
Learning how to lose weight and avoid being judgemental - jor-el
http://lcamtuf.blogspot.com/2017/02/or-how-i-learned-not-to-be-jerk-in-20.html
======
gabemart
From my experience, which is mirrored in the article, the single most helpful
item of advice to someone looking to control or change their weight is to
track consumed calories in a strict way. The first step is not to change diet
or exercise at all, but simply to track calories of the current diet.
Everything else, in terms of strategy, action and results, comes from this.

~~~
kranner
I would add timestamps to that. It matters a lot IMO whether calories are
consumed in the first half of the day or the second half.

~~~
eru
Not sure whether it does, but the extra information probably doesn't hurt.

Some people suggest taking a picture of everything you eat, too. Forces you to
stop and take the picture _before_ --- one can procrastinate on recording
calorie entries in a journal, but you can't procrastinate on the picture.

~~~
danieltillett
I think I am going to do this photo idea - at the very least it should be an
interesting data set for my future self.

~~~
eru
If you like wacky ideas, consider the 'graph meta-diet' for weight loss. Goes
like this:

Determine your current weight, w_0

Define a target weight, w_t

Pick a reasonable target weight function w(d) of the number of days elapsed
since the start of the diet:

w(d) := max (w_t, w_0 - 100g * d)

(Ie aim for losing 100 grams a day, until you reached your target weight.
Important, we are aiming for a specific level for each day, so any lost ground
has to be made up; but getting ahead of the game will give you a breather.)

Get yourself a spreadsheet. Google Sheets works well. Draw that function's
graph.

Every day, record your weight. If it's below the line, follow whatever other
primary diet you want.

Important: if your weight is above the line, fast that day.

If you hate fasting, make sure your primary diet loses you weight at the right
pace. If you don't mind fasting days, feel free to stuff your face with cake.

I guarantee, if you follow the graph, you will lose weight. (But I can't
guarantee that you will have the discipline to follow the graph.)

~~~
kranner
That's pretty much the Hacker's Diet:
[https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/](https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/)

~~~
eru
I read that book a while ago. But I remember it being about calorie counting?

In any case, whatever gets you to restrict your calories works for losing
weight. Some approaches are just harder on willpower than others. (I suggest
NOT moving to Singapore for weight control---it's delicious there. Though a
friend of mine likes their smaller portions.)

~~~
kranner
It is about calorie counting, but focuses on a feedback loop based on
following a graph as you suggest. Yes Singapore is definitely not a great
place to diet :)

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pipio21
Well, I don't see any problem in the first three photos.

I also was very tall and skinny as a kid and it is very normal(and healthy) to
become a man and get some weight. I personally met Michael long ago and don't
remember thinking he was fat at all.

The last photo worries me, it does not look healthy, quite the contrary.

I would recommend him to practice an sport(or going to the mountain, whatever)
he likes, not just something that he does to lose weight, something that makes
him stronger, not just skinny, and something he enjoys . I had made sport all
my life and it is part of my routine.

And also eating real food, instead of fast food, both burritos or hamburgers
are fast food. Anglo world has lots of amazing things and a few terrible
things, food is one of those.

Calories counting is a very simplistic model. For example you have to take
into account the oils used in your food, and in America those tend too be the
lowest quality(cheapest). Olive oils have nothing to do with palm oil, but
most fast food use palm for being the cheapest.

When you eat fast food you will deprive your body of essential supplies. For
example feed-fed animals generate too much Omega6 and too few Omega3. Your
body requires omega 3 and will demand eating more until it gets it, but as
much as you eat you don't get satisfied.

The same happens with lots of other things like enzymes, vitamins, fiber and
so on that gets destroyed by refrigeration.

If I were as rational as Michael I would probably write "The guerrilla guide
to good eating" in order to learn proper nutrition and document the process.

~~~
Luc
> it is very normal(and healthy) to become a man and get some weight. I
> personally met Michael long ago and don't remember thinking he was fat at
> all. The last photo worries me, it does not look healthy, quite the
> contrary.

All this says is that you're prejudiced against skinny people. Probably
because that's how you grew up.

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danieltillett
What I have found with losing weight is that the ability comes out of your
self-control budget. I can lose weight easily when I don't have to concentrate
on work, but the more stress and work I have the harder it is to hold down my
weight.

~~~
kranner
Self-control budget or ego depletion was recently debunked in a large-scale
experiment:

[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/cover_story...](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/cover_story/2016/03/ego_depletion_an_influential_theory_in_psychology_may_have_just_been_debunked.html)

~~~
nicky0
But from personal experience, it is a very real thing.

