4 ms·

>And, boy, was I hungry at first. After a while I wasn't hungry any more... That's the real secret, and it could use some expansion. Isn't that where 99% of di

by rms 17y ago

>And, boy, was I hungry at first. After a while I wasn't hungry any more... That's the real secret, and it could use some expansion. Isn't that where 99% of dieters fail? Why were you able to overcome your hunger when so many people find that an impossible challenge? People have a great deal of difficulty overcoming that feeling of hunger -- realizing that just because they feel something, they don't have to act on it. I've jokingly considered writing a diet book focused on this concept; apparently diet books are the only types of books that consistently make money.

kingkongreveng_ 17y ago
>>And, boy, was I hungry at first. >That's the real secret, and it could use some expansion Spending time hungry is totally unnecessary to achieve low body fat. It's about insulin management. If you eat a high saturated fat diet you simply don't get the strong hunger pangs that are symptomatic of crashing blood sugar with a metabolism trained to run on sugar in preference to fatty acids.
jgrahamc 17y ago
Why were you able to overcome your hunger when so many people find that an impossible challenge? 1. I drank ice cold water whenever I felt hungry. 2. Initially I would look at that photo of me. 3. Later I looked at the chart and the predicted end date.
- dgallagher 17y ago
  The very first signs of "feeling" hungry usually means you're thirsty for water, not hungry for food. A lot of people eat instead of drink (or drink something with calories), and that helps increase their calorie consumption leading to weight gain. I've found keeping a bottle of water on me at all times works well. Whenever I start to feel my mouth go dry I drink some. I catch thirst this way before I even begin to feel thirsty. It's like lubrication for your body. If you don't drink enough of it, things seize up (you'll feel tired, get headaches, hampers athletic performance, etc...). CamelBak makes some very nice bottles. Sports Authority/Dick's Sporting Goods usually carry them: http://www.amazon.com/CamelBak-BPA-Free-Choose-Re-Use-Better/dp/B001PKV6E8 http://www.amazon.com/CamelBak-BPA-Free-Choose-Re-Use-Better... Nathan also makes a good one: http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-500-ml-Bottle-Straw-Royal/dp/B001L417XI http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-500-ml-Bottle-Straw-Royal/dp/B0... Buy like two or three of them. Fill them up in the morning and put them in a fridge. Keep one by your side at all times. Once it's empty, grab another from your fridge, drink as needed, repeat. Keeping the water "ice cold" is important too. It's so much easier to drink cool water than warm. Probably something derived from evolution where humans had better luck drinking cold water from a running stream than warm water from a sitting puddle from a rain storm. I always throw a few ice cubes in once I pull a bottle out of the fridge.
alexfarran 17y ago
I usually see an encouraging initial weight loss followed by a slow climb back up after a period of stability. The article contains some advice on how he eats less - smaller meals not fewer and eat slowly. I think that could work. I'd like to see how long he's kept the weight off for.
GFischer 17y ago
I also read the Hacker's Diet, but I went to a doctor-controlled diet, and lost about 34 pounds so far (15 kg), in two months (not 6 months). It's fairly similar to what John advocates actually :) - it's eating WAY less, slower, and mostly vegetables (the main thing about this diet was that the clinic provides the food so you can't overeat). And yes, I was very hungry at first, what I did was drink lots of soup (the instant-soup type, there are some "light" versions by Knorr over here), and yoghurt (also "light"). I didn't eliminate sodas, I replaced them with diet versions (doctor said they were OK for diet purposes). PD: as another poster said, NO SUGARS, no flour (that means no bread, etc.. . that part is hard!) and no butter and other dairies except for yoghurt.
- tome 17y ago
  Cottage cheese is definitely an OK dairy for weight loss!
- forinti 17y ago
  Instant soup is dangerous because it has lots of sodium.
  - GFischer 17y ago
    Wow, it's true, and you're right (just checked the back of a package). The one I just checked has 600 mg of Sodium per serving (25% of the recommended daily value). No wonder they are tasty. Still, they did help me get through hungry spells :)
  - unexpected 17y ago
    Sodium is not that bad for you unless you have a specific health issue. Our bodies are amazing regulators and can handle sodium just fine.
    - pasbesoin 17y ago
      I've seen some recent news associating low sodium with a possible link to depression. I don't have a news source URL at hand to cite, much less an actual study, but I'm keeping an subconscious eye open for more information.
gvb 17y ago
The Atkin's theory, which I believe has been largely substantiated, is that carbohydrates (sugar, HFCS) do not satisfy hunger, they tend to trigger hunger. John cut out the sugar and his hunger dropped. FWIIW, my experience was the same and there are many others who echo this. See "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" (UCSF lecture) which goes into detail on the metabolism of carbohydrates, especially HFCS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM and discussed on HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1006980 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1006980 One of many references: http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/riskfactors/a/lofatlocarb_2.htm http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/riskfactors/a/lofatlocarb_2...
- TrevorJ 17y ago
  Amazing lecture on sugar, I highly highly recommend it.
- kingkongreveng_ 17y ago
  You have to say specifically "carbohydrate" and not single out sugar. People try to make this false distinction between "complex" and simple carbohydrates and sugar. ANY starch is broken down rapidly in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar.
  - gruseom 17y ago
    ANY starch is broken down rapidly in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar. That may be an oversimplification. Lustig, in the lecture mentioned by the GP, shows that there are big differences between how the body metabolizes glucose and fructose. If these differences are significant enough (Lustig's thesis is that they are), then it isn't a "false distinction" to single out sugar/HFCS from other carbohydrates.
    - kingkongreveng_ 17y ago
      He's talking about the uniquely hepatoxic properties of fructose vis-a-vis other sugars. I'm talking about the metabolism damaging insulin responses triggered by all carbohydrates, regardless of whether it's a piece of whole grain bread or a spoonful of honey (fructose).
pasbesoin 17y ago
I find distraction a very simple method. When I'm absorbed in a problem, I can go the better part of a day without eating. Often then, when I finally eat, it's because the lack of food / nutrients is starting to significantly hamper my thinking and focus. But it takes (this well/overfed U.S. resident) some time to reach that point. The problem is to keep this mode of life up for a sustained period of time. I also tend to lose significant weight while on vacation. This is usually because my vacations involve: 1) Intense, extended interaction with people (very occupying, if "distracting" is perhaps not the best word to use re social company) in non-food settings; 2) A lot of traveling and getting around from one novel place to another, again very occupying and without much of a food context. I guess I could add that vacations for me involve very little TV. Finally, as an aside, I've remained a fan of "TV host" Craig Ferguson's simple comment on the topic: "Eat less, move around more." I realize that it's not that simple for everybody, but for a fair number of people -- myself included -- it is. And his phrase, especially delivered in his accent and trademark combination of absurd and serious, is very memorable. This makes it useful to me on an ad hoc, day to day basis.

