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Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

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21–30 of 49 posts

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#21
post #7

Anecdotally, Garcinia seems to be the most useful so far, mostly by lowering appetite. Fat burners mostly rely on 1) increasing metabolism via caffeine 2) making that effect last longer. It seems to make things worse for me by increasing hunger, and sometimes makes me feel tired like when I have a fever and I end up lying around all day. Fevers burn lots of calories too, so I suspect it's artificially creating the sa…

So the weight loss drugs in the show were similar to Garcinia? Because people seem to be losing appetite and getting addicted xD

Perhaps. Garcinia is in a lot of stacks. "Losing appetite and getting addicted" happens with a lot of narcotics too, lol

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#22
post #17
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sports is actually extremely inefficient when you look at the science. However, when you look at anecdotes, it seems to be consistently impactful. I think it's more an issue with how we're calculating calories out.

I am fairly certain I know the answer to this. They normally do these kind of studies on untrained humans, because the point is to prescribe (or not) exercise to people who need to lose weight, which are typically not athletes. The anecdotal success comes from people who play sports (tautologically). The problem is you cannot compare across these two groups because the metabolism and sheer volume of exercise is not c…

I mean the typical advice I get is 1 hour of running burns as much calories as one large slice of pepperoni pizza (~700 cal). Trained or untrained, this seems off by a lot.

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#23
My kids call it my "Dad-kins" (a pun on Atkins) diet.

Buy a scale. Record your weight. (e.g. 200.0lbs)

Week 1: you can eat anything you want in one sitting if the scale shows less than 200.0lbs

Week 2: you can eat anything you want in one sitting if the scale shows less than 199.9lbs (200.0-0.1)

Week 3: you can eat anything you want in one sitting if the scale shows less than 199.8lbs (199.9-0.1)

...

Week X: you can eat anything you want in one sitting if the scale shows less than (last week's goal - 0.1)

So losing a pound takes 10 weeks. Losing 10 pounds takes 100 weeks, etc.

The subtle part is that

(a) you can only eat when the scale says so which means that grabbing junk food gets ruled out unless the scale agrees.

(b) you don't feel "deprived" because you can anything you want in one sitting.

(c) you discover that eating junk food at your "one sitting" just means it will take longer before you can eat again.

(d) because you're SLOWLY changing your eating habits using external measurable control your body will lose weight and keep it off, gradually starving those fat cells.

(e) this is a "diet" in the sense of changing your eating habits, not in the current perverted meaning of trying to "diet" by "crashing" your weight loss.

Eventually you'll discover that if you skip anything containing high fructose corn syrup you tend to get to eat more frequently. That HFCS really hurts.

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#24
post #6
post #5

What about eating healthier and doing more sport? I heard it works pretty well.

Sports is actually extremely inefficient when you look at the science. However, when you look at anecdotes, it seems to be consistently impactful. I think it's more an issue with how we're calculating calories out.

Folks who can be bothered to put in the effort to commit to regular exercise are more likely to be able to be disciplined about what they eat. Levels of exercise are probably pretty well correlated with folks who are serious about their weight.

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but usually they are trying to prove a point like ‘lazy solutions have great beginnings but don’t end well’. This time it was different and I might be living under a rock but never heard of weight loss drugs.

It was by far one of their most unrelatable escapades. The commentary on the US healthcare system was good, but everything else just felt like Hollywood problems. I think Matt and Trey no longer inhabit the same space as everyone else, and it's showing. (Other comments: the character interactions felt wrong, Kyle was too willing to help Cartman, and Butters was too willing to help without being cajoled into it first,…

Shootout was a clear Mad Max spoof.

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#26
post #19
post #5

What about eating healthier and doing more sport? I heard it works pretty well.

The main mechanism is [eat less] --> [lose weight]. Some people find it difficult to eat less, hence the drugs to suppress appetite.

I would think that the main mechanism is that if you "use" more than you eat, then you lose weight. You have two levers to lose weight: "use more" and "eat less". And then there is the part where not everything you eat is egal, so "eat better", somehow.

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#27

1.Ephedrine Caffeine Aspirin (old ECA stack) 2.MuscleTech Vapor X5 3.“Truck stop speed” Just my experiences, not recommendations or advice, do your own homework. https://youtu.be/_3-Vlql2ivM James Smith - burning 5000 calories then eating 5000 calories. He also has a video on clenbuterol “fitness industry secret weapon”. Generally helpful exercise/weight loss advice videos. 1: used for boosting exercise and losing we…

I used the ECA stack once. The weight loss was successful, but I also permanently injured my body during that time, and I think it might have been caused by ECA (large amounts of caffeine allowed me to push beyond healthy limits). So, you know, be careful.

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#28
post #26
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main mechanism is [eat less] --> [lose weight]. Some people find it difficult to eat less, hence the drugs to suppress appetite.

I would think that the main mechanism is that if you "use" more than you eat, then you lose weight. You have two levers to lose weight: "use more" and "eat less". And then there is the part where not everything you eat is egal, so "eat better", somehow.

Technically correct about the balance, but practically people overestimate the amount you can burn with extra activity. The main reason to exercise while losing weight is that if you do resistance training, you preserve more of your muscle and lose predominantly fat - it’s not to burn more calories.

And I disagree about emphasising “better” instead of “less”. “Better” than doesn’t lose weight.

Re: Ask HN: Have you tried weight loss drugs?

#29
post #28
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think that the main mechanism is that if you "use" more than you eat, then you lose weight. You have two levers to lose weight: "use more" and "eat less". And then there is the part where not everything you eat is egal, so "eat better", somehow.

Technically correct about the balance, but practically people overestimate the amount you can burn with extra activity. The main reason to exercise while losing weight is that if you do resistance training, you preserve more of your muscle and lose predominantly fat - it’s not to burn more calories. And I disagree about emphasising “better” instead of “less”. “Better” than doesn’t lose weight.

Why estimate and not just calculate ? It’s not a hard calculation, walking calorie burn calculators are reasonably accurate. Walking just takes time, which you may value a little higher than burning calories.
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