As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss • Hacker News Board

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#61

Post by RikNieu » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:40 PM UTC

flexie wrote: post #56

Calorie counting: How do you do? I mean, when I buy a sandwich, I don't know how many calories it contain. Not even roughly. When having dinner, I don't know how many grams of potatoes are in my plate or how much meat is on my plate. Do you guys weigh it? I certainly don't know how much "a serving" is, and I do suspect that if my idea of a serving size was normal, I wouldn't need weight loss in the first place.

I don't buy sandwiches or most prepared meals exactly because I have no idea what's in there.

But stuff like chicken breasts, steak, broccoli, watermelon - those are all pretty standardised calorie-wise.

And yep, I weigh my food with a digital kitchen scale.

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#62

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:40 PM UTC

RikNieu wrote: post #58

josefrichter wrote: post #42

I lost 30 kg. Crucial components: ZERO cheating. Not a single beer. Not a single extra bite. Managed this for 3 months, losing 15 kg. Then occasional cheating for 6 months, losing 0 kg... Then managed once more for 3 months, lost another 15 kg. This is the hard part, I managed by introducing the following habits: Same "default" meal every day. Chicken with broccoli, day in day out. It's not the best nutrition advice,…

Yes, exactly! Zero cheating and accurate measurements seem to be paramount. I'm glad for some of the others posters who could take a more lax approach and only eyeball stuff or vaguely count macro, but that didn't work for me at all.

[deleted]

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#63

Post by rho4 » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:40 PM UTC

0x008 wrote: post #41

rho4 wrote: post #37

I needed to simplify even more: Calorie counting doesn't work for me, I'm just not disciplined enough. I learned a shortcut, which might not work for others: I try to go a bit hungry. If I'm hungry, I'm in calorie deficit. I might even get a bit cold. Turns out I can just listen to the hunger feeling and know whether I'm currently losing or gaining weight. But walking past a bakery, inhaling the smell of fresh bread.…

> I'm just not disciplined enough. That is exactly the point. Being disciplined is the only way to lose weight. All these magic techniques and whatnot are just shortcuts to cheat you into being more disciplined. And what works here is different for everyone.

I agree. I guess I just wanted to say that calorie counting was a kind of discipline I could not muster (like many), and that there might be simpler strategies which could work out for you. Still requires discipline.

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#64

Post by rho4 » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:42 PM UTC

Dirlewanger wrote: post #48

rho4 wrote: post #37

I needed to simplify even more: Calorie counting doesn't work for me, I'm just not disciplined enough. I learned a shortcut, which might not work for others: I try to go a bit hungry. If I'm hungry, I'm in calorie deficit. I might even get a bit cold. Turns out I can just listen to the hunger feeling and know whether I'm currently losing or gaining weight. But walking past a bakery, inhaling the smell of fresh bread.…

>it feels like getting a sugar fix. And it's horrible for your body. It's still releasing insulin, but there's no sugar to meet it. So you're driving toward metabolic syndrome without putting on the pounds.

You are probably right. The acid is also not good for the teeth. But getting a grip on my weight is just way more important to me, in comparison.

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#65

Post by makach » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:43 PM UTC

RikNieu wrote: post #33

makach wrote: post #17

Sheesh! OLDER GUY?! You're a young 38yo!

Ha, was waiting for that one, XD I said older because the weight-loss plans I came across usually only referred to case studies where people are in their 20s. And from what I could gather, most people past 35 really start struggling with their weight.

Yeah, it definitively gets worse. Prepare for more desserts.

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#66

Post by giantDinosaur » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:43 PM UTC

josefrichter wrote: post #42

I lost 30 kg. Crucial components: ZERO cheating. Not a single beer. Not a single extra bite. Managed this for 3 months, losing 15 kg. Then occasional cheating for 6 months, losing 0 kg... Then managed once more for 3 months, lost another 15 kg. This is the hard part, I managed by introducing the following habits: Same "default" meal every day. Chicken with broccoli, day in day out. It's not the best nutrition advice,…

On the 'default meal' thing, I actually find I become essentially physically unable to eat the same meal for more than a week. For important psychological reasons, I suggest changing up any 'default' meal on a weekly basis. If that's too much effort then, well, your chances of success are poor anyway.

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#67

Post by maqp » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:44 PM UTC

RikNieu wrote: post #52

codecamper wrote: post #3

you missed the 16/8 eating window. read up.

I didn't. I do do IF, I just don't believe it makes a difference with regards to weight-loss. It's all still just about calories. IF is just a hack to help me keep my meals large enough to be satisfying.

Decreasing portion size tends to make your stomach smaller which will reduce the amount of false sensation of hunger felt when the stomach empties itself. Smaller portions more evenly distributed might be beneficial. The change should be gradual.

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#68

Post by giantDinosaur » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:46 PM UTC

0x008 wrote: post #38

PaulKeeble wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The various studies done also show that most people regain the weight back 6 months to a year down the line. Right now the only thing we can be sure of is that weight loss only works for the minority in the long term and the only way to be slim is to always be that way. We did at least work out why processed foods appeared to be more calories, turns out we spend about 20% more energy digesting food that isn't highly…

Well, to give another point of view: I think it is pretty much understood, what is healthy and what is not and also what leads to weight loss and what doesn't. The problem is that people don't stick with it.

People not sticking with it is really an added point to the reality that calories in/out is a very poor model for losing weight, even if it is completely correct at a physical level.

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#69

Post by makach » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:46 PM UTC

maqp wrote: post #57

makach wrote: post #20

Less calories means you will loose weight. Calories counting is considered bad and not sustainable. I think dedication and self discipline is the most important lesson. Good luck on your journey to stay fit and healthy, I'm on a similar path as yourself but not quite as successful.

Nobody wants to calculate everything from scratch again and again. Thus I wrote a program that does 99% of heavy lifting. It contains a database of ingredients I commonly use and their nutritional values. I have a set of recipes that I tend to make mostly the same way, the only thing that differs is the relative amount of ingredients that go into the sauce for example. I measure those when I meal prep, and then I onl…

With practice you do get better at understanding the cost of the food you are processing. To me, using technical tools is very expensive in this process. It helps to begin with, but as soon as I have aquired necessary knowledge tech just gets in the way unless it is fully automated.

Re: As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

#70

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 12:46 PM UTC

Jedd wrote: post #11

> First principles suggested I stop faffing around with diets that operate on clever narratives, assumptions and "magic" rules, and just look at what the science said. And the science was pretty consistent - calories matter above all else. I don't believe 'the science' is consistent about this at all. Tim Ferris cites lots of science when writing 'The Four Hour Body' a decade ago, and decades before that Atkins had a…

> not all calories are equal.

Irrelevant. You can eat nothing but twinkies and still lose weight as long as you maintain a caloric deficit. Certain foods are going to make that easier and healthier, but that's orthogonal to the actual weight loss.