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Data Driven Weight Loss: Losing 66 pounds and gaining a six pack in 8 months
- tobltobs 9y agoI stopped reading when I saw this hilarious bad photoshopped first image.
- sawmurai 9y agoWhy would you say so?
- tobltobs 9y agoThe upper part of the door in the background doesn't fit to the lower part. Addendum: I was wrong with my accusation.
- unit91 9y agoWow...you're right. Thanks for pointing it out out!
- greenshackle2 9y agoI don't see it.
- unit91 9y agoLook at the first image (beforeafter.jpg), photo on the right (Dec 2016). The corner of the door is over his right shoulder. If you go straight down, it should come out behind him somewhere around the break between his first and second fingers. But it doesn't. The door sticks out below his 3rd finger. If you look below that, the break in the carpet doesn't line up either. He probably photoshopped his abdomen to make himself appear skinnier, which is a shame. He's made incredible progress, and dishonesty only detracts from the hard work he's obviously put in.
- teilo 9y agoNonsense. The door is ajar, and the camera isn't in perfect vertical alignment with the door. I just checked this by drawing a line in photoshop. It's a straight line at an angle. And your "broken carpet" looks like a reflection on the carpet trim to me. The tile pattern is also consistent around the "break." The photo with the line: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6bxpfedcdeotyg/beforeafter.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6bxpfedcdeotyg/beforeafter.jpg?dl...
- didgeoridoo 9y ago> I used an intermittent fasting and ketogenic diet approach, and several supplements. Can't speak for the supplements, but I'm down 45 pounds in 6 months following the same procedure. Going back to a sugar-based diet is frankly kind of horrifying to me at this point.
- cagenut 9y agoah to be 24 again
- gcatalfamo 9y agoUnderrated but the real truth here.
- throwaway2016a 9y agoI'm 32 and I found a free-weight system for upper body I've had success with. It auto-adjusts the weight over time whether you want it to or not so you are forced to continually improve. It also forces you to do repetitions every day whether you want to or not. Sometimes I do extra reps and the system responds with positive reinforcement. It gives extra positive reinforcement if I hold it over my head and fly it around like an airplane. It's not exclusive to older people (teenagers can do it too but it's not recommended) It's called "having a baby". My daughter weights 28 Ibs now and I have to lift her a couple dozen times a day. My upper body has definitely improved. But seriously, I've found staying fit is MUCH harder than it was 5 years ago but still possible. The hardest part is finding the time. I don't know many 30-somethings (especially in tech) that can work out for a half hour uninterrupted, nevermind an hour.
- antisthenes 9y ago> I don't know many 30-somethings (especially in tech) that can work out for a half hour uninterrupted, nevermind an hour. Sounds like a major lifestyle problem that needs to be solved before considering embarking on a fitness program. If you can't find a half-hour for a leisurely self-improvement activity, consider focusing really hard on making that change first. If you don't have a kid, finding an hour to yourself every day should be no problem. If it is - consider improving your time management or just working less.
- jjawssd 9y agoAin't that the truth. Motivation and time for exercise are my largest daily struggles. I am older but those two are far more important factors than just age.
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- jjawssd 9y agoThe real key to weight loss is a non-insulin-stimulating diet in conjunction with strength and cardiovascular exercise. Even with minimal exercise I lost 7 kg since March. My weight loss hits a plateau when I am not exercising. It is essential to move your ass or lift things if you want more gains. Weight loss is not practical without some exercise. A lot of Westerners are rediscovering amazing gains from the ketogenic diet, a low-carb diet. Foods with a very high glycemic index are the most commonly available foods in the Western world. These foods are largely responsible for health problems in the Western world. One has to go out of his/her way to avoid foods with a high glycemic index whereas it should be the default.
- karai 9y agoshameless plug: just started a curated newsletter for keto enthusiasts here - https://keto.fm https://keto.fm
- allover 9y ago> The real key to weight loss is a non-insulin-stimulating diet That was debunked recently [1]. > Weight loss is not practical without some exercise. Nonsense. Do you have any evidence for that? [1] https://www.vox.com/2016/7/6/12105660/do-low-carb-diets-work https://www.vox.com/2016/7/6/12105660/do-low-carb-diets-work
- tptacek 9y agoAnyone who clicks through to that link and reads is going to see that it doesn't "debunk" anything, and is in fact careful not to claim that it does.
