How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how • Hacker News Board

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#51

Post by dalmaer » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:33 PM UTC

unclebucknasty wrote: post #36

cliveowen wrote: post #7

That's an awful lot of words for saying that eating right leads to a healthier life. Way too many people tend to write a poem to express even the simplest idea. Concision is paramount in communicating.

As I read the article, I became pleasantly surprised at how it evolved into a story about a guy learning to live a more holistic life vs just one of losing weight. I think that evolution was the author's journey, and it was what he was trying to communicate by recounting it for us.

Thank you. This is not a post from a diet guru trying to sell anything. This is a personal story about how one change is leading to a mindset change. The details of labeling a diet are not the point. Thanks for seeing a bigger picture.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#52

Post by carbocation » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:38 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #45

carbocation wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't matter from a chemical perspective, because the law of conservation of energy/mass is not violated. But it is true that hormonal response makes it easier or harder to stay with a diet.

It is also about feeling good, being healthy and not obese versus feeling bad, being sick and not obese.

Yes, I agree with you re: the emotional effect of different dietary choices.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#53

Post by crusso » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:38 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #49

crusso wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You lose weight by eating less calories than your body uses Yeah, and if you want to reduce your chance of auto accidents, limit the amount of gasoline you put in your car. I'm a bit sorry to come across as rude, but this advice and then your later dismissal of ketogenic diets reflects the extraordinary ignorance that inflicted us with the food pyramid and war on fat 40 years ago. Understanding and controlling the in…

Your comment seems unnecessarily antagonistic. I'm a bit sorry to come across as rude, but this advice and then your later dismissal of ketogenic diets reflects the extraordinary ignorance that inflicted us with the food pyramid and war on fat 40 years ago. I'm not sure how I dismissed ketogenic diets (I was on one for a year!) besides calling them a 'fad', which they certainly are. Understanding and controlling the…

I think what I objected to most was that you decried the signal to noise on this issue then your #1 point was one of the noisiest statements made in the last 50 years.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#54

Post by discardorama » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:40 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #32

There's a massive signal-to-noise issue in the fitness world, particularly because there's so much value to be made just by making some noise. For anyone reading this post and inspired to lose weight, I recommend you keep the following basic tenets in mind when researching a plan/regimen: 1. You lose weight by eating less calories than your body uses. (As a corollary, you almost definitely consume more calories than…

I agree; it's basically a physics problem (calories_in < calories_out to lose weight), with the body's metabolism being a second-order effect. I went on vacation recently, walked around all day taking photos and visiting museums, and ate well; but still lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks, without even trying.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#55

Post by readme » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:40 PM UTC

>I am annoyed at myself for letting me get to be ~300 pounds in the first place (the main point about that is that I let myself get that unhealthy, to a point where I increased my risk of death, which was irresponsible given the fact that I have family and friends)

Though I would feel worse about it if you did not have friends, either way becoming unhealthy is irresponsible because it causes a public burden. If you die, someone is going to have to come clean your body up. Whether any of your money makes it to the pocket of those people is irrelevant.

No one likes cleaning up dead bodies. Just because you are paying a doctor, does not mean you are 100% entitled and you aren't creating a burden. Doctors take an oath to help the sick. They have to help you in an emergency. Whether you are paying or not.

This for me is one of the major holes in libertarianism.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#56

Post by carbocation » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:42 PM UTC

seiji wrote: post #39

jmduke wrote: post #32

There's a massive signal-to-noise issue in the fitness world, particularly because there's so much value to be made just by making some noise. For anyone reading this post and inspired to lose weight, I recommend you keep the following basic tenets in mind when researching a plan/regimen: 1. You lose weight by eating less calories than your body uses. (As a corollary, you almost definitely consume more calories than…

You lose weight by eating less calories than your body uses. Not entirely. Try eating 2,000 calories of pasta versus 2,000 calories of chicken. It'll do immensely different things to your body. IF and keto are valid. Liquid diet is nutty. keto isn't exactly "eat lots of fat" -- it's avoiding > 30-60g carbs per day (and honestly, mostly sugars. carbs with fiber delivery (e.g. vegetables and limited fruits) are okay) w…

> fat doesn't make you fat

True, and it's why the low fat (== high sugar) marketing has done nothing to curb the obesity trends.