by rms 17y ago

kingkongreveng_ 17y ago

>>And, boy, was I hungry at first. >That's the real secret, and it could use some expansion Spending time hungry is totally unnecessary to achieve low body fat. It's about insulin management. If you eat a high saturated fat diet you simply don't get the strong hunger pangs that are symptomatic of crashing blood sugar with a metabolism trained to run on sugar in preference to fatty acids.

jgrahamc 17y ago

Why were you able to overcome your hunger when so many people find that an impossible challenge? 1. I drank ice cold water whenever I felt hungry. 2. Initially I would look at that photo of me. 3. Later I looked at the chart and the predicted end date.

dgallagher 17y ago
The very first signs of "feeling" hungry usually means you're thirsty for water, not hungry for food. A lot of people eat instead of drink (or drink something with calories), and that helps increase their calorie consumption leading to weight gain. I've found keeping a bottle of water on me at all times works well. Whenever I start to feel my mouth go dry I drink some. I catch thirst this way before I even begin to feel thirsty. It's like lubrication for your body. If you don't drink enough of it, things seize up (you'll feel tired, get headaches, hampers athletic performance, etc...). CamelBak makes some very nice bottles. Sports Authority/Dick's Sporting Goods usually carry them: http://www.amazon.com/CamelBak-BPA-Free-Choose-Re-Use-Better/dp/B001PKV6E8 http://www.amazon.com/CamelBak-BPA-Free-Choose-Re-Use-Better... Nathan also makes a good one: http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-500-ml-Bottle-Straw-Royal/dp/B001L417XI http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-500-ml-Bottle-Straw-Royal/dp/B0... Buy like two or three of them. Fill them up in the morning and put them in a fridge. Keep one by your side at all times. Once it's empty, grab another from your fridge, drink as needed, repeat. Keeping the water "ice cold" is important too. It's so much easier to drink cool water than warm. Probably something derived from evolution where humans had better luck drinking cold water from a running stream than warm water from a sitting puddle from a rain storm. I always throw a few ice cubes in once I pull a bottle out of the fridge.

alexfarran 17y ago

I usually see an encouraging initial weight loss followed by a slow climb back up after a period of stability. The article contains some advice on how he eats less - smaller meals not fewer and eat slowly. I think that could work. I'd like to see how long he's kept the weight off for.