- allover 9y agoNote the bit of GGP I quoted was around the the insulin hypothesis. That supposed connection between insulin from high GI foods causing weight gain (or reducing weight loss), that is what the studies referenced in the article disprove. "According to the insulin-carbohydrate model, we should have seen an acceleration in the rate of body fat loss when we cut insulin by 50 percent," Hall said. But they didn’t, which he thinks suggests that the regulation of fat tissue storage in the body has to do with more than just insulin levels and their relationship with the carbs we eat. The new results also echo a previous study of the insulin-carbohydrate model, where Hall found that people who cut fat in their diets have equal or greater body fat loss than those who cut carbs. (Here’s Hall’s new review of the literature on the carb-insulin model of obesity.) "These studies represent the first rigorous scientific tests of the carb-insulin model in humans," Hall added. "The public needs to understand that this [insulin-carbohydrate] model now has pretty strong evidence against it."
- manmal 9y agoHis advice reminds me a lot of things Mr Berkham has to say over at leangains.com. IF, multivitamin, fish oil, cutting/bulking phases - those are not all things exclusive to advice given by Berkham, but it's a quite similar subset. Here's a post from another software developer having similarly spectacular success: http://merowing.info/2014/02/fit-geek/ http://merowing.info/2014/02/fit-geek/ I lost ~20kg myself by following Leangains loosely over a period of 18 months, but in the end I seem to have worn out something in my endocrine/metabolic system, from which I've been slowly recovering for most of last year (having regained a lot of the weight and suffering from fatigue). So.. just be careful, your body might not like rapid weightloss, everybody is different. Ah and one tip: If you cannot lose weight even if you try really really hard, inflammation might be the culprit. Lots of fish oil, grape seed extract, magnesium etc should improve this a lot, and as a side effect might also save you from having a heart attack or cancer in your 50s. DHA (eg from fish oil) has a lot to do with mitochondrial function in the body, thus affecting all organs and energy production.
- jjawssd 9y agoI don't buy into your endocrine/metabolic system theory whatsoever. Do you have any evidence that this is even possible?
- manmal 9y agoWell take it as my own working theory, I was careful enough to not state it as if I knew for sure. No need to attack and downvote me.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- subcosmos 9y agoHi. Neuroendocrinologist here. Body fat is regulated by specialized circuits in the hypothalamus. We now know that inflammation of these central nuclei is a key feature of weight gain in both animals and humans. There are two sets of neurons: those that promote feeding and slow metabolic rate, and those that suppress feeding and increase metabolic rate. The former class of neurons is GABAergic (inhibitory in neuroscience) and the latter is glutaminergic (stimulatory). Generally in animal experiments, the gabaergic neurons that drive feeding and conserve stored energy outnumber the glutaminergic neurons by a great deal, and over the lifespan of an organism, they increase in number. Its been noted in some animal models that weight loss interventions are not permanent because they lead to alterations in this circuit to further promote weight gain and energy conservation. This may be why most humans also regain weight after losing it. If you think about it, it makes sense for most control loops in the body to "fail safe", IE, its much preferrable to gain weight than starve to death. This circuit thus fights to preserve fat mass. Some "food for thought" https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2017/07/407571/brains-immune-cells-may-drive-overeating-and-weight-gain https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2017/07/407571/brains-immune-cells... https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2015/02/123466/ucsf-researchers-redefine-role-brains-hunger-circuit https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2015/02/123466/ucsf-researchers-re...