I'm a little suspicious of any paper "debunking" something I experience on a
regular basis.

~~~
kranner
I also experience it as a very real thing. But it could be a learned/placebo
effect. Maybe it improves with practice and we just haven't tried?

~~~
danieltillett
Or it could just not be a very good proxy for what happens in real life. Very
few physiology experiments run for months at a time while placing the subjects
under extreme will-power stress.

~~~
kranner
I agree that can happen. But I still have trouble viewing willpower as a
constant resource (refreshed daily) over a person's lifespan. There must be a
correlation with anxiety/stress and possibly exercise, among other factors.

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jwr
Losing and maintaining weight is hard, and I agree with Michał that there are
no quick and easy solutions. It's about making a firm decision and sticking to
it for the rest of your life.

Incidentally, I found that losing ~10kg (22lbs) is the easy part. The really
hard part is losing those last 2-3kg or burning the remaining fat.

And all of that becomes more difficult as you age.

~~~
elpocko
How is 2-3 kg even an issue? I mean, for what reason would anyone say "I need
to lose 2 kg"? What difference does it make?

I'm a little bit underweight and my weight naturally fluctuates by +/\- ~2 kg
from one week to the next. If I lost 2 kg, I wouldn't notice.

~~~
tallanvor
Your weight fluctuates during the day, which is why it's important to weigh
yourself at the same time of day, especially if you're trying to lose weight.

But 2-3kg is enough to make a difference as to whether or not you're
considered overweight (BMI is, of course, a horrible indicator of health, but
it still gets used that way), and if you're on the edge, it can also make a
difference in the size of your pants.

~~~
SyneRyder
+1 on the last part. I've just started trying to lose about 3kg (slightly
more), and the trigger is that my jeans were feeling tight & my t-shirts now
looked unflattering. It's difficult to find clothes that fit me and rather
than replace my semi-custom wardrobe imported from overseas, losing weight &
getting in shape seems a better option. 3kg for me, if purely fat, adds 5% to
my body fat percentage (ie from 15% - 20%).

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deevus
Off topic: Geez. I wish I had bought a house and had a kid by 26. I'm 31 and I
don't know if I'll be able to afford a house for 10 years. My partner is
studying to be a primary teacher and she's 3-4 years away from finishing. The
housing market in Australia is a bit broken though, and I don't exactly work
for Google.

Back on topic: The hardest thing for me is giving up Coke. I love that stuff.
I think I would have to lose 20kg to get to a healthy range.

~~~
ClassyJacket
As a 27 year old Australian, I know how you feel. I will likely never own a
house, especially with the Liberal Party actively pushing house prices as high
as possible. They want us renting forever, so the rich get richer and the poor
get poorer.

I'm glad I didn't have a kid last year though. Would've made getting that
house a whole lot harder, and I've still got plenty of living and travel and
women to do!

As for not exactly working for Google... I have a useless IT degree so I know
what you mean. Nothing exciting is going on here. There's no real tech
industry. CTRL-F the 'who's hiring' thread from earlier - two results for
Melbourne, 167 for San Francisco. I'm trying to start my own business because
screw working for some accounting firm.

As for the Coke... I'm gonna assume you mean the drink, since if it was the
drug you'd probably have no trouble with losing weight (and not capitalize
it).

A few years ago I switched to sugar free softdrink to lose weight. It worked
wonders, although I did also count food calories and exercise. But it was a
valuable part of losing 30Kg. Going to Coke Zero was the easiest change I
made.

However, sugar-free soft drink still has acid that rots your teeth, so I've
given even that up as of about two weeks ago. And you know what? It was
surprisingly easy. I thought it'd be impossible, but after I got the bad news
from my dentist I just started drinking water, and it's just... not that hard.
I just drink when I'm thirsty and then I don't crave a sweet drink anymore.
The caffeine addiction though? Well, I have still had a little coffee... but
you can have caffeine pills or tea or plain coffee for that, and not all the
sugar. Even sugar WITH coffee is nothing compared to how much is in Coke.

~~~
eru
Google does hire in Australia.. (I just quit a job with them to move London.)

------
donquichotte
I found this guys webpage some years ago, he has done awesome work casting
resin cogs and other shapes in CNC milled molds. [1]

Regarding the post, I'm not a nutritional expert, but cooking yourself is a
great method to keep better track of what enters your body.

[1]
[http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/gcnc/ch4/](http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/gcnc/ch4/)

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gadders
I'm glad you lost your body fat, but I would now recommend you work on
building muscle and strength.

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koreyb
Slow carb / four hour body diet. I've used it myself a few times and the
pounds shed off. Everyone that I've recommend try it has lost weight.

