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Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

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Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#11
post #2

A preview of coming attractions in this thread: - Weight loss isn't hard, just eat fewer calories than you burn. - Keto will obviously make you lose weight! - I lost N lbs by meditation and intermittent fasting! - Being hungry sucks. - Anybody can do it, this one trainer put on 100 lbs, and then took it all off again! - Being fat is just another sign that you're lazy. - It's sugar's fault! (Alternatively: It's artifi…

Mark me down for sugar's fault and that sugar should be thought of as an addiction for people who are obese.

Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#12
post #2

A preview of coming attractions in this thread: - Weight loss isn't hard, just eat fewer calories than you burn. - Keto will obviously make you lose weight! - I lost N lbs by meditation and intermittent fasting! - Being hungry sucks. - Anybody can do it, this one trainer put on 100 lbs, and then took it all off again! - Being fat is just another sign that you're lazy. - It's sugar's fault! (Alternatively: It's artifi…

Yes, being in a caloric defecit (relative to your previous normal) is hard. Most lifestyle changes are. Anyone who tells you different is lying to you. But it doesn't need to be excruciating, and if you plan around the foods you like to eat you can even end up enjoying it after a while.

The simplest solution is to eat less calorically dense foods -- hunger is partially determined by the volume of food you eat. As an extreme example, 1kg of broccoli has 340 calories -- there's no way you could be physically hungry if you ate that quantity of food for each meal. You shouldn't just eat broccoli (of course) but it's a motivating example of how minor food choices (double your portion of fibrous vegetables, and halve your portion of starchy carbohydrates) can impact your overall diet. Not to mention that fibrous carbohydrates are more satiating than starchy carbohydrates (the latter usually make you more hungry).

Not to mention there are lots of ways to massively reduce the amount of calories in food you commonly eat (though this does require you to cook your own food).

Also, for the love of all that is holy -- drink more water. The vast majority of people are dehydrated (your urine should be almost entirely clear, not yellow) and misinterpret thirst for hunger. Water doesn't have any calories.

Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#13
post #2

A preview of coming attractions in this thread: - Weight loss isn't hard, just eat fewer calories than you burn. - Keto will obviously make you lose weight! - I lost N lbs by meditation and intermittent fasting! - Being hungry sucks. - Anybody can do it, this one trainer put on 100 lbs, and then took it all off again! - Being fat is just another sign that you're lazy. - It's sugar's fault! (Alternatively: It's artifi…

Ok, I'll start too.

I've lost 10kg recently and it's true that the most important factor is calorie deficit. I've been doing keto for the most part, but even on my cheat days when I ate more carbs than I should I was still losing weight as long as I had a calorie deficit. I find keto easier for me because fat helps with satiety but if you get satiety with just low fat high carb more power to you.

And yes, no matter the diet, dropping sugar and sweeteners is some of the things that will help the most. Intermittent fasting does help a lot and working out helps cut hunger the most (and so does intermittent fasting after a while, I haven't had a morning breakfast in months and not feeling hungry until lunch).

Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#14
post #6
post #2

A preview of coming attractions in this thread: - Weight loss isn't hard, just eat fewer calories than you burn. - Keto will obviously make you lose weight! - I lost N lbs by meditation and intermittent fasting! - Being hungry sucks. - Anybody can do it, this one trainer put on 100 lbs, and then took it all off again! - Being fat is just another sign that you're lazy. - It's sugar's fault! (Alternatively: It's artifi…

That's not reddit, though...

I honestly wish that these kinds of remarks were limited to reddit. They’re not. Folks even here can get in ridiculous religious wars about weight management and dieting.

My own post is a bit cheeky to make fun of it, but if I can deter the flames a bit early on, I’ll take the potential hit.

EDIT: The real question is why is it such a religious war? I believe, perhaps incorrectly, that people put a lot of value on their weight. When that weight gets too high, anything that lowers that weight becomes inherently virtuous to the individual. Any nay-saying against that virtuous something becomes an attack against something that they value, something that increased their perception of themselves.

Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#15
"But rocket science is arguably simpler than weight loss, in the sense that it involves less unpredictability and variation. We control how rockets are made, and they don’t change their material composition over time."

The composition of rockets do change over time. Small fractures, corrosion, wear-and-tear from reuse, and manufacturing defects can have catastrophic consequences. The exposure of O-rings to extreme cold, leading to the Challenger disaster, is one example.

Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#16
post #2

A preview of coming attractions in this thread: - Weight loss isn't hard, just eat fewer calories than you burn. - Keto will obviously make you lose weight! - I lost N lbs by meditation and intermittent fasting! - Being hungry sucks. - Anybody can do it, this one trainer put on 100 lbs, and then took it all off again! - Being fat is just another sign that you're lazy. - It's sugar's fault! (Alternatively: It's artifi…

You didn't mention fasting (non-intermittent) so I'll leave this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIuj-oMN-Fk - "Dr. Jason Fung - 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem'"

Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#17

Surprising it doesn't mention waist to height ratio which is more accurate to me. I had a normal bmi but I was clearly overweight using the waist to height ratio. Not perfect but better in my opinion than bmi http://www.bmi-calculator.net/waist-to-height-ratio-calculat...

How about just body fat percentage?

Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#18
post #2

A preview of coming attractions in this thread: - Weight loss isn't hard, just eat fewer calories than you burn. - Keto will obviously make you lose weight! - I lost N lbs by meditation and intermittent fasting! - Being hungry sucks. - Anybody can do it, this one trainer put on 100 lbs, and then took it all off again! - Being fat is just another sign that you're lazy. - It's sugar's fault! (Alternatively: It's artifi…

Your last comment is why keto works quite well. It removes the insulin spikes and with it the energy troughs. The other reason I'm convinced keto works great is that it helps rebalance your microbiome. This is all from personal experience using Viome to measure effects however I wasnt using it for weight loss, that was just an (undesired for me) side effect. It should also be noted that a significant amount of weight loss from keto is actually water loss.

Re: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science

#19
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not reddit, though...

I honestly wish that these kinds of remarks were limited to reddit. They’re not. Folks even here can get in ridiculous religious wars about weight management and dieting. My own post is a bit cheeky to make fun of it, but if I can deter the flames a bit early on, I’ll take the potential hit. EDIT: The real question is why is it such a religious war? I believe, perhaps incorrectly, that people put a lot of value on th…

You're not really contributing to a better discussion environment with your attitude. How about you post rebuttals instead of a snide remark?
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