- cheald 9y agoIf you're data-inclined, it's a powerful tool to drive health and fitness. Extracting actionable meaning from your data isn't that hard, as long as you understand the basic mechanics of what you're doing and can compute things like percentages and moving averages. I'm 34, spent the last ~15 years at sedentary desk jobs, and became quite out of shape. I've lost 70lb over the last year doing little more than just logging what I eat in MyFitnessPal, sticking to caloric and macro budgets, and recomputing my TDEE based on moving averages of my caloric inputs and weight readings. I lift for 45-60 minutes 4 times a week, no cardio. In that same time period, I've started lifting and seen excellent progress (bench 1RM ~260, squat 1RM ~320, deadlift 1RM ~465), again by thoroughly logging my workout data and using that to identify where I'm weak and strong (which lets me select exercises to improve my weaknesses), to help set and adjust training maxes, and to help set achievable goals on a daily basis. Symmetric Strength is a great tool here - it's incredibly gratifying to see my progress presented in several ways, and it helps me understand my strengths and weaknesses, as well as my progression relative to others, which can be very motivating. I attribute just about all of this to the fact that I adopted eating and lifting plans which were based on data collection and specific goals and targets to reach for and hit on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. I've tried dieting and fitness regimes in the past that were basically coached as "just do this and try really hard", without laying out why, or what I could expect at a granular level, and those become really discouraging once the initial hit of motivation wears off. By contrast, having a year's worth of data to analyze any time I start to feel discouraged provides immediate reinforcement as to what does and doesn't work, and helps keep me on track.
- vikiomega9 9y ago+1 on having a lifting routine. Cardio by itself doesn't seem too sustainable as compared to watching what you eat and building muscle.
- dsacco 9y agoCardio on its own is very sustainable.
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- balls187 9y agoAmazing transformation, both in the article and the comments. When has rapid weight loss ever been sustainable? I'd love to see follow up article w/ comments in 2 years.
- T_D_K 9y agoIt's easy to maintain your goal weight if you truly enjoy the lifestyle you've created. Obviously, if you get up one day and say, 'Well I don't actually like going to the gym / tracking calories / etc., so I'll skip today', you've started to gain the weight already. The trick is finding a healthy lifestyle activity that can keep you active and that you can stick with. Climbing, running, hiking, kayaking / canoeing, cycling, tennis, etc etc are all great options if going to the gym to lift weights isn't your thing.
- elchief 9y agoIf you're lactose intolerant / milk protein intolerant like me, I've found Vega Performance to be the best protein powder, though not cheap. I am not affiliated with them.
- harveywi 9y agoVega is a good supplement for those who cannot digest the milky whey.
- vamerock 9y agoDon't let the fact that he was 24 deter you. Over at r/bodyweightfitness, there are hundreds of people who started above 45 and are in better shapes than 20 year olds. Obesity is now a taboo topic in tech because you might unfortunately step on the toes of a few sensitive people and be labelled a fat shamer. This is not the case.Obesity in tech is a disease on it's own and it needs to be fought with a sharp edged pitchfork. We need to help our colleagues who have lost hope and given up on ever being fit again. It is never too late to get healthy again. If you're overweight and believe your work schedule cannot allow you to lose weight, give yourself a 6 - 8 month break. Step over to the r/bodyweightfitness Recommended beginner routine and make a big change in your life. You don't need an expensive gym membership. You can use the floor, parks, chairs, tables, doors, ledges, trees etc. Sustainable weight loss is achievable by everyone, whether you're 40 or 50 years or 400 pounds or 600 pounds. Consistency over time is the key!
- dimgl 9y agoNot everyone can afford to take a 6-8 month break......
- m00x 9y agoI lost 40lbs in 12 months while working. I did a bodyweight routine at home 4x a week for 30 minutes and calculated calories in and out. 4 months in, I eyeballed everything. I was a pretty experienced athlete in high school/college, so I knew the basics well and knew if I worked at it I'd lose it, so that helped a lot, but I didn't do anything magic.
- chiefalchemist 9y agoKudos. But the point is, you changed your lifestyle, and stuck with it. I think most who lose weight put it back on because they don't change anything. As if being thinner makes bad food less bad :)
- forgotmysn 9y agoa 6-8 month break from work? Who can afford that?
- AdmiralAsshat 9y agoYou call this "data driven"? Look at his explanation of the supplements he takes: >Grenade Thermo Detonator: A scary name, but essentially a dosage of caffeine from concentrated green tea extract that's meant to be a fat-burner/pre-workout pill. It gives you some energy to focus, and suppresses your appetite. It is not very different from simply taking a packet of coffee. I used these for the first 4 months. >Multivitamin: Just to ensure you get your vitamin requirements for the day, but there is evidence to show this might not really be necessary. >Fish Oil: I heard from many sources that omega-3s are good for you so I thought I'd get some >Whey Protein: If you don't consume enough protein a day and are on a weight loss plan, you will lose muscle with your weight. 1 - 1.5g/lb of body weight is the general recommendation. Because it's not always easy to make sure you get that much pure protein, a protein shake is an easy way to quickly gulp down 50g of protein regardless of how hungry/full you are. So of the four he takes, one he takes may not be backed by any data, and another he takes because he heard that it's good for you.
