Comment by skohan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by skohan | Hacker News Reader

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> torture themselves instead of following a simple diet.

What exactly is a "simple diet"? Not eating certain foods? Limiting portion sizes? Research shows that traditional diets have extremelly low compliance rates.

I'm not an endocrinologist, but as far as I understand, but as far as I understand, part of the effectiveness of IF is related to Ghrelin, a hormone associated with hunger. Basically, Ghrelin is a hormone which is correlated with the feeling of hunger, and it tends to come in waves around your normal meal times. So if I normally eat at 7:00 AM, I will get a wave of Ghrelin at that time every day. But Ghrelin has the property where, if I don't eat within that period where the hormone level is peaking, eventually it will subside whether or not I have eaten. Also if I skip that meal time for a few days, eventually that peak will decrease in magnitude or will go away all together.

So this is part of the reason why IF is effective: it's actually reducing the total amount of physiological hunger I experience in a given day.

>What exactly is a "simple diet"? Not eating certain foods? Limiting portion sizes?

Determine how much calories you get to eat a day to not gain weight. Not to loose weight but also not gaining weight. Once you are capable to hold your weight and understand what gets you how many calories, you reduce. Dont hurry, just get a bit under. Its a marathon not a sprint. No one martyred them self to death in a few month with 200 kcal less a day.

>Research shows that traditional diets have extremelly low compliance rates.

We also have an extremely high rate of jojo eaters. If you never learned to stick to your sustaining energy level when eating, you will go right back up again once you stop with something like intermittent fasting. Or do you really want to do that for the rest of your life? The sad reality is people get just enough motivation to try one of those mystic new fades and are emotionally wrecked when they cant handle the strict regime. Or they keep going and treat them self afterwards. There is no shortcut around learning to eat right, they would have been better off to slowly get their problem under control instead of a desperate hail mary. There is no short term fix for your problem you need long term change. Once you get a stable intake, sure try intermittent fasting to loose more quicker. But remember that you are not going back to before but to your sustaining level. That part isnt optional you arent just dieting you are changing your food intake permanently. If you never learned to just watch your calories and tricked yourself into loosing weight you are screwed. I dont see how intermittent fasting can be seen as a first go to. You need to introduce a diet before you can change your diet. In other words, not "just a few more month" but "Congratulations, this is the new normal now."

> Determine how much calories you get to eat a day to not gain weight. Not to loose weight but also not gaining weight. Once you are capable to hold your weight and understand what gets you how many calories, you reduce.

So you mean calorie counting? This sounds easy, but in my experience it's very difficult to be compliant. You actually have to weigh your food and keep a record of what you're eating. And how do you do this when, for instance, you're someone's dinner guest and they've done the cooking? It's not impossible but it's a lot of work.

> you never learned to stick to your sustaining energy level when eating, you will go right back up again once you stop with something like intermittent fasting. Or do you really want to do that for the rest of your life?

I will tell you how it works for me. In general I get by with "intuitive eating" - in other words I just eat what I want, with some loose guard-rails in place, like I try to eat mostly whole-foods I cook for myself, and I try not to snack between meals.

I also track my weight daily, and when I see it start to increase beyond some normal fluctuations - which might happen, for example, during the holidays, or when I've been having more work lunches out than usual - I do intermittent fasting (essentially skipping breakfast) for a couple weeks to get things under control. This has been a very effective strategy for me for a few years now, and it doesn't take any significant effort or book-keeping.

Moreover, fasting is something which has been a cultural practice across the globe since the beginning of time. Many religions include ritualized fasting as a part of their practice, and I have heard Hindu people talk about taking a day off eating "to balance the body" as though it is a common-sense thing to do.

I'm not saying IF is the one and true solution to weight management, but I do not see fasting as more or less an artificial "fad" than portion control.

Calorie counting isn't that hard, and it's not really necessary to weigh your food or be precise. I've done it successfully for a few months. I think the trick is to do it for some time until you relearn certain habits. Like to take two slices of bread instead of three or four, or to not snack on nuts which are high in calories. And for me, to avoid beer. So it's more about becoming aware of how many calories certain foods have, and remember which ones to avoid most of the time.

Counting calories isnt the point, its keeping track of your weight and being able to hold it outside of a diet phase. Learning to stop gaining weight. What works for you works for you, thanks for the explanation. I unfortunately have come across to many people who didnt consider the longterm aspect. You are just finally getting yourself up and loose that weight and then everything will be great and "oh man i cant wait for this to be over". That stuff so often ends sad.

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