fat without the fat cells fighting to get it back afterwards.

I don't think it's reproducible because the level of psychological stress required to make it happen is extreme so there would be ethical problems with any protocol to induce a psychogenic fever.

If I were you I'd consider going a week without eating anything. It is general advice to lift weights to put some muscle mass on to raise your metabolism. It's not fashionable to do cardio for weight loss today but if you can manage to do 2 hours a day for a while it will move the needle.

What an interesting anecdote. I wonder if mentally-induced fever that is _not_ associated with high stress levels could do something similar, or if a certain level of mental anguish is a prerequisite in addition to the fever itself.

Intermittent fasting, for example not eating for 12 hours a day (say 7pm to 7am), has worked for me when I stuck to it.

Increase your lean body mass (muscles).

This may appear counterintuitive to somebody, but your basal metabolic rate increases with your lean body mass. In turn a higher metabolic rate will support your weight loss during the recovery days. Which is to say that exercising is of essence – As well as creating a caloric deficit, while insuring a sufficient protein intake.

Be sure to define a personal plan with your nutritionist.