Ask YC: How do you lose weight?

I've lost over 50-60 lbs since last year. Bulk of it (30-40 lbs) was within ~5 months. The way I did it was mostly through exercise: at the peak, I was doing an hour of cardio a day, 5-7 days a week.

I began (in December of 2006/January of 2007) with 15-35 minutes of cardio, three-four days a week (with intensive weight lifting). That got me back into the pace of exercise; weight lifting created muscles which consume fat when I do cardio. I also targeted the muscles closest to the biggest fat deposits (abdominals, legs) more. After I built up more strength and created a pace (roughly March 2007), I switched to nearly daily work outs with 30-45 minutes of cardio, which grew to an hour of cardio. At this pace I was doing at least 3500 calories a week.

In mid-to-early May, I've reached my initial goal, a normal BMI (for my height it's 174 lbs, down from 200+ lbs). Weight loss became even more rapid after that. 165 lbs by mid-to-late June, 155 lbs during the fall and (stably, since mid-December) 145 lbs. I've remained at that weight since. (The only way I know the dates is I've kept a private diary).

It's been the second greatest improvement I've made to my life (the first greatest improvement would be going to college): I've gained enough confidence to resume dating, I've found myself having more time, I've found myself having more energy to do work. I work 8-10 hour days followed - with occasional crunch time and hackathons - while doing a masters part-time: about equivalent, if not greater, work load than one would have as a startup founder (This brings me to another point, yes you do have time to work out).

As for diet, the only real changes were: - As little white flour as possible (substituted with whole weat). There is minimal difference in taste/enjoyment, but there are less of the "bad" carbs. - As little refined sugar as possible, no high fructose corn syrup at all. Splenda in it's place. In reality this means: make your own tea, drink water (and in the worst case, diet Coke). Dump the junk drinks (and that means dump Bawls and Jolt Cola too - diet Rockstar). - Moderation: don't eat when not hungry, don't starve myself (starvation only puts your body into an energy conservation mode). Less eating at night, less snacking. Smaller portions.

In case you want proof: http://rn86.net/~af/badge.jpg (April 2006, this wasn't even at my worst! Just as I began working full-time) http://rn86.net/~af/photobooth.jpg (few weeks ago)

Hmm, perhaps this deserves a full fledge blog-post.

I don't believe in dieting in the sense that it is a temporary fix. I try and change my habits as research comes out. I also don't believe in calorie restriction in the sense that although the physics work, other factors cause the approach to fail. To get an idea why I think this is so, try breathing "less air" sometime and see how long you keep it up.

-Don't eat reduced-fat or "diet" foods. Most of them reduce satiety. I have found, personally, that fats make me feel full, but I can eat an unlimited amount of carbs. Unsaturated fats are ideal. I avoid trans fats everywhere possible.

-smaller plate-size hack http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/mindless-eatin...

-eat breakfast (oatmeal or something with fiber)

-avoid white carbs in favor of whole grains (release energy slowly) and swap out white pasta for whole grain pasta and white breads for whole grain breads. View white bread as a rare treat.

-cut out soda and high fructose corn syrup as much as possible (corn syrup is a more recent addition to our diets that may mess up insulin/satiety)

-weight training--I had great return on exercise (ROE) with the four hour work week's 30 minute regimen from his blog and I seem to need to do this and run to stay slim.

-run (3x a week at least)

-get all required sleep, with naps (some research indicates that over-eating and sleep deprivation are linked)

First off, I wouldn't recommend a high-protein, low carb diet. It's very hard on your internal organs. Kidney problems abound from all the protein waste processing.

There are are some extremely effective substances you can use but they are a bit harder to get.

Clenbuterol will shed pounds like crazy but it's not something to stay on long-term. So plan to maintain your weight after you have help losing it.

Human Growth Hormone is a very effective fat-burner but it's also expensive from a reputable source. Most black market HGH is fake (usually HCG is substituted).

The diet industry doesn't want you to have these products because it would put them out of business. So you need a prescription, and most people are unaware of those options entirely.

Hormones are extremely influential when it comes to fat storage. If your stress level rises, your body will automatically store fat to compensate and burn muscle for fuel.

So getting rid of stress is critical.

If you are already tired but force yourself to work out, it may help your mental stress, but it does add MORE physical stress so your body may break down muscle and store fat. A lot of people have heard about overtraining but don't realize you don't already have to work out a lot in order to overtrain yourself. Simply being stressed/exhausted can cause overtraining with any vigorous exercise you perform in that state.

Avoid processed food. The more fresh whole foods you eat, the harder it is to overeat, and the vitamins and minerals will make your body stop feeling hungry in a way that doesn't happen when you eat something processed and devoid of nutrition..

Any kind of sugary drinks are a big problem. This includes fruit juice, which typically has all the sugar with none of the fiber. You can drink hundreds of calories of fruit juice in seconds, whereas if you eat whole oranges it takes a lot more work!

Exercise is key. You won't lose much weight because your appetite increases commensurately, but all sorts of things go wrong when you don't exercise. Exercise is a body regulation mechanism. If you don't do it you are guaranteed to have problems.

I don"t understand why this remark has been downvoted. This is key!

How to do it is a different question.

My way is to eat mostly fresh food, highest quality meat and fish and very moderate amounts of all. The most important thing: no sugar, and when I say no I mean no! No yoghurt with sugar, no drinks with sugar and also no artificial sweeteners. They ruin the taste and you will always want sweet things. Better have two bad weeks without any sweet things. After that sweet tasts ugly. This is one really big step. If you don't like sweet any more, the whole diet will become more healty.

I do understand this is very hard to achieve in the US. But for me this is very important. Without sugar I can eat enough without high calorie intake. Similar things are true for alcohol. Especially in the evenings its billions of calories.

I run twice a week (10 miles) and swim twice a week (1 mile) . My weight is 145 lbs at 5ft 10. Running and swimming does not burn a lot, but the regeneration phase does (repair, build muscles, refill energy reservoirs etc.). Plus you 'll soon be in great shape and can take the stairs instead of the elevator ;o). Or the bike instead of a car.

Well, and it takes a lot of time and patience. But in the end it works.

Monks life? ;o). Not at all. Fresh milk with cereals and fresh fruits (strawberries, melons) in the morning taste absolutely great. Fresh salad with barbecued fish and a glass of chilly white wine is fantastic in the evenings.

Good luck.