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Comment by hallidave | Hacker News Reader

I recently read The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung and in it he states that bariatric surgery is little more than surgically enforced fasting. Most people can fast without doing the surgery.

I highly recommend the book. It's more like a science book about dieting than a diet book. Now that I understand that when I eat is as important as what I eat, I've been able to lose 20 pounds (and still going). And, yes, sugar (especially fructose) and refined carbs are bad.

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Fasting has been hugely beneficial to me in terms of endurance sports and keeping even blood sugar. Interestingly it has never had much of an impact one way or another on my weight (I'm a fat person) but it's a lifelong lifestyle for sure.

Jason Fung sounds very interesting, I'm looking at: https://idmprogram.com/the-failure-of-the-calorie-theory-of-... where he provides some advice very relevant to this thread... "The [calories in calories out] model very useful because it efficiently flags <strike>idiots</strike> people who are not all that knowledgable about obesity, and I can safely ignore them. There are many of these people out there, and not everybody is worth listening to."

I read the book too and it was very good. More of a easy to read research paper than a fad diet. And makes a lot of sound conclusions. I adjusted my eating accordingly also and have lost weight. The only issue is I had to add a morning bite of something (i knwo this breaks the fast) but it kickstarts my metabolism. I follow everything else and only eat 2 meals and keep them close to maximize my fasting time. 15 lbs and counting.

It has also been helping with portion control as a side effect. I dont eat as much anymore

I love that book. I recommend Dr Fung's blog posts too. The success stories are really motivating, e.g:

https://idmprogram.com/idm-success-story-robert/

I've just found out they started a FB support group too thanks to the comments here (I haven't checked out his stuff in a while). The social support could be game changing for many struggling, hacking it out alone.

> Most people can fast without doing the surgery.

Very few fat people have that level of self control. That's why they're fat in the first place.

I think a lot of people can fast, but are never told to try this. Most people are recommended to eat 5 meals 300kcal each - and this is hard to do. Tell them to fast for 18h and eat in 6h window without calorie counting (but no shit food) and I would guess more people can do it.

All that does is attach a ritual to the fasting process. People start to think that it's the ritual doing the work, but really it's the calorie restriction. Again and again, study after study proves that restricting calories to 700 calories reverses diabetes in obese people and in fact cures their obesity, too.

It's no surprise that people who put on 100+ pounds of extra weight once would tend to put on 100+ pounds of extra weight a second time. But it's silly to claim that there is an underlying medical reason it's happening.

The body gets used to whatever conditions you face. Human beings have thrived in the Arctic Circle, the North African deserts, and everywhere in between. Obese people have accustomed themselves to an obese lifestyle. If they can make a permanent break and embrace the lifestyle of a person with normal weight then they can stay skinny forever. In the end, most people just don't want to exercise 2+ times per day and limit their portion sizes. So they don't.

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