Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

sciencedaily.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

341–350 of 350 posts

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#341

Post by csours »

bilsbie wrote: post #321
convexfunction wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> losing body fat means that you must continuously make choices that decrease your comfort in some way - eating fewer highly rewarding foods, maintaining a state of hunger, increasing activity level Not necessarily! I've successfully lost a lot of body fat (~50 pounds over the last 18 months) by deliberately changing my diet to eat more foods (that I like) that are lower in energy density than what I was eating befor…

Can you recommend a few of the foods you switched to?

Fresh fruit is a big one for me.

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#342

Post by FullStackAda »

CJefferson wrote: post #113

I think the hungry bit is often under-discussed. I lost 75kg over 3 years, then put exactly 75kg back on over the 4 years after that. While losing weight, and keeping it off (for about 6 months), I was hungry all the time, every day. I hoped that my body would eventually "get used" to the new standard, but in the end (not conciously), I gave up -- it was too mentally tiring to be hungry whenever I was awake. I'm sure…

I lost 25kg and kept it off for 10+ years, I think the key was that I kept exercising even after relaxing my diet. Solid 3-4 hours a week kept me less hungry for whatever reason. As soon as I dropped the exercise, because, well, life happened - the weight started creeping up, diet restrictions and IF didn't bulge it.

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#344

Post by borroka »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #193
butwhywhyoh wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just restated what the OP said, but tried to paint it somehow in a more positive light. You yourself stated you are "eating fewer ... highly rewarding foods". So what exactly are you contradicting in their statement?

They are trying to convince everyone that the fruit & veg & lean meats is every bit as enjoyable as a steak and piece of cheesecake. It may be for them, but as a rule I have my doubts.

The "taste" changes when you change your diet for a long enough period, which means no more than a few weeks/months. It is like drinking coffee with sugar, as I used to do two decades ago. After getting used to the bitter, hot reality of black coffee, the absurdly sweet nature of coffee + sugar or those concoctions served at Starbucks and the like tastes terrible, as well as giving the wrong "feel".

Chicken breast with a little flour to help caramelize over high heat and some herbs (basil, oregano, thyme) tastes excellent and feels light and proper.

I am a person with a terrifying appetite if left to my own devices. And if at the beginning of a "diet" the scary appetite and intrusive food thoughts make themselves feel heard loud and clear, after a while, thanks to the physiological changes that occur as the food consumed changes and a mind that is now preoccupied with things and thoughts other than food, as time goes on it becomes much easier to eat fewer and more "healthy" (hard to define, but we know it when we see it) calories.

"Pushing through until it becomes easy" is not a social policy, and other kinds of interventions are needed to solve the large-scale obesity problem. But at the individual level, it works for me and millions of others.

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#345

Post by jliptzin »

hiddenwaffle wrote: post #218
jliptzin wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same for me. Even as Ive tried to gain weight, my weight barely budged. 150-155 for at least the last 10 years. I have obese (300lb+) friends and they insist they don’t eat that much more than me. Except they do. We go out to eat, we stop eating after about 5-10 min. I’m full and done. They burp a couple times, then proceed to keep eating, smothering everything in Mayo and bbq sauce. Then they get insane desserts. An…

Same for me with the burping. I don't even know how to force one. Instead I just feel bloated and miserable for an hour or two, so it's an incentive to not eat much or drink anything carbonated.

I can only have a couple of beers/sodas at once otherwise I get too bloated. I consider it a feature not a bug, better to not be pounding the beers and sodas anyway.

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#346

Post by Zircom »

yamazakiwi wrote: post #269
Zircom wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you not consider an entire cup of ice cream a lot? I call it quits at one scoop personally.

One scoop of icecream is so little, why even bother eating icecream at all.

I don't keep it in the house, I only eat it when we go to a dedicated ice cream place really. So one scoop+cone is enough for me, considering if I'm at an ice cream place it's usually before or after we're going somewhere else to eat, or otherwise it was a spur of the moment thing, and either case I'm not gonna be trying to eat a ton.

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#347

Post by convexfunction »

bilsbie wrote: post #321
convexfunction wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> losing body fat means that you must continuously make choices that decrease your comfort in some way - eating fewer highly rewarding foods, maintaining a state of hunger, increasing activity level Not necessarily! I've successfully lost a lot of body fat (~50 pounds over the last 18 months) by deliberately changing my diet to eat more foods (that I like) that are lower in energy density than what I was eating befor…

Can you recommend a few of the foods you switched to?

