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Comment by xchaotic | Hacker News Reader

So what's a good alternative for burning fat that you already have? I am in a caloric deficit and do long exercises to burn fat but I'm not sure if it actually works - my weight is down a bit but it usually is in the spring anyway

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Fasting is the best way to burn fat. Either intermittently or for extended periods of time. I've done 7 day water fasts with minimal muscle loss. Caloric deficits don't work longterm since you're decreasing your basal metabolic rate, so your body needs less calories to maintain your weight. Whereas when you fast, the opposite occurs. Your basal metabolic rate goes up. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, since if you're going long periods without food, you want to make sure you have sufficient energy to actually chase down some prey. This is why your noradrenaline and VO2 max increase during a fast.

16:8 intermittent fasting has worked quite well for me.

Yap, same here. What helped additionally was going plant based, 80% of the time. It’s really hard to avoid it completely, but 80% is realistic

That's Time-restricted feeding, not Intermittent fasting.

The terms are interchangeable. Look it up.

7 days man? I went 3 and it was hard.

The first 3 days are by far the hardest when fasting.

I've done a 7 and a 10 day, and this was my experience.

Around day 4, I lost the desire for food. It was no longer a struggle.

That's the hardest part. Once you're passed day 3 it's easier. I only fast for 7 days once or maybe twice per year. It's also easier if you're eating keto the weeks prior to the fast.

Build muscle and make sure you have enough protein intake to burn the fat while you do it:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26817506/

You should also note that type of calories is more important than overall calorie count. Make sure that lean meats and vegetables are a large portion of your diet. Minimize processed food intake. Use carbs as side dishes, not main courses.

I'm sure you're doing fine. If your weight's down, how aren't you burning fat? Concerns about burning too much muscle IMO are extremely overblown for most people. I would recommend the eye test (look in the mirror) or feel test (poke at your flabs). Progress pics might help. I think there's calipers and other measurement tools too.

Keep in mind your fat deposits will get smaller, but they don't go away. You'll likely still have some flab, even if you're pretty lean. The process is also very gradual. I'm 6'2" male and had a gut/tits @185lb, and even in high school @155lb. In either case, it was still quite noticeable, unfortunately.

If you haven't put on enough muscle already, that could seriously effect your results. There's still benefits to maintaining strength / muscle even during weight loss, but progress will be slow. Generally, you just want to get a balance of nutrients, and be at caloric deficit. You'll lose fat, that's it.

> I am in a caloric deficit and do long exercises but I'm not sure if it actually works

Being in caloric deficit while exercising must work by definition. All advice that I've seen for exercising though is that, modulo specific advice from your doctor[0], you should do high intensity heavy lifting exercise (like squats) for shorter periods for maximum effect. It's both more gratifying (and therefore sustainable) and more efficient.

[0] - a person who suffers from lumbar disc degeneration, for instance, could carry only half or less of the weight but do their squats one leg at a time with a balance assist for the same overall muscle building with significantly less back strain.

I also support high intensity exercise. I’ve really enjoyed taking up powerlifting and it gives me a way to focus on my strength instead of appearance. It’s still treated the latter well while keeping my focus on something that isn’t so cosmetic.

The caloric deficit line of thought is true, but it doesn't really take into account that people are impulsive and don't really have free will. You need a way of eating that is maintainable and doesn't constantly require resisting impulses.

To paraphrase Peter Attia, to say that the reason people are overweight is they eat too much, is like saying Bill Gates is rich because he made more money than he spent. It's by definition true, but has no explanatory power.

Most of impulse control is circadian... A mono diet or shifting to OMAD or doing a 3-7 day fast can all help reset how you feel in terms of hunger. It's a matter of understanding that you aren't going to starve to death, drink some water and wait a half hour. The feeling will usually just go away if you keep busy. After a few days, it will become more normal.

I find that One Meal a Day works incredibly well as for most people, it's VERY hard to over-eat (for a day) in a single meal in under an hour. The other issue, is I feel that people were sold on low fat, don't eat meat, etc, and I think that has been harmful overall.

Impulse control can be better over time, but the social triggers are the worst.

High intensity heavy lifting is great and I do it, but for calorie burn, how can it be better than endurance exercise? I burn 700 per hour when running, 6 hours per week = 4,200. The below article estimates 20 lbs. of added muscle burns 120 calories per day. That's 840 calories per week.

https://www.latimes.com/health/la-xpm-2011-may-16-la-he-fitn...

It's not, don't listen to the bros. You'll burn some calories recovering from lifting, but this is overblown. Want result quickly? Do lots of cardio / hiking; just don't neglect your strength training. On the flip side, if you lack time, you may be better of just working on strength, and being very disciplined about diet.

Once you build enough muscle mass through heavy lifting, it does really get a lot easier in terms of diet. Muscle just existing evidently consumes tons of calories. I eat as much as I want whenever I want and I can’t gain weight unless I really really try, and it’s very uncomfortable to do so. But it’s hard for me to say how long it takes to get to that state, since it kinda of crept up on me.

You won’t be shredded or ripped doing this, that does require a strict diet unless you’re lucky, but you can be pretty fit looking and feel great.

Right, once I did the right calculations I realized I was actually somewhat pudgy even at 6'2" 165, do to low muscle mass. The low end of healthy weight for my height would be 145, according to BMI. BMI has serious flaws, but it's a decent statistical measure. For someone like me, with low muscle mass, that would be a very skinny weight. So even at 165, I had like 15-20 lbs of fat. Now, I'd be pretty skinny at 180-190 lbs.

Use exercises that burn a lot of energy. High intensity is most effective. Energy will be taken from all deposits, trying to target only fat deposits is very inefficient when it comes weight loss. If you want to keep as much muscle mass as possible use muscle building exercises.

Exercise is generally not regarded as very effective for weight loss: https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-...

Not saying it may not work for some people.

The studies in the article basically say exercise is essential for sustained weight loss. And we should not forget about the health effects of exercise. The problem with diets is that the only thing you think and dream about is food, guess what you are going to do when the diet is over. So you would have to entirely change how you eat. eg. Never stop the "diet".

I was 240 went on antibiotics.. cipro was the last. Completely changed my gut bacteria. Lost 70 pounds in a month..over a hundred a year later. Wish I could weigh more.

Gut bacteria is the key.

Keto is great. I've been in ketosis for a year now and can even eat a moderate amount of fruit. The only complex carbs I eat is fibre. I also eat quite a bit of protein including shakes. I combine this with endurance exercise. I didn't need to lose any weight and still lost 10kg. I have to add ~1000 calories of virgin coconut/olive oil to my diet daily to maintain my weight. Pretty sure the article is factually incorrect.

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