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To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

nytimes.com

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Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#111

Post by kd5bjo »

AnatMl2 wrote: post #105
scarface74 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people want to lose weight, the worse advice you can give them is to "exercise to lose weight". Exercise has little to no effect on losing weight. You have to exercise at such a level of intensity and duration to make any meaningful difference that most people can't or won't do it. Losing weight is almost entirely about what you eat. As I said in another post, I was a part time fitness instructor for 12 years and…

I would disagree on this point. Although I am not very experienced in exercising, from time to time I start to jog or go to the gym for a couple of months and the only reason I do this is to get into shape; losing the weight was always a part of it. After all, there is a reason why thousands and thousands of people go to the gym only to lose weight. I'm not saying that exercising is only for this and of course it bri…

Getting in shape is an excellent reason to go to the gym, but it has surprisingly little to do with losing weight. The two are correlated, and weight is easy to measure, but your fitness can improve much faster than your weight can come down.

In my case, I was better off paying attention to how my tennis game was progressing than anything else — winning a point I wouldn’t have been able to touch a month ago is much more motivating than the 1% weight change over the same period.

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#112

Post by dec0dedab0de »

btrettel wrote: post #18

The linked article seems to suggest that you can replace bad habits with arbitrary other habits. Maybe that's true, but I think it's best to change your situation so that the right choice is the easiest to make. I've discussed this in the context of transportation cycling at HN in the past: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16515129 > As a transportation cyclist, some people I know think I must have superhuman wil…

Maybe that's true, but I think it's best to change your situation so that the right choice is the easiest to make.

Absolutely. I basically stopped working out when I turned a section of my basement into a gym. I thought it would be nice to have the extra room, and ability to leave the equipment set up. In practice, it was out of sight out of mind. A month ago I moved some of my gear into my office, and have worked out every day since.

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#113

Post by cheshire_cat »

0xcde4c3db wrote: post #103
kd5bjo wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding exercise, I may be able to provide some insight as I've gone through this transition over the past few years. Most likely, they're looking for the wrong benefits: As a society, we tend to center our advice to overweight people around "losing weight." It's a useful long-term diagnostic, but terrible as a day-to-day guide. The maximum safe rate of weight loss is 1-2 lbs/week, but your weight can easily fluctu…

I have no doubt that the issue you describe happens, but people have also had the experience that there simply isn't any "enjoyable activity range" to begin with. This could be some abnormality in interoception, which researchers are finding is much more common than previously thought (it was previously regarded primarily as an ASD symptom, but as much as 15% of the general population might be affected depending on h…

> but as much as 15% of the general population might be affected depending on how abnormality is defined and assessed

Do you have any links to research on this topic?

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#114

Post by AnatMl2 »

kd5bjo wrote: post #111
AnatMl2 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would disagree on this point. Although I am not very experienced in exercising, from time to time I start to jog or go to the gym for a couple of months and the only reason I do this is to get into shape; losing the weight was always a part of it. After all, there is a reason why thousands and thousands of people go to the gym only to lose weight. I'm not saying that exercising is only for this and of course it bri…

Getting in shape is an excellent reason to go to the gym, but it has surprisingly little to do with losing weight. The two are correlated, and weight is easy to measure, but your fitness can improve much faster than your weight can come down. In my case, I was better off paying attention to how my tennis game was progressing than anything else — winning a point I wouldn’t have been able to touch a month ago is much m…

I understand and respect your attitude towards fitness, I think that's even better, because this way you are not concentrated on and irritated by the fact that it takes so long to get in shape. Everyone have their own goals when they start doing sports. For some it is improving the performance for others to lose the weight.

Doing hundreds of different diets can be much more challenging then breaking into sweat and for some (imho: very reasonable) people, it's better to lose 2-4 lbs a month than 10 in a week. Most of people are generally aware, that it takes time to lose weight by doing sports, but it is the fact that you do lose it eventually.

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#115

Post by wpietri »

cmrx64 wrote: post #49
namuol wrote: post #6

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and if you are suffering emotionally/mentally please seek professional help. ---- My anecdote: I used to frequently suffer from (undiagnosed) anxiety and depression. For about a year, I would respond to sudden anxiety by seeking comfort in various forms of isolation/depressed behavior (watch TV as a distraction, try to take a "nap", etc.). The most insidious thing about this was how it s…

Seems you discovered mindfulness :). "eventually I learned to catch myself whenever I was seeking this form of comfort" is the hard part that a lot of people don't figure out on their own. go you! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness-based_cognitive_th...

