Ask HN: How do you lose weight?
Most of us probably have mentally demanding or stressful jobs. How do you approach weight loss without becoming too lethargic or irritable?
Alternatively, what's your strategy to maintaining a healthy weight?
Alternatively, what's your strategy to maintaining a healthy weight?
One thing I'd like to add which doesn't get nearly enough attention is _periodization_. If you go on an extended caloric deficit your body will adapt and lower your metabolic rate which result is a small deficit for a given intake and commensurately lower energy levels and activity.
So, my advice is to go on a caloric deficit for _at most_ 3 months then do 3 months of maintenance where you're in caloric balance, then go back to a deficit.
Also, weigh yourself every day, ideally at the same time (for me, its right after I go to the bathroom when I wake up). There's a lot of interday and intraday variance (i've have 7# swings in a single day) so any single measurement isn't important but the moving average is critical.
Furthermore, if you are in a deconditioned state (not having exercised in a while) and you pick up weight training or crossfit, you will likely gain weight in the beginning. Thats OK! Gaining muscle will significant improve everything you want to improve (looks, energy, mood, etc) but not be reflected on the scale.
The first time I ate at a calorie deficit (it was for 3 months, randomly), I ate the same damn thing every day - a cup of cereal with a cup of milk for breakfast, a lemon zest luna bar for lunch, and a veggie-melt for dinner with an apple and peanut butter snack. It was barely over 1,000 calories. A also had a Blizzard every Friday, extra large, instead of the veggie melt. I'm a 6' male, and dropped rapidly from about 215 to 175. I also felt amazing and slept like I never had before in my life. I also swam a mile 3 times a week and did a little trail running. The diet was the only thing that mattered though.
That's my anecdote for losing weight.
* Get 80% of your calories from fat.
* Eat less than 25 grams of net carbs (total carbs - fiber content).
Last 4 years experimenting with sustainable weight loss diets, this (ketosis) has been the most effortless and enjoyable method I've found. I feel satieted, I don't have after-meal drowsiness and most importantly, after a few months it's become part my lifestyle, so maintaining it is a breeze.
Happy side effect: I prefer home-cooked food to eating out because restaurant food isn't usually fat heavy.
One resource: http://eatingacademy.com
Some less conventional tips:
* no calories from liquid! Water and tea (or black coffee) only. No milk, juice, alcoholic beverages, etc.
* skip breakfast. This is a form of intermittent fasting called time-restricted eating. Hard to implement at first (you will be hungry during the morning), but gets easier over time.
* learn about ketosis and how eat a modified Atkins diet that is mostly plants, meat, and healthy fats.
Food list for plant-based diet here: https://github.com/DeBraid/medicine/blob/master/plant-based-...
Ketosis might be harmful[1]. For some people this might be dangerous[2]
There is not such thing as perfect diet, or "trick" that works for everyone. Problem with diets is that long term results are difficult to measure.
[0]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255155/ [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945587/ [2]http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/early/2014/01/06/ajpen...
Best of luck!
I just don't follow a diet "strictly at all times". If you're (truly) following your diet 95% of the time and go out every-other Friday (or hell, even if it is every Friday) for a social dinner, 1 meal of 21 or 42 meals isn't going to completely ruin your dieting any more than forgetting to brush and floss after lunch on Thursdays is going to completely ruin your teeth.
If you go out for social dinners every single day it might be a problem - but that is pretty atypical.
I feel most people could benefit from "following a strict diet 95% of the time" over "not dieting at all because I like pizza during my weekly Saturday D&D nights".
You can certainly have a "cheat" meal of higher-than-normal carb intake, but you might get knocked out of keto for a few days. If you cheat every week, you could be screwing yourself out of progress.
Any progress at all is better than no progress. If being able to deal with social interactions by utilizing a cheat day helps stick to the diet -- helping to shutdown excuses, helping to be the "weekend" at the end of a long work week, etc -- then that's a useful model to adopt.
(But weekends are a problem since I don't have work to distract and tend to have 4 big meals with the family...)
When out socially, I just eat the salad and the protein and politely pass on the bread. Hard alcohol without mixers also helps.
You just have to be patient and consistent. You will lose 10 pounds a month max, so don't try to force more weight loss than that.
I also walk a LOT. (I gave up my car years ago. Walking is basic transportation for me.)
Once you record everything it becomes clear where the extra calories are coming from and where to improve your diet. Diligence in log keeping is key.
Health is a different story and more subject to what is actually consumed.
Every legitimate long term study of non surgical weight loss shows that it doesn't happen for the vast, vast majority of people.
