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

Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

vox.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 293 posts

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#231

Post by reddytowns »

The best way to lose weight is to fast. People are so accustomed to not going without food for a few hours it becomes a phobia. Our ancestors did not live like this.

If you practice fasting long enough, you'll eventually get used to your stomach being empty, and it won't bother you anymore. Then it becomes trivial to lose weight.

I eat only one meal a day, and I don't even notice it when its been over 24 hours I have gone without food. As an added benefit, I can have an absolute feast everyday, including a large dessert, without gaining any weight.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#232

Post by ericb »

tomp wrote: post #175
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to continue to posit that weight is a factor of genetics / epigenetics and / or body function first and foremost. Why is it that some people, regardless of how much they eat and how little they exercise, never put on weight? That, to me, is the elephant in the room. What is going on in these peoples bodies that is kept out of popular science with regard to weight loss? We know that thyroid hormone function…

> regardless of how much they eat and how little they exercise, never put on weight? If I had to choose between thermodynamics and medicine being wrong, and people not being able to accurately estimate how "much" they eat and how "little" they exercise, I'd bet all my money on the latter. The simple reality is, people have vastly different appetites. I eat fast and am always hungry. I have two coworkers, one eats qui…

I never understand the thermodynamics argument in terms of weight gain. Surely you acknowledge that some solar cells and mechanical engines are more efficient than others?

Additionally, do you acknowledge that some drives are more irresistible than others? Can you hold your breath until you pass out?

Is it so hard to imagine these drives might differ from person to person? I fully acknowledge that, irrespective of your body's efficiency, if you could ignore your drive magically, you would lose weight with no problem, but that is far from a useful endpoint because the drive matters.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#233

Post by [deleted] »

vacri wrote: post #225
fizx wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really important to stay hydrated, because your body often mistakes thirst for hunger. Drink water every 10m in the pool. Also, I often take a small amount of heavy protein immediately after the workout (~1/2 of one of those 33g protein bars is typical), then jump in the shower. Between these two habits, I've killed the post-swim binge. Hope it works for you too!

> Drink water every 10m in the pool That means you'd need 5 drinks to complete just one length of an olympic-size swimming pool! :)

[deleted]

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#234

Post by baudehlo »

ericb wrote: post #232
tomp wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> regardless of how much they eat and how little they exercise, never put on weight? If I had to choose between thermodynamics and medicine being wrong, and people not being able to accurately estimate how "much" they eat and how "little" they exercise, I'd bet all my money on the latter. The simple reality is, people have vastly different appetites. I eat fast and am always hungry. I have two coworkers, one eats qui…

I never understand the thermodynamics argument in terms of weight gain. Surely you acknowledge that some solar cells and mechanical engines are more efficient than others? Additionally, do you acknowledge that some drives are more irresistible than others? Can you hold your breath until you pass out? Is it so hard to imagine these drives might differ from person to person? I fully acknowledge that, irrespective of yo…

Some people's bodies just burn more calories in resting than others. Or their resting isn't as resting as they think - look at people who sit but their leg twitches up and down.

Ultimately it's still calories in vs out. But the out isn't just burning 500 calories running. It's what you burn doing your day to day too.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#235

Post by peteretep »

x0x0 wrote: post #156
hvoiiita wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think to accurately display the relative effectiveness of diet and exercise for weight loss is something like this: diet & exercise >> diet >>>>>>>> exercise I like this quote: "You work hard on that machine for an hour, and that work can be erased with five minutes of eating afterward"

even easier (as weightlifters, powerlifters, bodybuilders all know): weight comes from your mouth, not from the gym abs are made in the kitchen 80% diet, 20% training

Can't outrun a fork!

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#236

Post by zaroth »

brashrat wrote: post #163
epimetheus wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exercise makes me ravenous, I'm certainly not the only person for which that is true. Swimming is the worst offender, IME. I can be vigilant, but even knowing that I didn't burn enough calories to counterbalance that meatball sub I want to get after my workout, doesn't help all that much in keeping me from actually buying it anyway. This is similar to the problem of calories in = calories out. Dieting isn't a chemist…

you can put your hunger to work for you, but you need to remind yourself that, if you carry extra pounds, hunger is what weight loss feels like. That ravenous feeling if you can keep it going, that right there is the success. celebrate it, and stop killing it.

it's interesting reading the hunger vs. no hunger debate. Personally I can't imagine losing weight without feeling hungry. Of course not constantly, of course not to the point of crashing, but you have to moderate the feeling. For some people it can pass in about a week, and you adjust to just eating less, and you hopefully stop feeling hungry. But I think almost everyone goes through at least an adjustment period.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#237

Post by Retric »

dpark wrote: post #146
Retric wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Power lifting can quickly become anaerobic, when you run out of oxygen. But, weightlifting is used for more than just peak power. Many activity's benefit from pure strength, but most people are trying to improve both power and endurance. Longer cool down periods (3-5 min) helps build strength faster and let's each set be more anaerobic and higher weight, but short cool down periods and slightly lower weight adds endu…

If you're not in into the anaerobic zone, I don't think you're really weightlifting. You're dropping the weight so low that you're just doing cardio.

There is plenty of Oxygen to handle a single lift. Just not a rapid full set at near max weight. The specific transition point varies based on a wide range of factors,mbit simply waiting between each individual lift is enough to stay aerobic.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#238

Post by formula_ninguna »

People get fat not because they eat too much. But because they eat junk food. That's it. The amount of calories is irrelavant here.

If you want to be a good shape, eat fruit. Without GMO and hemicals. That's simple. Yet most people go to McDonalds, drink Coca-Cola, eat different kinds of shit and wonder "What should I do to lose weight? Hmmmm, maybe I should work out more?"

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#239

Post by Joof »

vacri wrote: post #225
fizx wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really important to stay hydrated, because your body often mistakes thirst for hunger. Drink water every 10m in the pool. Also, I often take a small amount of heavy protein immediately after the workout (~1/2 of one of those 33g protein bars is typical), then jump in the shower. Between these two habits, I've killed the post-swim binge. Hope it works for you too!

> Drink water every 10m in the pool That means you'd need 5 drinks to complete just one length of an olympic-size swimming pool! :)

You can drink as you go so it's no problem.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#240

Post by ctvo »

zaroth wrote: post #236
brashrat wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you can put your hunger to work for you, but you need to remind yourself that, if you carry extra pounds, hunger is what weight loss feels like. That ravenous feeling if you can keep it going, that right there is the success. celebrate it, and stop killing it.

it's interesting reading the hunger vs. no hunger debate. Personally I can't imagine losing weight without feeling hungry. Of course not constantly, of course not to the point of crashing, but you have to moderate the feeling. For some people it can pass in about a week, and you adjust to just eating less, and you hopefully stop feeling hungry. But I think almost everyone goes through at least an adjustment period.

The reason high protein / low carb diets work so well for people is it removes this feeling. The protein tricks us into thinking we're sated even under a heavy calorie deficit
Post reply on HN