How I Lost 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks With My iPhone (or: Data is King) • Hacker News Board

Re: How I Lost 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks With My iPhone (or: Data is King)

#51

Post by jk4930 » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 5:20 AM UTC

kingkongreveng_ wrote: post #28

dboyd wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The empirical data that I've read and used was to... - count calories, and ensure that I maintain a calorie deficit (which is the only way to burn body fat). - eat frequently, to reduce hunger and maintain an optimum metabolic rate. - brief bouts of difficult exercise (3x30 minutes of anaerobic and 3x30 minutes of aerobic exercise a week) (the on an empty stomach part isn't very helpful). - but, first and foremost, s…

> eat frequently The human body is made to run off a gas tank of fat reserves, not to be tethered to an extension cord of continuous eating. Eating every couple hours is historically impossible, and just on that basis one can reason it's likely maladaptive. You eat a proper meal, insulin levels spike to put the energy in fat and glycogen, insulin levels drop, then you switch over to running on the fat and glycogen. Y…

I can provide another anecdotal evidence. I lost around 20 pounds with calorie (and fat) counting and stood there for the recent 4 years. Last 2 months I switched to counting carbs, too. At all I lost more than I gained during my CS studies. :)

p.s.: I frequently work out and bicycle. That certainly adds to it.

Re: How I Lost 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks With My iPhone (or: Data is King)

#52

Post by cakesy » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 6:07 AM UTC

chadaustin wrote: post #32

kingkongreveng_ wrote: post #15

It's great a calorie counting approach works for this guy, but it has a horrible clinical track record. Dozens of studies conclusively show it does not work in the long run absent focus on the composition of the calories. Even in clinical studies where they control everything the subjects eat it doesn't work. There is good empirical data on how to eat and exercise to get and stay thin. There's no reason to rely on ou…

Original author here. In this thread, I see a lot of "calorie counting is not sustainable" responses. For me, the key notion is that forcing yourself to count calories recalibrates what you think about food. I grew up thinking that fatty meats were "bad" and rice was "good". In terms of kcal, white rice is brutal. While on the diet, I basically stopped eating rice and alcohol, because I'd rather spend those calories…

It would be useful to say how long you have maintained the same weight after stopping the diet.

Re: How I Lost 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks With My iPhone (or: Data is King)

#53

Post by cakesy » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 6:10 AM UTC

lg wrote: post #44

kingkongreveng_ wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> eat frequently The human body is made to run off a gas tank of fat reserves, not to be tethered to an extension cord of continuous eating. Eating every couple hours is historically impossible, and just on that basis one can reason it's likely maladaptive. You eat a proper meal, insulin levels spike to put the energy in fat and glycogen, insulin levels drop, then you switch over to running on the fat and glycogen. Y…

Eating every couple hours is not historically impossible. The gatherer end of the hunter-gatherer duo usually do not have to search far for food. You don't need to guess at this, we have records of how the !kung san lived and continue to live. Besides, people get really hungry if they don't eat for long stretches between meals, what to do about that? Turns out if you have a couple pieces of fresh fruit, every couple…

You actually get used to not eating. I had to get used to it. What triggers peoples hunger is different for different people, some people get hungry when they need more food, some people get hungry when they CAN fit more food into their stomach.

You need to force yourself to become the first type, from the second type. It can be done.

I work in IT, this is my theory, I am not a nutritionist.

Re: How I Lost 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks With My iPhone (or: Data is King)

#54

Post by adzp » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 2:38 PM UTC

cakesy wrote: post #52

chadaustin wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Original author here. In this thread, I see a lot of "calorie counting is not sustainable" responses. For me, the key notion is that forcing yourself to count calories recalibrates what you think about food. I grew up thinking that fatty meats were "bad" and rice was "good". In terms of kcal, white rice is brutal. While on the diet, I basically stopped eating rice and alcohol, because I'd rather spend those calories…

It would be useful to say how long you have maintained the same weight after stopping the diet.

That's not the point. In order to maintain weight-loss, it's important to think of how and what you eat as a permanent lifestyle change. A temporary "diet" of any kind will never work for losing and then keeping the weight off.

Re: How I Lost 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks With My iPhone (or: Data is King)

#55

Post by cschneid » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 4:03 PM UTC

radu_floricica wrote: post #25

kingkongreveng_ wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calorie counting doesn't even work well in the short term. Metabolism drops dramatically at the cellular level on restricted calories. Insulin levels are the key to fat catabolism/anabolism. Calories are secondary. You can get fatter in caloric deficit if you're just eating sugar, or injecting loads of insulin. The value of exercise for weight loss has little to do with burning calories. It's about hormones. Brief, i…

I object that calorie counting doesn't work, especially coming from a summer of losing 6 kg with no exercise. Granted, I did pay attention to my insulin (lots of fat, no carbs for the first month or so). However what you say about anaerobic exercise sounds interesting. I'll google it more thoroughly when I have the time.

It makes sense if you think about it. The body is like "I need energy!" and your glycogen stores are like "sorry dude, all out", so it goes and robs the fat-convenience store for its twinkies.

The issue is working out hard enough to take out all the glycogen stores, and not eating for a while (which just replenishes them).

Note, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but it sorta makes sense. Post any research you find here.