Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories • Hacker News Board

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#261

Post by lordnacho » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:49 AM UTC

soperj wrote: post #254

dahart wrote: post #4

> “You can’t exercise your way out of obesity,” […] “you can’t outrun a bad diet.” While this article is being a bit dramatic and possibly understating the impact of exercise slightly, I feel a little dumb that I didn’t know this earlier. It took me several decades too long to understand the obvious, that exercise is for building strength, and losing weight happens by eating less. I tried for way too many years to ex…

It's not true though. If you exercise enough you will be in a calorie deficit regardless of what you eat. I knew rowers that couldn't keep weight on during the season no matter what they ate, and they ate a lot. The exercise is what is causing the calorie deficit, not watching what they ate.

But you can eat the calories you spend in just a few minutes. If you have a pile of Mars bars, that will supply enough energy to compensate an hour on the treadmill.

Might not be the typical thing an athlete eats, but it certainly keeps the weight on a lot of people.

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#262

Post by vl » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:51 AM UTC

soperj wrote: post #254

dahart wrote: post #4

> “You can’t exercise your way out of obesity,” […] “you can’t outrun a bad diet.” While this article is being a bit dramatic and possibly understating the impact of exercise slightly, I feel a little dumb that I didn’t know this earlier. It took me several decades too long to understand the obvious, that exercise is for building strength, and losing weight happens by eating less. I tried for way too many years to ex…

It's not true though. If you exercise enough you will be in a calorie deficit regardless of what you eat. I knew rowers that couldn't keep weight on during the season no matter what they ate, and they ate a lot. The exercise is what is causing the calorie deficit, not watching what they ate.

It is an exception though. Very few people exercise to this level. Similarly you can eat as much as you can if you nicking across Antarctic, but this is not exactly a typical activity.

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#263

Post by pjerem » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:51 AM UTC

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #72

_9omd wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a big part of the issue is that popular fitness and weight loss advice has perpetuated the wrong way to exercise to loose weight. When most people think about exercise for weight loss, they imagine long exhausting sessions on the treadmill, dripping with sweat, and a high calorie burn number. While the short term results may seem great based on the immediate calories burned, it's actually a terrible strategy…

> 2) Your hunger will increase to compensate for the calories burned and you'll subconsciously eat more if not carefully tracking. This is also a oft-made claim that doesn't have much backing. Part of the point of the research described in TFA is that humans who face specific periods of energy expenditure during the day may often simply reduce energy expenditure during the rest of the day so that TEE remains roughly…

Also anecdotal, but I’m not an athlete (like, the inverse of an athlete, I’m overweight and don’t move enough) and moderate exercising does, in my case, suppress some appetite. I eat les after exercising.

My 2 cents theory is that it suppress the "stress induced" appetite.

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#264

Post by irrational » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:53 AM UTC

dahart wrote: post #4

> “You can’t exercise your way out of obesity,” […] “you can’t outrun a bad diet.” While this article is being a bit dramatic and possibly understating the impact of exercise slightly, I feel a little dumb that I didn’t know this earlier. It took me several decades too long to understand the obvious, that exercise is for building strength, and losing weight happens by eating less. I tried for way too many years to ex…

I once saw a data tables with lots of diets. There was a column with the name of the diet, what you typically ate on the diet, etc. But the final column was "How does this diet work?" Every single row said the same thing, something like: "By eating a caloric deficit".

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#265

Post by ravenstine » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:53 AM UTC

Although it may seem surprising to some that humans put on more fat than their fellow apes, this is at least somewhat predictable when you look at other ways in which humans are different from other apes.

Putting aside our intellect, we our developing towards having little to no fur came with the benefit of being able to sweat, which means we could track animals further than they could persist. It allowed us to effectively outrun, or outwalk, herds of animals.

That comes with a tradeoff, which is the lack of fur means not being able to retain as much heat in the cold. Being able to store more fat is the obvious alternative.