GFischer 17y ago

I also read the Hacker's Diet, but I went to a doctor-controlled diet, and lost about 34 pounds so far (15 kg), in two months (not 6 months). It's fairly similar to what John advocates actually :) - it's eating WAY less, slower, and mostly vegetables (the main thing about this diet was that the clinic provides the food so you can't overeat). And yes, I was very hungry at first, what I did was drink lots of soup (the instant-soup type, there are some "light" versions by Knorr over here), and yoghurt (also "light"). I didn't eliminate sodas, I replaced them with diet versions (doctor said they were OK for diet purposes). PD: as another poster said, NO SUGARS, no flour (that means no bread, etc.. . that part is hard!) and no butter and other dairies except for yoghurt.

tome 17y ago
Cottage cheese is definitely an OK dairy for weight loss!
forinti 17y ago
Instant soup is dangerous because it has lots of sodium.
- GFischer 17y ago
  Wow, it's true, and you're right (just checked the back of a package). The one I just checked has 600 mg of Sodium per serving (25% of the recommended daily value). No wonder they are tasty. Still, they did help me get through hungry spells :)
- unexpected 17y ago
  Sodium is not that bad for you unless you have a specific health issue. Our bodies are amazing regulators and can handle sodium just fine.
  - pasbesoin 17y ago
    I've seen some recent news associating low sodium with a possible link to depression. I don't have a news source URL at hand to cite, much less an actual study, but I'm keeping an subconscious eye open for more information.

gvb 17y ago

The Atkin's theory, which I believe has been largely substantiated, is that carbohydrates (sugar, HFCS) do not satisfy hunger, they tend to trigger hunger. John cut out the sugar and his hunger dropped. FWIIW, my experience was the same and there are many others who echo this. See "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" (UCSF lecture) which goes into detail on the metabolism of carbohydrates, especially HFCS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM and discussed on HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1006980 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1006980 One of many references: http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/riskfactors/a/lofatlocarb_2.htm http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/riskfactors/a/lofatlocarb_2...

TrevorJ 17y ago
Amazing lecture on sugar, I highly highly recommend it.
kingkongreveng_ 17y ago
You have to say specifically "carbohydrate" and not single out sugar. People try to make this false distinction between "complex" and simple carbohydrates and sugar. ANY starch is broken down rapidly in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar.
- gruseom 17y ago
  ANY starch is broken down rapidly in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar. That may be an oversimplification. Lustig, in the lecture mentioned by the GP, shows that there are big differences between how the body metabolizes glucose and fructose. If these differences are significant enough (Lustig's thesis is that they are), then it isn't a "false distinction" to single out sugar/HFCS from other carbohydrates.
  - kingkongreveng_ 17y ago
    He's talking about the uniquely hepatoxic properties of fructose vis-a-vis other sugars. I'm talking about the metabolism damaging insulin responses triggered by all carbohydrates, regardless of whether it's a piece of whole grain bread or a spoonful of honey (fructose).

pasbesoin 17y ago

I find distraction a very simple method. When I'm absorbed in a problem, I can go the better part of a day without eating. Often then, when I finally eat, it's because the lack of food / nutrients is starting to significantly hamper my thinking and focus. But it takes (this well/overfed U.S. resident) some time to reach that point. The problem is to keep this mode of life up for a sustained period of time. I also tend to lose significant weight while on vacation. This is usually because my vacations involve: 1) Intense, extended interaction with people (very occupying, if "distracting" is perhaps not the best word to use re social company) in non-food settings; 2) A lot of traveling and getting around from one novel place to another, again very occupying and without much of a food context. I guess I could add that vacations for me involve very little TV. Finally, as an aside, I've remained a fan of "TV host" Craig Ferguson's simple comment on the topic: "Eat less, move around more." I realize that it's not that simple for everybody, but for a fair number of people -- myself included -- it is. And his phrase, especially delivered in his accent and trademark combination of absurd and serious, is very memorable. This makes it useful to me on an ad hoc, day to day basis.