1) ["In controlled settings, participants who remain in weight loss programs usually lose approximately 10% of their weight. However, one third to two thirds of the weight is regained within 1 year, and almost all is regained within 5 years. "](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1580453)
2) Giant meta study of long term weight loss: ["Five years after completing structured weight-loss programs, the average individual maintained a weight loss of >3% of initial body weight."](http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/74/5/579.full)
3) Less Scientific: [Weight Watcher's Failure - "about two out of a thousand Weight Watchers participants who reached goal weight stayed there for more than five years."](https://fatfu.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/weight-watchers/)
4) [The reason why it's impossible seems to be that although calories in < calories out works, the body of a fat person makes it extremely difficult psychologically to eat less.](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-...) This is borne out by the above data.
5) [The only thing that does seem to work in the long term is gastric surgery.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1421028/)
Moreover, you won't find any reputable study on the web where the average person lost 10%+ of their body weight and kept it off for five years. Not even one.
Most/all of these weight loss programs usually seem to target the byproduct of the problem (being overweight) rather than the actual problem (an unhealthy relationship with calories).
While I have not seen any studies on people who have made "lifestyle changes", my personal anecdata suggests that this type of weight loss is sustainable at a fairly decent yield (not 100%, but not 0.2% either).
I realize that well-done studies like this will be hard to execute, but I hope they get done. In the meantime, I hope that people suggest seeking a lifestyle change (likely including doctors, nutritionists, and psychologists) before they do something drastic like getting gastric bypass surgery.
The "vast vast majority" of people that regain the weight in those studies are likely to be those who are the most prone to do so, and this can also be interpreted that structured weight-loss programs don't work: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/25/health/95-regain-lost-weig...
Look AHEAD: 8-year results (nearly 40% of participants who lost >-10% of initial weight at year 1 maintained this loss at year 8): http://www.obesity.org/obesity/news/press-releases/look-ahea...
You are correct, that it is impossible to track your calories everyday, for every meal, for the rest of your life.
If your diet takes work, or requires special foods (e.g. Nutrisystem), you'll eventually stop doing it and it'll fail.
To lose weight you have to make permanent lifestyle changes. Stop eating junk/processed food, rarely eating out, learning to cook, and eating primarily healthy foods.
I know this is anecdotal, but I know a dozen or so people in my life that have made lifestyle changes to their diet have kept the weight off for 10+ years. And they are the vast majority of people I know who have lost a significant amount of weight.
They didn't join any weight loss programs, so I don't know how a researcher would ever find statistics on them.
(Considering surgery is certainly a more helpful suggestion then, "Have you tried eating less and moving more?" like they are the first person to ever tell you that. The way different bodies process things is far more nuanced than that, involving so many factors including hormones, age, gut bacteria and heaps of other things, not just will power. The more we discover about nutrition shows how much we don't know about nutrition. End rant.)
From my own personal experience[1] I would consider a gastric bypass or gastric sleeve, but avoid a lapband - all other factors being equal.
Obviously seek competent advice from medical specialists on the matter before doing something irreversible.
[1] http://www.michevan.id.au/content/adventures-in-bariatric-su...
Basically just that. I'm down 20 lbs and still losing weight and it's been a breeze.
No additional exercise or calorie counting. (Though I was already walking a couple miles everyday).
Actually the first couple weeks were awful as I was kicking the sugar addiction. I didn't lose weight during that period since I was over eating other foods to compensate. But I didn't gain either and I was eating basically as much as I wanted without trying to feel stuffed.
Once I got used to not eating sugar, cutting back on my eating was easy. I didn't have the hunger pangs I used to, and I often have to remind myself to eat at meal times. (Which is crazy for me since I'm a glutton).
I still drink from time to time, and I haven't been crazy strict with it after the first couple weeks, but I'm still seeing great results.
Google NSNG and Vinnie Tortorich, he has a pod cast about this stuff. Very down to earth advice.
No fast food, no soda. I weighed a little over 200 pounds. I went to the supermarket after work and bought vegetables, some kind of meat, and decided to just eat food that I cooked, and only drinking water (mostly) and some fruit juice. Some nights I ate salads with vinaigrette for dinner (big ones) and brought roasted vegetables with chicken breasts to work for lunch.
2 months later (and many comments about how I was looking kinda thin) I weighed myself for the first time since I started. 164 pounds. I lost over 30 pounds in two months.
I gained all of it back eventually and then some, then eventually I stayed away from fast food again, along with getting a little more exercise, and I'm around 184 right now, at 5'8".
Moral of the story for me: Don't eat crap.