Yes. As a recovering sysadmin, I think of mindfulness as creating monitoring/observability for my own self. It was weird to realize that I had a better idea what was going on with servers half-way across the world than with my own emotions [1]. Meditation and other mindfulness practices have been hugely beneficial.

[1] If that rings a bell, consider taking this self-test: http://www.alexithymia.us/test.html

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#116

Post by wpietri »

btrettel wrote: post #18

The linked article seems to suggest that you can replace bad habits with arbitrary other habits. Maybe that's true, but I think it's best to change your situation so that the right choice is the easiest to make. I've discussed this in the context of transportation cycling at HN in the past: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16515129 > As a transportation cyclist, some people I know think I must have superhuman wil…

You write this as if they are contradictory, but I'm not sure why.

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#117

Post by briancleland »

fyfy18 wrote: post #38

Has anyone got any tips for how to stop biting nails? This technique sounds like it would work for some habits, but I do this subconciously without realising - usually when I’m deep in though on something else (not when I’m streased).

The problem with nail-biting is that it is mostly unconscious. To stop doing it you need to train yourself to be aware of the behaviour. I used this technique to stop nail-biting after 35 years...

Put one finger in your mouth. Bite down. Take the finger out, look at it and say out loud "I will not bite my nails". Repeat for each finger on both hands.

Repeat this process 2-3 times a day. After a day or so you will start to "catch yourself" when you start nail-biting. After a few more days you should find the nail-biting habit diminishes and then disappears altogether. If the habit starts to return after a few months (as can happen) then simply repeat the technique.

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#118

Post by segmondy »

chrisweekly wrote: post #104

About 6 years ago I read this terrific book, "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" [1]... Highly recommended! [1] https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0055PGUYU/

I just finished reading this last week. I highly recommend as well. Key take away, understand the habit loop, (cue, response, reward). To change your habit you need to know what the cue is, and watch out for it. When it happens, you need to replace the habit with a difference response that gives the reward. Part of figuring out your cue is looking at People around you, Emotional State, Location, Time, Immediately Preceding Action.

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#119

Post by scarface74 »

AnatMl2 wrote: post #105
scarface74 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people want to lose weight, the worse advice you can give them is to "exercise to lose weight". Exercise has little to no effect on losing weight. You have to exercise at such a level of intensity and duration to make any meaningful difference that most people can't or won't do it. Losing weight is almost entirely about what you eat. As I said in another post, I was a part time fitness instructor for 12 years and…

I would disagree on this point. Although I am not very experienced in exercising, from time to time I start to jog or go to the gym for a couple of months and the only reason I do this is to get into shape; losing the weight was always a part of it. After all, there is a reason why thousands and thousands of people go to the gym only to lose weight. I'm not saying that exercising is only for this and of course it bri…

Losing 8 pounds in 3 months would demotivate most people who have 40 or 50 pounds to lose. That kind of proves my point.

But for a scientific backing.

https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-...

Re: To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead

#120

Post by scarface74 »

AnatMl2 wrote: post #114
kd5bjo wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting in shape is an excellent reason to go to the gym, but it has surprisingly little to do with losing weight. The two are correlated, and weight is easy to measure, but your fitness can improve much faster than your weight can come down. In my case, I was better off paying attention to how my tennis game was progressing than anything else — winning a point I wouldn’t have been able to touch a month ago is much m…

I understand and respect your attitude towards fitness, I think that's even better, because this way you are not concentrated on and irritated by the fact that it takes so long to get in shape. Everyone have their own goals when they start doing sports. For some it is improving the performance for others to lose the weight. Doing hundreds of different diets can be much more challenging then breaking into sweat and fo…

To lose 4 pounds a month just by exercising and if you keep your calorie intake the same, you would have to burn an extra 500 calories a day through exercise. That's about a 3 mile run. Assuming most people won't me able to run and will be doing a brisk walk, they can expect to burn about 280 calories an hour - almost 2 hours, 7 days a week.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/300443-how-many-calories-...

How many people exercise and don't eat at least a little bit more?

Between walking at decent pace, at a 12% incline, I can burn 500 calories in an hour. I add on another hour on an elliptical at the highest resistance and that is another 900 calories (yes I know they are usually off by up to 15% either way). But how many people just getting into shape can do either with good form? Let alone both 4 days a week?

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