The Weight Loss Trap

The article mentions a probiotic pill. I think that the microbiome is the place to look for answers, but not with pills, just with better fuel. I managed to lose 70 pounds (from 215 pounds down to 145) and keep it off so far. At the moment, I have to make efforts to get more calories now, not less.

- I think of food as fuel that goes into a fermentation-based engine. I make sure to add the right ingredients for proper fermentation.

- I only eat high-nutrient, whole foods that I mostly cook from scratch. The staples are vegetables, legumes, fruit, nuts, seeds.

- No meat or dairy except for fish (salmon, herring, and sardines).

- I eliminated: refined foods, alcohol, grains (except small amounts of brown rice and grain-like seeds like buckwheat), sugar, sweeteners, oils (except small amounts of coconut oil and high quality olive oil).

- I don't eat nightshade-family vegetables (including potatoes), but I do eat sweet potatoes (the regular yellow ones and satsuma "yams").

- I say, "I don't eat those foods", not "I can't eat those foods." (self identity vs. permission) I view junk food as a recreational drug. I don't eat junk in the same way that I don't smoke cigarettes.

- If I'm out, and there is nothing on a menu that I can eat, I don't eat, or I find some fruit or buy nuts and dried fruit at Berkeley Bowl.

- I restrict calories on some days, similar to the calorie restriction in the 5:2 diet.

- I eat a lot of fermented foods, often homemade: sauerkraut, pickles, water kefir, etc.

- It's sometimes difficult to get enough calories, but I often eat one avocado per day, plus a few handfuls of nuts.

I've also experimented with 2-5 day water fasting (very difficult) and alternate day fasting (too difficult for me to continue more than a week).

I don't know if those methods would work for anyone else, but maybe there is some information there that other people could find useful. (I'm not making recommendations -- just sharing my experiments. Check with a doctor before trying any unusual diets.)

The plan is based on thinking about the body as a farm of microorganisms. Different foods cultivate different microorganism. As far as I can tell, things like refined carbs and animal products (beyond small amounts) are not beneficial. It isn't "paleo" though -- I don't think that paleo is a good idea.

In the article, they mention that RMR (resting metabolic rate) goes down when your weight goes down, but they don't really explain why, or how crash diets affect your RMR. RMR calories are used for basic movement, body heat, keeping your brain and organs working, etc.

If there's less of you (weight wise), there's less of you to maintain. You carry less when you walk, etc. Also, different types of body (bone, organ, muscle, fat) have different requirements. Muscles and organs take a lot of calories to keep going, and rebuild.

A lot of people when they diet, they lose both fat and muscle. The body will break down muscles as energy too, as well as your fat. This is usually because you're eating less than you expend, calorie wise, and you're probably not strength training.

Lifting weights is a great way to increase your RMR. It takes calories to build and repair muscles after working out, and those bigger muscles also take more calories to maintain. It also forces your body to build up something, preventing the saggy skin you may see on those TV diet shows.

Overall, if you work on building up your muscle, your metabolism will slow less, or maybe even increase, depending on how much you get into it.

I didn't see anything in the article that showed that people lost weight without eating less then they burn. This is still as far as I know the only way to lose weight. What's stated in the article is that different people seem to manage to maintain doing so for longer with different strategies. They give as example people who are motivated enough to work through multiple plans and stratetegies over many years and continue to do so even when the weight loss is slow.

It makes me conclude that to sustain weight loss you simply need to be very motivated, have good discispline and great patience.

It seems they adapted strategies based on people's motivation. The girl who found logging all her meals too tedious instead adopted a more exercise strategy, etc. Nothing seems related to identifying which nutrients or foods are better processed, etc, for each individual.

I'm sure there could be genetic, social, or chemical related causes to obesity, but I'm not seeing this article say that we identified any of those. It seems to all be about simply getting your act together and sticking with it.

I suspect most people who gain back the weight lost do not do so while maintening the diet they used to lose it. The article makes it sound like so, but doesn't actually says so.

How I changed my body shape in 7 months: https://00f.net/2017/03/07/weight-loss/

"Mommy? Why are healthcare cost so high?" "Obviously Virginia, it's Uncle Sam and the healthcare industrial complex. It has NOTHING to do with our diets, lifestyle, etc. You have a Good given right to over indulge..."

Per the article: "The vast majority of American adults are overweight; nearly 40% are clinically obese. And doctors now know that excess body fat dramatically increases the risk of serious health problems, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression, respiratory problems, major cancers and even fertility problems. A 2017 study found that obesity now drives more early preventable deaths in the U.S. than smoking."

I like to stick with the first law of thermodynamics. It's worked very well my entire life.