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 times a week, pizza or fast food the rest. I never cooked, because I "didn't have time." I didn't work out for the same half-assed reason.
I realized in early April that I weighed more than I ever had before, that I was not satisfied in my appearance, and that I was very likely introducing unwanted health issues.
Like many other things in my life (coding, managing, infosec, etc.) I took the "dive deep" approach into health and fitness.
I experimented with several diet and fitness plans, until finally finding one that seemed sustainable for me. I'm not trying to start a flame war about diets -- I've seen far too many of them in the last few months -- but a very low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet (called "keto") works extremely well for me.
I found a reddit community (surprise!) called /r/keto that shares recipes, support, and tips with each other. Especially in the beginning of my diet, it was an invaluable resource.
I started my keto diet on April 18th, at about 255 lbs. Today I weigh 189.
I'm still not where I want to be (yet), but I can personally attest to the extremely kind and supportive atmosphere that reddit provides when working towards a goal like this. We rejoice in each others' victories and help each other through the harder times.
That said, there are downsides, too. I already mentioned the diet/exercise flame wars that go on -- for example, Low-Carb/High-Fat (LCHF) diets vs. High-Protein/Low Fat vs. Low-Fat Generalized, etc. I think that each of these diets can work (science supports that), but different people need to figure out what works for them.
The problem with these subreddits -- /r/fitness included -- is that they develop a hive-mind towards their respective goal. /r/fitness almost makes a joke of it ("join a gym, quit facebook, get girls"), and "starting strength" is recommended all the time, in response to pretty much everything. Not that these are bad recommendations at all, just something that I see a lot.
The communities are very welcoming, but when an individual strays from the hive mind, they can also be very discouraging.
Hope this lends a little insight and personality to the article!
I have a pet hypothesis that one of (for instance) Keto's main benefits is that it shakes up habitual eating patterns. Instead of trying to eat less of foods you're used to eating a lot of, you're forced to develop new habits around entirely new food.
I've also gone from 250-ish down to 170-ish (although over the course of 2 years, not 4 months, lol), but I haven't really bought into any specific diet. I just don't eat out.
Expanding on the theme of unexpected benefits, I think that one of the things that makes weightlifting helpful for weight loss is causing cognitive dissonance when eating crap. Since the first increases in what you can lift come from increased inter- and intramuscular coordination and are thus very rapid and really astounding, you can quickly get a feeling of agency and the belief that you are becoming a sporty person. Both will help you make better food choices.
^ this. I've done a lot of research/experimentation/thinking about keto, and this is definitely one of the factors. Along with the increased satiety from higher dietary fat, higher TEF from increased protein, improved insulin sensitivity (less hunger crashes), etc, of course. :)
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% or lower soon. You've all seen Fight Club, you know what that looks like. It's a huge personal satisfaction and you feel healthier than ever.
How? Cut calories and cut carbs to 100g a day or lower. Primal/paleo/IF work wonders, but you still have to count calories very carefully at the end of the day. The whole "eat whatever you want as long as it's fat and protein" works down to maybe 10-12% body fat, but below that you need to start cutting.
Mark Sisson might give you the impression that you can eat all you want, but you got to look at some of his food logs to get an idea of how you can look like him at age 50+. He's got quite a few IF + 800 calorie zig-zag days in there, just to give you an idea. That's not easy, or for the faint of heart. It requires a lot of sacrifice and an iron resolve.
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.
Well done on your results. I enjoy VLC myself, but must say that I don't find the keto subreddit very worthwhile. The community support aspect is undoubtedly beneficial for those in peaks and troughs, but aside from that, what remains seems to mostly be "off-limits-imitation" recipes, and chest-beating about eating a bucket of low-quality bacon or whatever.
I guess what I'm saying is that the fundamentals of this type of diet are self-contained enough that just getting on with it once up and running is worth considering rather than staying hooked in to the ebb and flow of a community.
I find r/paleo to be a bit better than r/keto but I think the best content for these sorts of diets is found outside reddit. marksdailyapple.com is a good resource.
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).
r/keto diets are usually low carb high fat, with moderate amounts of protein.
For high-protein are you referring to protein and kidneys? Bones?
"I'm perplexed by people who initiate insane diets that deviate from the dietary habits of humans for thousands of years;"
The Inuit, Athabaskans, the Siberians, and Masai, and many other groups of people are keto or close.
"I agree that less intake, more exercise is vague advice, but aren't nutritionists a better source of advice? "
The ADA is unfortunately sponsored by many fast food companies like Coca Cola. My own story is that I started the course track in undergrad to become a dietician, but switched out because I was frustrated with it. I was mildly overweight at the time, but my main problem was continuous GI issues (IBS and GERD). The school dietician (who was VERY overweight and a professor for some of my nutrition classes) told me to eat more fiber, low fat, and that I could control my symptoms with medication if that didn't work. It didn't work and the medications I had to go on had significant side effects.
Thanks to googling and messing around on Pubmed, I found some small promising studies with low-carb and GI problems and decided to try them for myself, even though they violated the typical advice for my condition (low-fat, high fiber). And it worked really well. And I also lost weight. And felt awesome.
Later on the internet the FODMAPs concept for GI problems, which is hilariously popular with Australian dietitians, but unheard of in the US until recently because US curricula is so miserable outdated and slow to change. FODMAPs is a diet that restricts certain types of foods that ferment in the colon. And because it only restricts certain carbs, I have been able to broaden my diet significantly.
In the end, I have more time to hack my own condition and read random crap on the internet than any dietician or doctor ever will.
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 times a week, pizza or fast food the rest. I never cooked, because I "didn't have time." I didn't work out for the same half-assed reason.
I realized in early April that I weighed more than I ever had before, that I was not satisfied in my appearance, and that I was very likely introducing unwanted health issues.
Like many other things in my life (coding, managing, infosec, etc.) I took the "dive deep" approach into health and fitness.
I experimented with several diet and fitness plans, until finally finding one that seemed sustainable for me. I'm not trying to start a flame war about diets -- I've seen far too many of them in the last few months -- but a very low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet (called "keto") works extremely well for me.
I found a reddit community (surprise!) called /r/keto that shares recipes, support, and tips with each other. Especially in the beginning of my diet, it was an invaluable resource.
I started my keto diet on April 18th, at about 255 lbs. Today I weigh 189.
I'm still not where I want to be (yet), but I can personally attest to the extremely kind and supportive atmosphere that reddit provides when working towards a goal like this. We rejoice in each others' victories and help each other through the harder times.
That said, there are downsides, too. I already mentioned the diet/exercise flame wars that go on -- for example, Low-Carb/High-Fat (LCHF) diets vs. High-Protein/Low Fat vs. Low-Fat Generalized, etc. I think that each of these diets can work (science supports that), but different people need to figure out what works for them.
The problem with these subreddits -- /r/fitness included -- is that they develop a hive-mind towards their respective goal. /r/fitness almost makes a joke of it ("join a gym, quit facebook, get girls"), and "starting strength" is recommended all the time, in response to pretty much everything. Not that these are bad recommendations at all, just something that I see a lot.
The communities are very welcoming, but when an individual strays from the hive mind, they can also be very discouraging.
Hope this lends a little insight and personality to the article!