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#266

Post by y4mi » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:55 AM UTC

ajuc wrote: post #192

dahart wrote: post #4

> “You can’t exercise your way out of obesity,” […] “you can’t outrun a bad diet.” While this article is being a bit dramatic and possibly understating the impact of exercise slightly, I feel a little dumb that I didn’t know this earlier. It took me several decades too long to understand the obvious, that exercise is for building strength, and losing weight happens by eating less. I tried for way too many years to ex…

Yes counting calories is essential, I had very similar experience (walk 10 km on the weekend ~= burn 600 kcal, then buy a 1000 kcal snack on the way back and wonder why I'm not losing weight), but still the exercise makes a big difference. Last year in march I started counting calories, recording my weight and all exercises I did and walking/biking every day. I lost 30 kg, walked 2100 km, biked 1000 km, and the sum o…

And yet the article you're commenting on says that you don't burn more calories by exercising... If it is true, it definitely changes the narrative.

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#267

Post by irrational » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:55 AM UTC

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #72

_9omd wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a big part of the issue is that popular fitness and weight loss advice has perpetuated the wrong way to exercise to loose weight. When most people think about exercise for weight loss, they imagine long exhausting sessions on the treadmill, dripping with sweat, and a high calorie burn number. While the short term results may seem great based on the immediate calories burned, it's actually a terrible strategy…

> 2) Your hunger will increase to compensate for the calories burned and you'll subconsciously eat more if not carefully tracking. This is also a oft-made claim that doesn't have much backing. Part of the point of the research described in TFA is that humans who face specific periods of energy expenditure during the day may often simply reduce energy expenditure during the rest of the day so that TEE remains roughly…

Yeah, this is me. I naturally eat a lot less when I am exercising than when I am not. I'll often exercise in the morning and then have no desire to eat until dinner time.

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#268

Post by petesergeant » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:56 AM UTC

onethought wrote: post #131

nu11ptr wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you fall into a routine CICO isn't that difficult in practice. First, while sleep/stress definitely impact the equation unless you are at an unusual life crisis, the ups and downs mostly balance out over time. Second, I don't recommend counting calories, at least not in the traditional way. Instead, eat a fairly standardized diet at least on a weekly basis, so roughly the same meals (doesn't have to be exact). Eat…

> Now, to lose weight simple subtract 500 calories per day from what you eat I appreciate you are trying to be helpful. But most of what you said assumes a certain level or privilege (resources time/money/ableness) that the vast majority of people don't have. People working long hour jobs, or double jobs, or balancing kids/parent responsibilities. Often fast food is the only obvious option, and people aren't buying i…

> Often fast food is the only obvious option

Ironically fast food often has some of the most easily available calories and macronutrient ratio. Working out the calories and macro for a home-made meal can be much more time-consuming

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#269

Post by vl » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:57 AM UTC

bluSCALE4 wrote: post #169

EGreg wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intermittent fasting can help repair a lot of things in your body, make you live longer, etc. Vegans live on average 10 year longer! The hunger you feel the first day btw is not "real" hunger, it's just your stomach growling and you being used to eat. After you ignore hunger for 3 days, your body stops wanting food. That's if you want to do a cleanse. (I've never done one though)

I hear this is a very dangerous game if taken to an extreme. You have to be very disciplined once you take it beyond 3 days. David Blaine did it for 44 days and I believe he has liver damage now? He talks about it on Joe Rogan.

Professional athletes cut for several days quite often. It’s well researched area.

But better way for regular people is just do OMAD. You get used to it after first three days, which are brutal. So, strong motivation is required, but still easier than real cut for bodybuilders or fighters.

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#270

Post by watwut » Fri, Feb 18, 2022, 6:57 AM UTC

dahart wrote: post #4

> “You can’t exercise your way out of obesity,” […] “you can’t outrun a bad diet.” While this article is being a bit dramatic and possibly understating the impact of exercise slightly, I feel a little dumb that I didn’t know this earlier. It took me several decades too long to understand the obvious, that exercise is for building strength, and losing weight happens by eating less. I tried for way too many years to ex…

I dont know ... this one is often repeated. Including in context when completely sedentary people want to improve health (as opposed to "I want loose weight for aesthetic reasons").

> it never really worked because I’d unconsciously eat to compensate

Your body is actually building muscles after exercising. It is also repairing damage caused by exercising. You actually should eat more, but more of the right stuff.