Another personally effective method is intermittent fasting. I don't normally eat breakfast, so for me that means skipping lunch two or three times a week.
Not for everyone but has worked wonders for me. Really easy as well.
I found that calorie intake monitoring is a great first step. I used MyFitnessPal religiously because it helps with calories and really exposes nutrition to you in an accessible interface. It also allows you to set goals for weight loss and will adjust your daily calorie intake recommendations based on how physically active you are. It also "gives back" calories based on exercise (and will even count steps for you, or it can connect with your activity tracker, which I do not have), but I didn't consume more than my daily allotment, even if the app allowed me to do so.
With this app (and not eating solid foods for a few days), I've trained my brain to realize that it doesn't need as much food as I was eating. I learned portion control. The comment about nutritionally dense food is also great. Simple proteins and veggies were my primary diet for a long time. Finally, I didn't eat after a certain time (for me it was 20:00). Having that personal rule helped quite a bit.
My second overall strategy has been accountability. I hate "checking in" as accountability. It makes me feel like I've been a bad person if I gained a pound, or didn't lose, if that's my goal. The accountability I find works best for me is joining something active. Find something that appeals to you: indoor soccer, kickboxing, regular camping/hiking group, rock-climbing group, frisbee golf friends, etc. Something active that's scheduled that you can do with others. It's less checking in and more being active together.
Finally, and according to my spouse, most effectively, I gave up beer and other malted beverages.
I also swim and go hiking when I can. But for the most part, it all comes down to what I eat, and I have since switched to high fat, moderate protein, and low carb. I'm not really losing much weight anymore, but I'm maintaining about +/- 5 pounds of my current weight.
If you are interested, basically, I lost 80 pounds, but gained about 10 pounds back, and that's where I'm at about now... this post was written 2 years ago, but its very relevant to the life I still continue to live today. https://mypost.io/post/no-bullshit-diet
Take a look at http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
If there's one thing you need to hang on to it's this: no matter how starving you feel, you're not going to die if you don't eat something! Your body can go for three weeks and more without you taking in anything more than a few glasses of water each day.
In other words, if you can't eat something natural, don't eat anything at all.
You. Do. Not. Need. That. Snack.
(Personal anecdote: I trained for an ultra endurance event a couple of years back and used to set off on 100-mile rides without eating breakfast first. Once your body adapts, you'll be amazed at how little you actually need to consume to really feel alive.)
Then, the only thing that has really worked for me: pick either lunch or dinner, and take 1/2 of the meal (before you start eating), and box it up for tomorrow. Don't get seconds.
I was eating out for lunch a lot, and when I started eating just 1/2 of the meal, I started to lose weight (surprise surprise).
It's not fun or easy to stop eating at 1/2 a meal, but it's a simple rule to remember. After you're used to eating less, you can start worrying about eating healthy foods, etc., but to start with that was too overwhelming. The simpler the rules you set for yourself - the easier it will be to stick to it.
Boxing the meals is a really good idea. When I first lost a lot of weight (and finally kept it off), I was usually doing this (though it was stress that had killed my appetite, it wasn't intentional). Once I'd reset my concept of "full" it was much easier, after the stressors were resolved, to maintain that eating level. I allow myself more food now, but I'm also much more active. And when I spent a few months unable to exercise (injuries), adjusting my diet down to the lower activity level was easy (only gained ~3 pounds over 4 months, most in the first month).
Bananas and apples are good because they are so large, they take a while to eat, and don't have too many calories; grapes, raisins, and strawberries are not so good because I can eat like 30 of any of them in one sitting and not even notice. They are all "high-energy-density" foods (a lot of calories in a small volume of food). Not good. Once you get to your target weight you can dispense with the Lean Cuisine.
On days that are particularly stressful you might have to compromise, just don't go overboard. Don't eat like 3,000 calories or something. That's actually pretty important: on the days in which you have to take a break, take a break, not a BREAK. Don't kill your momentum. The hardest part is the first two weeks, when you are getting started. BTW, the body adjusts and tries to conserve energy in that second week, so you might lose little or no weight on Week 2. Maybe don't weigh yourself the second week. Good luck.
I have lost 32 pounds, so far. I hope to lose at least 17 more.
I initially lost over 30 pounds at the age of 20 (gained a lot of weight in college) by cutting soda and processed sugar completely out of my diet. the effect was dramatic.
