Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated • Hacker News Board

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#41

Post by sliverstorm » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:30 AM UTC

fanboy123 wrote: post #14

angdis wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, humans can thrive with eating a huge variety of foods. The atkins-type diets, as far as I've seen, are followed by panda-bear-shaped folks who maintain that panda-bear-shape no matter what. If we really understood (as a society) what truly makes for a good diet, people would be getting slimmer and not fatter. IMHO, the most sensible diet advice comes from Michael Pollan: "Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plan…

Sounds like a recipe for being hungry all the time.

You might be surprised. I'm not a health nut- I'm too in love with breads to give up grains, for starters- but I've found that some foods really are a lot better at making you feel full than others. Pasta? Terrible. The shepard's pie I ate today? Really good. Stew or soup? Amazing.

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#42

Post by sliverstorm » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:35 AM UTC

Evgeny wrote: post #22

JohnsonB wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars This is only partially true; there is nothing wrong with unprocessed grains/legumes if eaten in moderation. This means whole grains and not processed wheat products. Actually the rest of your advice usually lines up with the "healthy carbs" mantra which refers to whole grains, legumes, nuts and some starches. The other thing that should be mentioned is to eat as much low-cal…

there is nothing wrong with unprocessed grains/legumes if eaten in moderation It probably depends on one's definition of "nothing wrong". The fact that grains, whole or not, are packed with antinutrients like gluten, phytic acid or lectins is well-known. Here's the best summary on the subject that I've found so far: http://anthonycolpo.com/?p=852 Edit: lectins

This article operates on the presumption that we need to increase our mineral intake. More of X mineral is not unilaterally desirable or even better.

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#43

Post by sliverstorm » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 5:43 AM UTC

robchez wrote: post #25

russell wrote: post #2

Cut way back on refined carbs, esp. french fries and sugar. Cut back on red meat. I'm doing all that. I'm not losing weight, but my diabetes needs substantially less insulin. Peanut butter is helpful or at least neutral. Yea. Fruits and vegetables, very good. OK, I'm trying. Yogurt is good. Alas, beer bellies have bellies and winos are skinny.

get rid of the carbs and sugar, amp up the red meat and lose the peanut butter. Keep fruits on the lowish side, eat whatever vegetables you want.

Your advice is pretty fringe. Peanuts are great, so long as you're not eating Sugar With Some Peanuts Butter. If you're recommending he doesn't eat fruit due to diabetes, I'll defer to the Diabetes Association:

http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat...

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#44

Post by drdaeman » Fri, Jul 22, 2011, 9:58 AM UTC

Why it's always about weight loss?

I've tried several apps from Android Market, and most of them (and, I'd say, all of them having an usable UI where I can actually try to count something) suggested me some sort of "low-carb" "healthy" recipes, even though my BMI is 17.6 (underweight).

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#45

Post by xyzzyb » Sun, Jul 24, 2011, 11:12 PM UTC

Huge success using the Hackers Diet (counting calories) here. Its online weight tracker is tops. Walker made the book available as an ePub earlier this year: perfect for the iPad.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/

Re: Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated

#46

Post by xyzzyb » Sun, Jul 24, 2011, 11:16 PM UTC

robchez wrote: post #7

I really wish the count calories, calories in = calories out, calorie is just a calorie mantra would just go away and die. The idea that your body has no clue as to what type (fat, protein, carb) of you're eating is stupid. I have advised nearly everyone in my family as well as lots of friends and colleagues to weight loss success with the following simple rules: 1. Get rid of grains, legumes and sugars 2. Eat health…

I don't get it. The unit "calorie" already takes the different compositions of the food into account. It's simply a measure of how much energy a typical person's body will extract from that specific food.

A sugar calorie is completely different from a edamame calorie, but their end result regarding weight loss will be the same.

You'll feel completely different from both calories, but your scale won't.