- Carbs: potatoes, rice, pasta (yes really, the common element here is high water content; the other stuff you put on these can of course make a big difference)

- Dairy: Greek yogurt or cottage cheese are usually part of my breakfast. I'll have a whey protein shake in milk most days, since I'm also trying to build muscle; liquids don't normally "count" toward satiety in the same way, though milk itself is complicated and contributes at least a little more toward satiety because the protein makes gastric emptying slower.

- Meats: Most unprocessed meats, as well as some deli meats (e.g. roast beef or ham but not salami), are great on satiety per calorie IMO, even if not usually considered "lean". I guess don't make a habit out of prime rib? I'd credit "plan to have a large amount of meat for most dinners" as the most important single change I made, perhaps in part because it makes me less likely to have something from a restaurant for dinner instead but also because meat is just so satisfying without being too energy-dense. Eggs count here too, ~2 cal/gram.

- Veggies: anything is great, but my favorites are brussels sprouts, sugar snap peas, spinach, asparagus, and corn. This won't be news to anyone but salads are usually a good choice if you're eating from a restaurant.

- Fruits: anything is great, but my favorites are strawberries, watermelon, bananas, and oranges (I prefer clementines because they're easy to eat)

- Junk food: I find ice cream sandwiches (~150 calories) are a convenient way to sate my sweet tooth in a way that isn't ridiculous, even if they're not really low energy density. Also, fancy dark chocolate is hard to overeat.

And a special mention to making my own coffee (with generous milk and sugar-free flavored syrup, ~60 calories per cup) rather than getting lattes from a coffee shop (~150 to 200 calories).

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#348

Post by toddh »

762236 wrote: post #194
Terretta wrote: post #83

Yes, and, about 8 minutes of true HIIT* at least 3 days a week for 6 weeks is proven to adjust your metabolic run level. Graph your weight. After 6 weeks of HIIT, you'll see weight really shed because you're not burning calories during exercise but 24/7, and because of that metabolic shift, the weight will continue to shed for months even if you stop HIIT. * HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training. It's a technical…

HIIT is great for cardiovascular development, but be aware that this develops your carb oxidation, and doesn't do much for fat oxidation. So many health problems are tied to poor metabolic flexibility, where your body favors carbs over fat. You develop fat oxidation, and metabolic flexibility, with long endurance, low-intensity exercise. Pro cyclists racing every day in the Tour de France right now are going mostly o…

Zone 2 training repairs mitochondrial disfunction and burns fat. An explainer here: https://maxapps.info/zone2training.html

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#349

Post by borroka »

andreareina wrote: post #336
Aloha wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fat (I see no shame in this word), my partner is not - she and I will order the same food, I clean my plate (starving children in africa related childhood trauma, I guess), she will often eat half of hers and leave the rest - she drinks the regular soda, and I have water, diet soda or unsweet iced tea. I can't speak to your friends, but there is no universal truth here - I know a bunch of fat people, and none of…

NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) is a huge confounder. Differences in fidgeting, walking around etc really add up.

They do. Working from home and working from office can easily make 3-500 calories of difference. Walking, calling, standing up, more energy expended in general.

But also calories from modern food add up quickly.

Say two men weighing 200 pounds, same activity levels.

If man A eats "at maintenance" and man B eats at maintenance + small fries + small cookie + non-diet soda + apple, at the end of the day man A and B may not feel any difference in terms of "fullness" and "hunger", but man B is easily eating 800+ kcal a day than man A.

Over months, I expect man B to get north of 20 pounds on man A. But I can see man B say to A, "I am not eating much more than you, just a little cookie here and there".

Re: People with low BMI aren't more active, they are just less hungry, 'run hotter'

#350

Post by borroka »

kypro wrote: post #132

Something I think that contributes a lot to how much weight you hold naturally is how insulin sensitive you are. The more insulin sensitive you are the less weight you'll put on and there's a huge range between optimal insulin sensitivity, average, and diabetic. I also suspect (although I'm not an expert) the reason some people find it easier to lose weight while doing OMAD or keto isn't just because they're eating l…

Basal metabolism does not seem to slow down until one is around 60 years old (recent NYT editorial on the Science publication https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/health/metabolism-weight-...). There is heterogeneity, but still.

Although our physiology is adaptable and we don't see daily or weekly wild weight swings with a few hundred calories up or down from maintenance, over weeks and months, 4-800 kcals of average daily surplus have very noticeable effects.

And those are differences that can be had by working 2 days from office instead of 5 and getting into the habit of eating a cookie in the morning, while previously we just grabbed a black coffee and that was it.

It is very easy to get into the "plus calories" territory. At the start of the pandemic, after a few weeks of working from home, many of my colleagues were 5-8 pounds heavier than they were before. And those pounds were not of muscle tissue.

Post reply on HN