1. Pick a ridiculously easy workout routine: Losing weight is a confluence of a lot of habit changes. You have to realize that although your entire lifestyle has to change, you cannot do it all in one go. It may take many months of experimentation for you to find your rhythm and get settled into your new lifestyle. But it all starts with picking up a ridiculously easy workout routine. As soon as you start exercising, you automatically want to eat better, sleep better, and in general take care of yourself. It helps if the routine you pick up is so ridiculously easy that it’s almost too hard to come up with an excuse to not follow through. For me, this was the Stronglifts’ 5x5 weight training workout (https://stronglifts.com/5x5/).
2. Pick an audacious fitness goal: I hate doing any cardio in the gym since it usually gets too hot and stuffy for me. Around this time I came across this NYTimes post: How To Start Running (https://www.nytimes.com/well/guides/how-to-start-running), and I cannot thank the author enough for effectively introducing me to a form of cardio that I actually love. In April 2016, I gave myself 4 months to train for the San Francisco Half Marathon held near the end of July. That’s, couch to 13 miles in 4 months. It’s good to have an audacious goal, and it’s absolutely necessary for you to put down that non-refundable fee and make a concrete mental commitment to go through the distance. I like “finishing a long distance race” as a goal since whether you finish or not is very binary and very public. You can’t make excuses, unlike other metrics. Of course, the best cardio workout for you is the one that you actually end up doing. Running outside is the only cardio that I happily look forward to.
3. Compliance, Discipline, Patience: Another thing that I started in parallel in March 2016 was the Slow Carb Diet that a lot of you may have read about somewhere on the web. Tim Ferriss introduced it in his book The 4-Hour Body, and although it’s not radically new, I think Tim’s genius lies in realizing that it is the easiest diet regime to stick to compared to any other low-carb plan. There are a bunch of summaries around the web, but when I read the book a long time ago, I made some notes and put them up here: (https://www.commonlounge.com/discussion/62384879d50b4a8b80bf...). Go read it, and follow it to the letter. This is important. You have to go all in for 6 days a week and make no excuses, or this won’t work. You’ll be tempted to abandon this diet, or abandon getting fit altogether. You’ll hit plateaus every few months, but despite that, I saw a consistent 1.5 lbs per week loss for a whole year.
If you have any questions, I now also run the Fitness community on Commonlounge (https://www.commonlounge.com/community/bf228e76c54c479c92ff0...) (I'm one of the cofounders). If you like this, come say hi and jump in the discussions there.
Nutrisystem (or any other "crash" type of diet) is painful. You crave food. But what's going on during this time is your body is getting over its sugar addiction, and learning to require less food.
When that period was over, I went to a diet of approx. 2,000 calories a day. 500 calories in the morning, 500-700 calories at lunch, same for dinner. No more sweets, except for a treat on Friday. No more snacking - after dinner I'm done eating. If I'm truly ravenous later in the evening I get an apple.
That's the discipline and habit part. Next is the mental, because it's easy to backslide. Plus, our own bodies may be fighting to regain the weight! https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weig...
This is where I have to look at the opportunities to overeat and say no, every time, but ALSO to ask myself "what particular need, or hole, is this trying to fill?" The way I figure, the chronic overeating was me trying to fill a hole in my soul, so to speak, to fix something broken in my psyche by engaging in indulgent behaviors that feel good at the time. But, as future self will always tell you after a night of hard drinking, "now I feel worse, thanks jerkwad!"
So, basically, you gotta do the mental work as well. Figure out your hole - what does the food do for you that life does not?
Finally, exercise! When I first started I was "running" a little under 2 miles. Really, it was running a few blocks, then walking half a block, then repeat. I decided to go on a hiking trip with some friends in July, and figured I needed to be running straight for at least 4 miles by then to be in shape. To date I'm up to a little over a 5k, no walking. I got a bike, and I'm trying to get in at least 15 miles a week. Nothing crazy. Lastly, if you're strapped for time like I am with a wife and kid at home, the 7 minute workout is great for busting out a quick workout with nothing more than a chair and a place to do some calisthenics. It's HIIT, and helps with flexibility, strength training, and cardio - plus it's only 7 minutes.
For me, I'm just going for getting in some type of exercise at least 4-5 days a week. Once again, the mental plays a part here, because when you get home from work, exercise is often the last thing you want to do. I've noticed though, that as I get into better shape, it's the first step, or jumping jack, that's the hardest - after that I actually start to enjoy it. :)
Currently: 231 lbs. (and still going - I look for opportunities to eat less, instead of more. I want to go about 20 lbs more)
Disclaimer: obviously this is my experience, and won't work for everyone. But, I do believe that it's the attention to how much is going into your body, doing the mental work, and exercising that will make a difference for anyone.