Live data from Hacker News

Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

colorado.edu

111–120 of 151 posts

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#111
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cutting out the daily donut for two weeks is about a pound of fat. For many people, no it's not. Becuse their metabolism just decreases by the exact same amount they cut calories. They cut out the daily donut, and they find themselves fidgeting less and wearing a sweater because they're suddenly a little chilly a lot of the day. And the scale doesn't budge. For many people, losing weight is a whole lot more complex…

Metabolism does slow down, but there is a lower limit. The exact numbers and rate will change, but the fact is that sufficient caloric restriction will cause weight loss. That said, as someone who struggles with weight loss, it's still hard. There are both physioloical and psychological issues that make it challenging. As an aside, keto is the only thing thats worked reliably for me so far - largely because of the ca…

Keto was the only thing that worked for me too. I found it a lot easier to just pick some days and say "I'm not eating anything on these days" than it was to constantly track and procure a perfect diet day after day without lapses.

Not sure who told you it was bad for you, I've predominantly heard it being touted as beneficial and longevity-increasing.

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#112
The topic of obesity somewhat reminds me of a joke I once heard from a stand-up comedian whom I cannot remember the name of, but it went something along the lines of, "People always ask you why you quit drinking, but you know... People never ask you why you drank in the first place."

I do not believe that there is a significant portion of the human population that wakes up each day and decides to actively diminish their long-term health by overeating sheerly because he or she lacks the willpower/motivation to improve themselves. I feel that the minor, medium, and major stressors in life are what subconsciously steer one down this path. It's not like people who abuse substances[1] are completely oblivious or ignorant to the negative consequences of the substance.

I think most people understand living an active lifestyle and eating a healthy diet is beneficial, but it's just not plausible for many. Be it time, money, or energy -- I do not think the average person has enough of all three at the end of any given day.

Educating people on how to better take care of themselves is not enough. Obesity is a symptom not a disease in my eyes. I am starting to believe onus of responsibility is less on the individual than we might think for when many of the rats in this rat race are dropping like flies, then perhaps the issue the with the race and not the rats?

[1] I consider food, especially junk food, to be a substance which can be abused.

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#113
post #9

Man, food is so addictive and not like you can just stop eating it like you can quit drinking booze or quit smoking!

they say ozempic curbs appetite for booze. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And Buproprion is used (among other things!) both as a weight loss drug and smoking cessation aide.

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm saying that if you rely on willpower, you will fail. Of course you should change how you eat if how you ate caused you health problems. But I'm advocating for making a conscious change that will then enable you to eat without having to use willpower. That's why "just eat less" is terrible advice and works for practically nobody. It's like finances. "Just save more" is terrible advice. Getting a degree or finding…

Ahh basically try to make meta decisions that limit the willpower needed. Like don't buy a bag of chips in the store which requires a little bit of willpower once vs having to have the same willpower success everyday. Yeah 100% agreement.

Right, make a clever decision in a bright moment. Don't rely on willpower day-to-day. General life strategy :)

Not buying the bag of chips is an obvious example, as is buying a used car vs. leasing a new one.

Picking a diet that doesn't make you overeat is another one, and I'm in the process of figuring out what that means for me :)

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm saying that if you rely on willpower, you will fail. Of course you should change how you eat if how you ate caused you health problems. But I'm advocating for making a conscious change that will then enable you to eat without having to use willpower. That's why "just eat less" is terrible advice and works for practically nobody. It's like finances. "Just save more" is terrible advice. Getting a degree or finding…

> That's why "just eat less" is terrible advice and works for practically nobody. Saying "willpower doesn't work" is just as bad. I actually agree with what you are trying to say, but you're arguing it very poorly.

How could I argue it better?

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#116

For those struggling, controlling your diet is the single most effective thing you can do to make progress on obesity. Much easier to say no to a 300 cal donut than to run 30 minutes. Cutting out the daily donut for two weeks is about a pound of fat. Maybe we need a “just say no” to junk food campaign like we had in the 90s. Lean meat, tofu, tempeh, seitan, veggies, low calorie sauces, limited fruits, protein smoothi…

> Cutting out the daily donut for two weeks is about a pound of fat. For many people, no it's not. Becuse their metabolism just decreases by the exact same amount they cut calories. They cut out the daily donut, and they find themselves fidgeting less and wearing a sweater because they're suddenly a little chilly a lot of the day. And the scale doesn't budge. For many people, losing weight is a whole lot more complex…

That is why I said, you have to increase the workout intensity and duration gradually to offset the metabolic adaption that is triggered by the diet change

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#117

> Excess weight or obesity boosts risk of death by anywhere from 22% to 91% A strange statistic, as the actual risk of death is 100% for all of us.

What if you eat a lot of vegetables though

Would that make you immortal? If not, still 100%.

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#118

For those struggling, controlling your diet is the single most effective thing you can do to make progress on obesity. Much easier to say no to a 300 cal donut than to run 30 minutes. Cutting out the daily donut for two weeks is about a pound of fat. Maybe we need a “just say no” to junk food campaign like we had in the 90s. Lean meat, tofu, tempeh, seitan, veggies, low calorie sauces, limited fruits, protein smoothi…

> Cutting out the daily donut for two weeks is about a pound of fat. For many people, no it's not. Becuse their metabolism just decreases by the exact same amount they cut calories. They cut out the daily donut, and they find themselves fidgeting less and wearing a sweater because they're suddenly a little chilly a lot of the day. And the scale doesn't budge. For many people, losing weight is a whole lot more complex…

I think “for many people” is more like “for a minority of people.”

For a few people losing weight is complex. For most people, it’s simple.

Eat less. Move more.

Saying otherwise is a cop out.

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#120
post #65

> Masters pointed out that a lifetime carrying excess weight can lead to illnesses that, paradoxically, lead to rapid weight loss. If BMI data is captured during this time, it can skew study results. “I would argue that we have been artificially inflating the mortality risk in the low-BMI category by including those who had been high BMI and had just lost weight recently,” he said. It's like the teetotaling bias — a…

> He discovered that a full 20% of the sample characterized as “healthy” weight had been in the overweight or obese category in the decade prior. When set apart, this group had a substantially worse health profile than those in the category whose weight had been stable. There are a few odd things about this approach. First, 20% of people in a healthy weight being previously overweight/obese? This seems high? Could th…

> I'm still trying to understand the full study, but it is odd that more people lost weight than gained weight, according to the numbers I'm seeing in it. Although that may be partially explained by the fact that it was limited to people 45 - 85 years old.

Don't people typically gain weight in that age range, the opposite of what would explain that?

Post reply on HN