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After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

nytimes.com

201–210 of 376 posts

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#201
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the first time I have heard glucose meters being used specifically for weight loss, very interesting. If this is a safe and effective way to encourage weight loss, this could be a huge business opportunity.

I had actually read about it last year. In the study, they used continuous glucose monitoring rather than glucose meter to track the blood sugar response to different foods precisely. They found that different people had different blood glucose response to different foods. The study only tracked participants for 1-2 weeks, but they do speculate on using personalized interventions devised from glucose measurements to…

Great, thanks for the follow up and link. Personalised approaches to health/medicine is an exciting area.

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#202
I get it: low-carb, hi-fat works for people and high-carb, low-fat works for people. Let's just get that off the table, but can we, for the love of the sustainable planet, have a hi-fat person give their testimony on how they did it with plant foods instead of just feeding the "mmmmmm more bacon, burgers, chicken and cheese!" mentality?

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#203
post #104

Well, I'd say that the endocrine reason sounds like a valid one. I can at least be counted in that group. Last December, I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes. After talking with a researcher about this (have worked with diabetes research school locally due to job), I came across a few things: 1. Damage is done to the pancreas at 140mg/dL 2. Too long at 140mg/dL or above can cause permanent damage to the pancreas. 3. Earl…

I think the problem with most sugars is that most people don't understand that the bulk of it is stored as glycogen in the muscular system.

Sugars really only have several places to go once they are ingested: Held in the fiber of undigested food, blood stream, liver and muscles.

We do really well with vegetables even though they are carbs since veggies are mostly fiber and very low carb. The high glycemic foods are okay provided that muscle glycogen is going-to-be/has-been depleted in the form of physical exertion.

Building muscle would also increases ones capacity for storing said glucose, but it's not easy or popular since the rate of muscle growth at best is about 1-2lbs/month under ideal conditions of physical exertion, nutrition and rest.

However, exercise and low-glycemic diets do explain the efficacy of reveesing t2 diabetes.

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#204
post #183

Now, here's my opinion, and I know it might be wrong. Anyone, please feel free to correct me, but: Everything I've read suggests that 1lb muscle requires about 50 calories a day to maintain. The workout programs these contestants are using are focused solely on cardio, or very heavily focused on cardio. If as part of the 239lb weight loss, Mr Cahill lost 8lbs-10lbs of muscle (and never regained it), there's your enti…

They mentioned that they have a lower metabolic rate than someone of the same size. I doubt they have less muscle than the average person at their weight

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#205
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^ This times 1000000. There is so much chicanery and malfeasance in the nutrition and fitness industry. I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes a few years ago. I went to dietitian who prescribed a diet with 60% carbs (I believe its roughly the same as the ADA dietary guidelines). The standard treatment is medication, followed by more medication, then insulin shots. Frustrated, I read everything I could get my hands on, and…

> I stopped listening to medical practitioners and starting experimenting with the foods I ate, using pairs testing with a glucose monitor. I sometimes wonder if the state of medical ethics is killing us. We've made it so expensive to do a medical study that nobody is going to do it unless the end result is something they can sell, so the only "solutions" we get are drugs because there is no money to be made in presc…

> "...no money to be made..."

That's the ethics of business. We have no healthcare; there's a healthcare industry and we are how it extracts its profits.

This inevitably corrupts the goals of an "ideal world" healthcare system which would exist to provide efficient and affordable healthcare.

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#206
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^ This times 1000000. There is so much chicanery and malfeasance in the nutrition and fitness industry. I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes a few years ago. I went to dietitian who prescribed a diet with 60% carbs (I believe its roughly the same as the ADA dietary guidelines). The standard treatment is medication, followed by more medication, then insulin shots. Frustrated, I read everything I could get my hands on, and…

> I stopped listening to medical practitioners and starting experimenting with the foods I ate, using pairs testing with a glucose monitor. I sometimes wonder if the state of medical ethics is killing us. We've made it so expensive to do a medical study that nobody is going to do it unless the end result is something they can sell, so the only "solutions" we get are drugs because there is no money to be made in presc…

Aren't there tons of studies on whether some particular food is good for the heart, good for the brain, etc.? It's not that nobody does them, it's just really hard to get a conclusive result that applies to everyone. There are lots of foods that are both good and bad for you, depending on the study.

I think the problem might be more that there aren't very many universal results, and the fish and vegetables diet that works for one person won't work for others.

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty well-known that if you drop more than 2 lbs/week you're very likely to gain it all back later.

Do you have any source for the claim that if you lose it slower you're more likely to keep it off? While intuitively appealing, I keep seeing it without any evidence.

I can't find the source now, but years ago in an agricultural class in high school I was told that studies had been done on weight recovery in cattle who had been through drought conditions and who were either malnuritied or had lost significant weight. I believe the results were that the cattle recovered and increased their weight after this occurred.

Wish I could find that study! But it would be an interesting hypothesis to test for: if someone reduced their calorific content too quickly then the body will attempt to compensate when normal eating resumes. Obviously it would need to use animals and a control group but it might be insightful.

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#208
post #15

Extreme diligence seems to be the only way to fight this. If I stop exercising, the pounds pack on within weeks. If I insure I burn at least 3000 calories a day (usually much more), I can maintain my weight indefinitely. But I walk to work and I exercise for 1-2 hours daily. Most people cannot or will not do this. Add in the extreme carbohydrate and fat-laden diets most readily available to America and it's a perfect…

How do you manage the 1 to 2 hours of daily exercise with a programmer lifestyle(assuming you are a programmer)?

Cycling to work can be a great hassle free way to get exercise if you are able.

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#209
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just wrong. Weight loss on the short scale is literally a function of the difference between calories in vs calories out. You can increase that difference by eating less, or exercising more. You can easily maintain your weight as you age by increasing the amount you exercise, it might involve more exercise than expected, but it is perfectly doable. Fat is not satiating to everyone. If it works for you, good,…

Absolutely, but without stating the blindingly obvious the calorific content of some foods is so high that exercise can not be the dominant factor of that function. This article [1] from last week seems to support that view. There was something else on HN on Friday that offered the same opinion but included a lot more studies. Can't find it now, but the message is the same. [1] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015…

That's a bit excessive. I did a ride of 3 hours on the weekend and put 1832kJ worth of energy into the pedals, that translates (at 25% efficiency) to 1750kcal total energy expended.

It's actually pretty difficult to eat back those 1750kcal if you don't go out of your way to stuff your face with sweets.

The point most people (and certainly the press) misses with the "exercise doesn't work!11" meme is that of course it will never work if you simply see it as some kind of tool for weight loss or necessary evil. You are just going to stop the moment you have your "goal weight". The point is to turn the exercise (rather, find a sport) into a habit, a hobby.

Re: After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exercise has nothing to do with weight loss. Caloric restriction also doesn't work without consuming the correct fats to satiate your appetite. As you age there is no amount of exercise that will allow you to maintain the amount you weigh in you 20's or 30's. It will all depend on your diet of the correct foods. I would suggest probably the best book ever written about why people get fat. Why We Get Fat: And What to…

For another perspective on this, see: http://anthonycolpo.com/stephan-guyenet-debunks-gary-taubes/

The link you provided is a no-value-added wrapper to the actual article:

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/08/carbohydrate-h...

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