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As someone who lost 20kg in 5 months by eating less, I don't appreciate being called full of shit.

First, too much water can cause hyponatremia. Drinking 2 to 3 litters of water / day is fine, but reach 5L and it's getting dangerous. And one of the main advantages of drinking water is it keeps your stomach full, meaning you don't feel hunger, and thus eat less.

Second, what's the purpose of your 3rd point if not to reduce calorie intake?

> but reach 5L and it's getting dangerous

Maybe if you drink it all at once. 5L/day is perfectly fine for everyone in the world. If you’re drinking more than 2L/hour, that’s a problem. So space it out and drink a liter an hour or two and you’ll be fine. In the US, that’s two gallons and is a ton of water.

It’s pretty common to see friends carrying a gallon jug around to make sure they drink their gallon a day.

This nurse here made a youtube video about it, quite good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUa_c7qEgw0

I imagine it'd be really difficult to reach dangerous levels if you're drinking to satisfy your thirst. The only way I can see someone drinking more than 2L/hour is if they're forcing themselves to do so.

Are you qualified to make this statement (genuinely asking) ?

I tend to drink a lot and have read several times that drinking too much can be bad and change your electrolise balance or something like this.

Yes, I’m certainly qualified. My qualification is the critical thinking skills necessary to find and comprehend the medical guidance on this issue [0].

If you’re uncertain feel free to ask your healthcare provider.

[0] for example, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/...

I get the sense that some emphasis has been lost here.

I lost a load of weight and did it by 'eating less'.

What I was saying was anyone saying _just_ eat less, like it is some simple solution is full of shit.

I mean, if your overweight you have food control issues already like? It's not like you don't already know that eating more leads to more weight.

Op is talking about getting an oxygen tank ffs. You (the royal you) don't think they know that eating less will help them loose weight already?

What I think op is asking how do I loose weight. One could read that as, how do I eat less.

Imagine an alcoholic asked on this forum saying how do I stop been drunk all the time, can I huff some oxygen? And the top response was: just drink less.

I hope this is making sense here.

And to be clear I suggested they replace existing fluid intake with water not drink enough water to die.

Drinking a ton of water is what one might call hyperbole. I am not actually suggesting they consume a ton of water.

And regards to the weight loss it helps reduce water retention. It's not fat you will loose in three days but you will see it on the scales and you will feel better.

>Seriously if your diet is crap at the moment if you start just drinking loads of water you will loose like half a stone cause you will stop retaining water.

I doubt that causality. If you lose weight by drinking more water it's probably because you stop drinking sugary drinks.

I would be careful with drinking "loads" of anything. Depending on what "loads" really means, it can be very unhealthy (your kidneys have to process all that water) or even fatal in extreme cases.

I've changed my diet a good deal since buying a half gallon thermos and filling it up every morning, good thing is I don't have to remember to pour myself a glass, I always have water at hand. I think I eat less because when I'm dehydrated I'm in a bad mood, and when I'm in a bad mood I want to eat sugary and fatty things to feel better. For some reason my body never put together that I didn't need fat and sugar, I needed water. Go figure.

> Anyone saying just eat less is full of shit. Sorry man.

> Get a food diary and write down everything that goes in your mouth.

Typically the 'just eat less' advice is pretty much in line with your second statement there. As someone who lost ~150lbs, I will vouch for the effectiveness of calorie restriction. The hard part, of course, is actually doing it.

> Anyone saying just eat less is full of shit.

Exactly. A pattern that doesn't last will get you back into the previous state fast.

I'm not a doctor but all you need is some exercise. Then you only need to let go of 1 item from your daily meal and also remove much sugar from your drinking by going tea or water and most people should do fine.

I am a doctor, and while exercise is really good for you (and we should all do more!) it has effectively no bearing on weight in the general population (non-athletes).

Interesting, what do you mean by this? I would have expected that people who exercise more would have lower probability of being overweight?

> Interesting, what do you mean by this?

Purely mechanically, mild effort simply does not burn that many calories over baseline metabolism. To make a real dent you need extreme prolonged effort, or increased muscle mass (which increases base metabolism).

Caloric restriction is a much easier path to caloric deficit if the goal is weight loss.

Obviously if you resume caloric profit afterwards you’ll bounce back, but the same will happen if you din’t maintain your exercise-drive metabolism: the human body is quick to tear down deviations which are costly and not actively maintained.

> Purely mechanically, mild effort simply does not burn that many calories over baseline metabolism

I think that the point is not just "burning calories"; exercise has many effects on your body that go beyond just consuming energy. For example it affects the level of hormones, which in turn affects (among other things) your mood and stress level. I am one of those persons that end up eating just because I am nervous or depressed, and regular exercise makes me do that much less.

> I think that the point is not just "burning calories"

That's a weird take given entire thread is about weight loss, and the gp was specifically noting that exercise won’t help with that. thomasfedb’s statement is rather explicit on that subject.

Sorry, that phrase was meant to be "I think that the point of exercise is not just "burning calories"".

To lose weight you need (roughly speaking, I know it is not only about that) two things: reduce the amount of energy that you intake, and increase the amount of energy that you consume.

The traditional wisdom is you have to exercise because while doing that you consume more energy, but it is not only that. When you regularly exercise you also tend to eat less (- intake), process the food differently (- intake), speed up your metabolism out of the physical activity (+ consume)

I was lucky enough to read this article and took a look at the underlying experiment. Human bodies are fascinatingly adaptable.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4437395

Because once you exercise enough to lose weight he reclassifies you as an athlete

You can't outrun a fork.

Meta analyses of randomized controlled trials show diet and exercise both are related to weight loss but diet has a much bigger impact.

You have to take this with a grain of salt though. My experience clinically (working in obesity clinics) is some people need exercise much more than dietary changes at least at first. But the average person wanting to lose weight will see bigger gains from dietary changes.

The type of dietary change that works best seems to depend on the person.

I have been into fitness and bodybuilding for 20 years, and I cannot emphasis how true this is. Also not all exercise is equal in that walking isn't a good example of exercise. Humans are extremely efficient at walking, so it is poor at raising your heart rate and doesn't provide any resistance.

I think you might mean bodyfat.

> it has effectively no bearing on weight in the general population (non-athletes).

Cmon man, strength / muscle building -absolutely- has an effect on "weight" and "bodyfat". Even when not at the athlete level. Muscle at rest burns more calories than fat at rest, and those burned calories gotta come from somewhere.

Exercise just makes you more hungry and leads to eating more. It's blatantly obvious the solution is to eat less.

If you're dropping an item a meal and removing sugar from your diet, you're eating less.

I agree with drinking more water. I used to not do this because I thought it was just some urban myth and the science didn't really seem to back the need for 8 glasses.

But man does it help with weight loss and alertness throughout the day.

Agree with everything this person above said.

You will be spending so many calories just by getting up and going to the bathroom.

Water is technically negative calories. Your body has to heat it

That is an interesting note, but an effect is small: Heating 1 l of water by 20 degC requires 84 kJ, while suggested daily daily energy intake is ~8 MJ, so ~1 %.

Exactly, drinking water is so important. I really do not part with glass. In my city it is safe to drink tap water, and it tastes good. So it doesn't matter if I'm home or at the office, I just grab my glass and fill it with tap water and drink. This is very good start to loose weight

> Anyone saying just eat less is full of shit. Sorry man. I went from 18st to 12st (and back up to 15st).

How can you say others are full of shit when you yourself have returned to being overweight?

You're telling other people they are full of shit (not welcomed i might add) and you use a bizarre measurement unit "st". Coincidence?

st is very common in England to weigh people.

Stone is not a bizarre measurement in England