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Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

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Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#51

Post by douglasisshiny »

david_shaw wrote: post #8

Disclaimer: this post is going to go into some of my personal experiences with weight loss, fitness, and reddit. In March 2012, not all that long ago, I was considered obese. Living a life primarily behind the computer screen while leading an engineering team at a rapidly growing startup (over 100% growth in the last year alone) left little time for me to consider my fitness. I'd eat trash -- burritos four or five ti…

I have a similar disclaimer: personal weight loss, no reddit.

The main point of this post: I was under the impression that high-protein diets are not healthy over the long term. That such diets lead to health problems because of the high protein content.

I agree that less intake, more exercise is vague advice, but aren't nutritionists a better source of advice? It doesn't seem difficult to find more nuanced advice on the internet, although I just sort of figured it out on my own.

Anyway... I entered college at 270lbs. I gained weight eating at the dining hall (pizza, etc.) After hating myself long enough, I decided to lose a lot of weight. Contrary to some comments in this thread (stating that running / cardio doesn't result in much weight loss), I did it by running. I ran 3-5 miles 4-6 times a week (for awhile it was just 3 miles). For a 3-mile run, I would burn about 500 calories. When you consume about 1700-2000/day, and run 3 miles 4-6 times a week, that adds up quickly, especially considering you're burning calories even after the run.

I also ate a diet consisting of reduced everything (fewer carbs, fewer proteins, fewer fatty foods). I focused on eating a lot of vegetables, fruits, some lean meats, and healthy grains.

After four months I was down to 200lbs. Years later, I'm around 185. I've gone up a few pounds at points, but never let it get out of hand.

This post is cluttered, but I guess my main point was that it's not much more than exercise more, eat healthier. And eat healthy in a way that you think "this is my diet for the rest of my life." I'm perplexed by people who initiate insane diets that deviate from the dietary habits of humans for thousands of years; or spend a ridiculous amount of money (I was lucky to have an indoor track at my college, but these days I just run outside).

Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#52

Post by fingerprinter »

Xcelerate wrote: post #43
fingerprinter wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever see a local marathon? There are tons of people who are overweight that run them. I'm sure some of those overweight people are running high mile numbers.

You would be surprised, but the overweight people doing marathons still do less than 50 mpw. I am meaning a consistent 50 throughout the year -- not "peaking" at it. If you know some counterexamples personally, I'd be very interested in hearing about them -- it would be an unusual situation.

I know several personally, but I hate using personal anecdotes as evidence. These people religiously run 45-55 miles a week (slightly below your number, I know, but there is nothing magical about those last 5 miles).

They also run a slow 50. But, they still run around 50 a week and they are overweight.

The point being there is nothing magical about running long distances and being lean, IMO. Someone could (and like I said, I know several) run that and be overweight). I know plenty of people who ride bikes 150-200+ miles a week and are overweight.

What I suspect you mean when you say 50mpw is that someone running 50mpw at 5 min/mile pace (or less) is not going to be overweight. And that is probably true. But you are factoring in intensity then, which changes the equation entirely.

For instance, I know someone that lifts weights 4 times a week for 1 hour a day and is fat. He's been doing it for years.

I also know someone who lifts weights 4 times a week for 1 hour a day and just won a local bodybuilding contest.

There are so many things I didn't say in the above it isn't worth talking about them? What are they eating? What does their workout look like? Are they both lifting the same weights? How intense are they working out? Adequate sleep in both cases? Any sprinting?

Like I said, I suspect what you meant in the 50mpw case was also something about intensity, not just distance.

Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#54

Post by fingerprinter »

[deleted] wrote: post #50
fingerprinter wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No way. Try getting fat eating just protein. It is so incredibly hard. Just try it. Now, try getting fat eating nothing but fat+protein. Hard, but much easier than just protein. Now, try getting fat eating just carbs. Easy. Now, try getting fat eating carbs+anything. Easy. A "calorie is a calorie" isn't true now and never has been. It was a very simple model. Our understanding has changed and we now know much more. F…

[deleted]

From the study: 5% of energy from protein (low protein), 15% (normal protein), or 25% (high protein)

25% is not high protein. That means 75% is coming from either fat+carbs.

On a typical cutting (VLC) day, I'll eat 50% protein+45%fat+5% broccoli. And I don't consider it a high protein day.

If the average person reading this ate 40% protein + 40% fat + 10% veggies (like broccli) + 10% carbs (sweet potato, rice etc), their weight would stabilize much better, faster and for a longer period of time.

Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#55

Post by dhughes »

fingerprinter wrote: post #38
StavrosK wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why is it that both Atkins and Taubes got so fat on very low carb diets while Japanese people traditionally ate (and many still do eat) rice at every single mean, lunch, breakfast and dinner? Because eating a lot will make you fat, and eating a little will make you thin. Whether you eat proteins, fat or carbs, you can gain or lose weight depending on how much you eat. I haven't studied it very much, but just eating…

No way. Try getting fat eating just protein. It is so incredibly hard. Just try it. Now, try getting fat eating nothing but fat+protein. Hard, but much easier than just protein. Now, try getting fat eating just carbs. Easy. Now, try getting fat eating carbs+anything. Easy. A "calorie is a calorie" isn't true now and never has been. It was a very simple model. Our understanding has changed and we now know much more. F…

"Carbs" is such a vague word there are complex carbohydrates and simple carbohydrates, a blanket statement calling both "carbs" is generalizing.

Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#56

Post by colmvp »

BadassFractal wrote: post #49
david_shaw wrote: post #8

Disclaimer: this post is going to go into some of my personal experiences with weight loss, fitness, and reddit. In March 2012, not all that long ago, I was considered obese. Living a life primarily behind the computer screen while leading an engineering team at a rapidly growing startup (over 100% growth in the last year alone) left little time for me to consider my fitness. I'd eat trash -- burritos four or five ti…

While I don't literally follow the advice of /r/fitness, a lot of my dietary philosophy is aligned with the general advice there. It's all about your diet, cardio helps but is totally unnecessary. I don't have more than 3 hours a week to lift very heavy, and don't want to spend more time at the gym. I have better things to do. Yet, I'm down from 185lbs a few years ago to 145lbs and 7% body fat and will likely hit 6%…

"It's all about your diet, cardio helps but is totally unnecessary."

I ate craploads of crap (high calories, sugar) in SF but because I cycled everywhere I kept a lean body.

Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#57

Post by Xcelerate »

fingerprinter wrote: post #52
Xcelerate wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would be surprised, but the overweight people doing marathons still do less than 50 mpw. I am meaning a consistent 50 throughout the year -- not "peaking" at it. If you know some counterexamples personally, I'd be very interested in hearing about them -- it would be an unusual situation.

I know several personally, but I hate using personal anecdotes as evidence. These people religiously run 45-55 miles a week (slightly below your number, I know, but there is nothing magical about those last 5 miles). They also run a slow 50. But, they still run around 50 a week and they are overweight. The point being there is nothing magical about running long distances and being lean, IMO. Someone could (and like I…

Hmm. Well that's interesting. I guess I was wrong. I'm even more surprised with the 150-200+ miles cycling. I suppose intensity does have more influence than I would have thought.

Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#58

Post by alex_c »

vacri wrote: post #40
WalterSear wrote: post #2

As a developer I bristle at the idea that 'if it's not in the curriculum, what can you do?' The doctors are at fault here for not reaearching and advocating for the research needed.

You don't seem to have any idea about how complex medicine is. You wouldn't say the same thing about a specialist in IT ("This DBA doesn't know enough Java!").

For specialists, sure. But for a GP shouldn't it be essential to be knowledgeable and effective about basic fitness and nutrition?

My (relatively uninformed) impression is that studies of fitness and nutrition are surprisingly unsophisticated relative to research for curing specific diseases.

This is basically the debate of preventive care vs. palliative care (and, I guess, the argument that one allows for much higher profits than the other).

Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#59

Post by BadassFractal »

colmvp wrote: post #56
BadassFractal wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I don't literally follow the advice of /r/fitness, a lot of my dietary philosophy is aligned with the general advice there. It's all about your diet, cardio helps but is totally unnecessary. I don't have more than 3 hours a week to lift very heavy, and don't want to spend more time at the gym. I have better things to do. Yet, I'm down from 185lbs a few years ago to 145lbs and 7% body fat and will likely hit 6%…

"It's all about your diet, cardio helps but is totally unnecessary." I ate craploads of crap (high calories, sugar) in SF but because I cycled everywhere I kept a lean body.

That will work, you have to ultimately adjust the diet to perfectly fit your lifestyle of choice. I don't eat crap or drink in the first place, in large part because there's indication that sugar, refined grains and alcohol are the major cause of the most common western diet diseases (obesity, diabetes, cancer and so on). I'm shooting for the long term here.

With exception for the time when I'm out meeting people, I'm chained to a desk (either sitting or standing) and thus lead an ultra-sedentary lifestyle. I can get better health than most and free up time for things that matter to me by simply avoiding unnecessary food. It's a worthwhile sacrifice, and I think a very smart bargain.

Re: Obesity and Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors

#60

Post by Xcelerate »

dicktalens wrote: post #47
Xcelerate wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about studies on cardio or what not, but I'll say that as a D1 runner, I have never seen an overweight person who runs more than 50 miles per week (and I have met thousands of runners in my life).

Most basketball players are tall. I guess basketball makes you taller.

And???
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