> Your body turns sugar and things that metabolize into sugar (carbs, breads, pastas, rice) into fat.

True. Keep in mind that (most) excess amino acids also get converted to carbs, and then to fat.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#57

Post by rjh29 » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:42 PM UTC

TelmoMenezes wrote: post #42

jmduke wrote: post #32

There's a massive signal-to-noise issue in the fitness world, particularly because there's so much value to be made just by making some noise. For anyone reading this post and inspired to lose weight, I recommend you keep the following basic tenets in mind when researching a plan/regimen: 1. You lose weight by eating less calories than your body uses. (As a corollary, you almost definitely consume more calories than…

> 1. You lose weight by eating less calories than your body uses. (As a corollary, you almost definitely consume more calories than you think you do. Get a calorie-counting app.) If this is true, why don't we become incredibly fat or skinny over time? It would require incredible precision to maintain weight. But a lot of people seem to be able to do it with no effort... The reason why this is not true is simple: our…

I gained 3 stone over a long time simply eating a very small surplus (50 calories a day) over a long time. People are -generally- good at eating the right amount of maintain their weight, but even a tiny margin over a long time can add up. Overweight people I know don't actually eat that much more than your average person!

Oh, and I lost that weight and more simply by - duh - eating less than my body needed. It's not an exact science, but it does work. If you don't think it does, you either have a very rare medical condition, or (sorry for the tough news) just need to eat less and exercise more, like everybody else.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#58

Post by rjh29 » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:43 PM UTC

codyb wrote: post #46

TelmoMenezes wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. You lose weight by eating less calories than your body uses. (As a corollary, you almost definitely consume more calories than you think you do. Get a calorie-counting app.) If this is true, why don't we become incredibly fat or skinny over time? It would require incredible precision to maintain weight. But a lot of people seem to be able to do it with no effort... The reason why this is not true is simple: our…

Also a 1000 calories of sugar are going to do far different things to your body than a 1000 calories of protein. That's why focusing on calories always seemed to be the wrong metric to me.

There are a lot of skinny people out there with rubbish diets, packed with carbs and low in protein.... while carbs undeniably cause hunger compared to fats and protein, there is definitely an individual variation in appetite that diet cannot completely make up for.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#59

Post by carbocation » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:44 PM UTC

crusso wrote: post #53

jmduke wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment seems unnecessarily antagonistic. I'm a bit sorry to come across as rude, but this advice and then your later dismissal of ketogenic diets reflects the extraordinary ignorance that inflicted us with the food pyramid and war on fat 40 years ago. I'm not sure how I dismissed ketogenic diets (I was on one for a year!) besides calling them a 'fad', which they certainly are. Understanding and controlling the…

I think what I objected to most was that you decried the signal to noise on this issue then your #1 point was one of the noisiest statements made in the last 50 years.

That level of antagonism requires evidence to support your point. Otherwise your words just come off as unacceptably rude.

Re: How I have lost over 100 pounds and don’t know how

#60

Post by ufo » Sun, Jul 07, 2013, 4:50 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #32

There's a massive signal-to-noise issue in the fitness world, particularly because there's so much value to be made just by making some noise. For anyone reading this post and inspired to lose weight, I recommend you keep the following basic tenets in mind when researching a plan/regimen: 1. You lose weight by eating less calories than your body uses. (As a corollary, you almost definitely consume more calories than…

> he reason fads can be successful usually have less to do with the specific mechanics and minutiae of their gospel and more to do with the fact that you're conscientious about what you're putting into your body

Another reason is that most fads are effectively big lists of restrictions on what you are allowed to eat. Since finding things to eat becomes harder you often end up reducing the total calorie count as a side effect.