Comment by akurilin | Hacker News Reader

Comment by akurilin | Hacker News Reader

As a 100% sedentary person (I sit for maybe 14-15 hours a day) I've had pretty good results with a combination of:

* 6 days of gym (4 lifting, 2 HIIT + cardio for 40 min)

* 2-3 days of water fasting every week, sometimes every other week

* reduced calories

* cutting out most foods that have added sugar, sweeteners or refined grains in them

* doing most of the cooking myself with non-processed ingredients (so vegetables and meats you could get at any market)

* 8-9 hours of sleep on a fixed schedule

It takes a significant amount of discipline and lifestyle changes, but it does lead to also significant results. You generally can't sit in front of a computer as much as I do and also expect to look a certain way without a fairly radical approach. 185lbs to about 160ish in ~6 months at 5'11".

I have a ridiculous amount of energy and for once I feel pretty good about how clothes look on me. Ultimately you have to experiment and see what works for you, most bodies are different and will react differently in subtle ways to diet and exercise.

You aren’t 100% sedentary if you’re in the gym six days a week!

A friend of mine puts it this way. If you don't want to die of a heart attack, figure out how only sit, sleep, stand or eat for 23 1/2 or fewer hours a day.

That's a great way to put it.

I guess I can't see how being in bed + on a chair for 23 hours a day can be considered anything but heavily sedentary. Yes, it's not 100%, if we want to nitpick.

you realize it's possible he/she is wheelchair bound?

Good thought, but that's not my case, fortunately. Most of my life revolves around a computer: 10-12 hours of work, photo editing, music production, Netflix, gaming etc.

> 2-3 days of water fasting every week, sometimes every other week

You only drink water for 2-3 days in a row, every week or "sometimes every other week"?? That seems a bit extreme to me, or at minimum, not something that we can expect most people to be able to accomplish.

I can't even fathom that because I'm still battling sleep issues (I have a tracker; last night was 4 hours), which of course doesn't make it any easier to eat less, in fact I become a total asshole when my blood sugar gets low :/

Fasting is not something most people are familiar with, so it comes off as scary and extreme to most people who are just starting out. Yours is definitely one of the most common reactions people doing it run into.

Assuming no pre-existing conditions, your body actually keeps your blood sugar in the right healthy range during fasting. We've evolved to expect to go without food for good chunks of time, which is why we even go into ketosis in the first place. It's not good or bad for you, it's just an alternate state for your body to be in that taps into the battery's reserves instead of the readily available energy coming from nutrition.

Turn it into 2x PPL splits with 1 rest day in between for your weekly routine and you can look like a Men's Health cover model in ~6 months of hard work.

I hover between 172 - 176 with a 405 deadlift and 275 bench press.

Do you water fast the entire day?

I usually go for 48-72 hour water fasts, IF has never done anything for me for some reason. Haven't tried much beyond 80 hours or so, mostly because I get bored of it. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Fasting-Intermittent-A... is a pretty decent resource on it.

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