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Comment by stef25 | Hacker News Reader

Assuming obesity is largely due to mental issues like stress eating, the solution should also be a mental one. It's basically an addition. Most people are perfectly capable of quitting but don't because it's easier not to.

This includes myself. I recently put on a bit of weight and I know exactly why: second servings, having a few beers, difficulties sticking to a diet with kids and dietary allergies in the house, no time or too lazy for exercise. It's all on me.

Something that can be fixed by just putting your mind to it shouldn't have to be treated with pills.

For some people it will probably be the hardest thing they ever do - I'm not downplaying this. So, for people who don't have the willpower pills is probably the best solution.

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Thanks for sharing man.

Important to emphasize there is a large variety of causes: stress eating is certainly a big part for a lot of people, but it's far from universal & far from the whole story.

"Something that can be fixed by just putting your mind to it shouldn't have to be treated with pills" is I think an interesting statement. I'm unconvinced "putting your mind to it" is as simple as it's made out to be.

>I'm unconvinced "putting your mind to it" is as simple as it's made out to be.

Back when I was in university, I decided to simply "put my mind to it" and went from 100kg->65kg in one year. That weight stayed off for the better part of half a decade.

"Simply" doing the same thing now, though, with all of the competing priorities I have (young child, growing business, burned out wife and a constantly shifting set of rules and uncertainty with the pandemic), is a different story. I think men especially are hesitant to come to terms with this because it means admitting weakness.

Thanks for creating this product, Rich. I really wish you success.

Thank you, really appreciate it.

> for people who don't have the willpower pills is probably the best solution.

Even for those, should'nt the solution be a stronger detox, intervention, stricter regimen to have external help in supplementing their willpower, etc?

Should'nt this be preferred over pills?

You have to look at the pros & cons, the likelihood of success, how "bad" the condition / urgent the treatment is, general condition of the patient etc.

Same for things like anxiety, insomnia, ...

> Assuming obesity is largely due to mental issues

Obesity increased with the increase of meal size, average caloric intake and urbanization based around cars.

Correct that there are a host of causes, certainly not simple.

It is simple. Calorie intake increased while calories spent decreased; creating energy surplus which is then stored in fat. The causal relationship between obesity and mental health is also not clear.

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