Eat as much protein (meat, fish, etc.), vegetables & beans as you want. No
whites (carbs or dairy), no fruit, junk food, etc. 1 cheat day a week to go
nuts and eat whatever you want.

More info here [http://tim.blog/2012/07/12/how-to-
lose-100-pounds/](http://tim.blog/2012/07/12/how-to-lose-100-pounds/)

Lots of issues with counting calories, mainly it is a pain in the ass. Not all
calories are equal, we all absorb & burn calories differently, portion sizes
aren't always correct, etc.

------
xupybd
Some more specifics would be great. I've never managed to hold off weight long
term.

~~~
bartread
I was in a similar position to the article's author and, by age 34, was
starting to looking properly flabby around the middle, as well as having a
genuinely terrible level of fitness. A couple of months snowboarding in 2011
and I came back looking sleek and fit but it all piled back on again over the
next 18 months.

So, at 36 years old I'm flabby around the middle and cripplingly weak with
sticks for arms and legs. I also discovered a varicose vein in my right leg,
which freaked me out.

I discovered Scooby's Workshop
([http://scoobysworkshop.com/](http://scoobysworkshop.com/)) through a
recommendation from my uncle, started watching his videos, picked up his
beginner workout ([http://scoobysworkshop.com/beginning-workout-
plan/](http://scoobysworkshop.com/beginning-workout-plan/)) and have been
plugging away with different workout plans ever since. Took me about 5 months
to start with before I could do a single pull-up.

I've now been doing something based on Starting Strength (by Mark Rippetoe -
[https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Mark-Rippetoe-
ebook...](https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Mark-Rippetoe-
ebook/dp/B006XJR5ZA/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486027208&sr=1-1&keywords=starting+strength))
for about 18 months. (If you're a bit older I don't recommend you follow his
dietary advice too strongly in terms of Gallon Of Milk A Day, but you may need
to _up_ your food intake to lose weight in a controlled way - do NOT try to
lose more than 1kg/2lb per week or you may start to lose muscle mass as well
as fat.) It's been a bit of a struggle with the new client I'm working with,
so it's a case of exercise when I can. I've had a couple of injuries that have
slowed me down as well, but progress is still occurring. I've gone from being
as weak as a kitten (struggled to deadlift 25kg) to the point where on a good
day I can deadlift 150kg for 5 reps. My aim is to get to 200kg.

Bottom line is the only real way to lose weight and keep it off is to increase
your metabolic rate, and that means strength training to increase your muscle
mass. The problem with a diet and cardio only approach is that you can end up
atrophying your muscles, which drops your metabolism, and thereby makes it
easier to pile weight back on again.

(Being strong also has the benefit that it just makes life in general a lot
easier, and will increase your confidence.)

HTH.

~~~
mido22
here is question, why do want to deadlift 150kg, how does it help (with
anything other being muscular)?

~~~
eru
It doesn't actually make you look very muscular. But it does make you
stronger.

The strength feels good, gives confidence, and keeps you healthy. (Especially
back injuries will be less likely. And for women fighting osteoporosis is
always an additional concern.)

As for looks: you won't magically get a six pack and bulging muscles. I
deadlifted 160kg and squatted 170kg (yeah, my grip sucks..) at a bodyweight of
70kg, and I'm no hulk.

But, the extra muscles will help you carry whatever fat you have better.

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GotAnyMegadeth
Sorry for off topic, but those slightly rotated pictures and captions almost
made me feel dizzy

------
mido22
losing weight is simple (not easy), what worked for me is, strict Vegan diet.

~~~
swombat
You can eat a very unhealthy strict vegan diet, made of pasta and canned
tomatoes and lots of fizzy drinks and fries and tacos...

~~~
mido22
canned tomatoes is bad??? :-O, trust me, unhealthy vegan food is not easy to
find, because, most times, it is hard to find processed vegan snacks to begin
with, and quickly get bored of eating the same brand of unhealthy ones

~~~
cyphar
> canned tomatoes is bad???

Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but all canned fruit/vegetables are
insanely packed with sugar and salt.

So yes. They're bad for you. Granola is also bad for you. Nuts contain a lot
of fat. Kale is bad for your thyroids. And so on.

~~~
lorenzhs
Not sure how this is in other countries, but here (Germany) canned tomatoes
contain: tomatoes, tomato juice, citric acid. Why would there be added sugar
and salt?

~~~
tonyedgecombe
The same here (UK), in fact tinned tomatoes are often better quality than the
generic fresh ones on sale in most supermarkets.