- cheald 9y agoThe protein numbers are rather incorrect, too. Research supports 0.82g/lb (https://bayesianbodybuilding.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/ https://bayesianbodybuilding.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-pr...) - though you're not going to hurt anything if you're getting more than that (unless you start taking in several multiples of that quantity - then renal failure can become a concern). Protein tends to be more expensive on a per-calorie basis than other macronutrients, though, so it can be advantageous to not overconsume it relative to fat/carbs, presuming you're getting enough to optimally support muscle synthesis.
- sridca 9y agoWe do not really need as much protein as the supplements industry would have us believe. https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/how-much-protein-is-excessive/ https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/how-much-protein-is-e...
- s3nnyy 9y agoLosing 30 kg (66 pounds) in 6 months is not normal and this guy definitely did crazy stuff. I would say 3-4 years would be "the norm" to do this transformation, so don't let yourself be discouraged.
- sidlls 9y agoHow is it not normal? His regimen apparently consisted of eating fewer calories than he expended by exercise and exercising for 3-4 hours a week, and as a result cut approximately 1.25kg per week for 6 months. That's definitely a bit high (for reference, "rapid weight loss" is generally considered to be losing more than 1kg per week), but it's not outlandish. The weight loss by itself, with no additional work for the physique, shouldn't take more than about 8-9 months (at a loss of ~0.8kg / week, well within the bounds of gradual weight loss). It shouldn't take 27-39 months beyond that to build lean muscle and lose fat to reduce that level of body fat percentage. One wouldn't even need to follow the fad diets or take the supplements this guy did.
- notliketherest 9y agoNice job and all but the sheer amount of shirtless photos at different angles just shows how narcissistic you are.
- T_D_K 9y agoHe's proud of what he's accomplished, in a weightloss post-mortem. How does that make him narcissistic?
- notliketherest 9y agoLook at the number of photos and angles this guy has of himself on the page. We've all seen before / after photos of people who've lost weight. I've never seen this many photos of one dude. It's super narcissistic.
- sridca 9y agoIf he is super narcissistic, what does that make all the actresses and actors strutting the stages of public shows with a buttload of face paint, hair dyes, plastic surgeries and the like? Or is it that you casually use the word 'narcissistic' only when disapproving of something you don't like?
- notliketherest 9y agoWhether actors and actresses are narcissistic or not has nothing to do with the fact that this guy is super narcissistic. Look up "logical fallacy".
- masto 9y agoThe canonical “engineer studies the problem of being fat and works on it like any other problem” story is The Hacker’s Diet by John Walker. There’s no secret formula necessary, just eat less. I found it very inspirational (and effective). https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/ https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/
- raarts 9y agoCoincidentally I am on the same diet: keto, plus IF. No supplements, no workouts. Lost 10 kg (22 lbs) in 2.5 months. Expensive, 'cause new wardrobe. For one week, I reverted to my old high carb diet because I was on a camp and could not maintain it. My weight loss plateau'ed, but resumed after that. Daily calorie max is set to 1250, (I live a sedentary life). Keto works. Workouts not needed. I'm struggling to take enough protein though.
- noir_lord 9y agoI lost about that amount of weight in 7 months a couple of years ago (and kept it off), there was very little data driving, I just wrote down what I ate and ate the same thing 6 days a week, porridge made with water, cottage cheese and salad for lunch and chicken and veg/beef and veg for tea. Came out to about 1450 calories a day which is a deficit of 1050. 1050 * 7 * 4 * 7/3500 comes to 58.8lbs, I lost 62lbs (I slightly increased my exercise rate), it was almost scary how accurate the 3500 calories to a pound thing was in my case. It wasn't that hard at the time either, just required a clear goal and keeping at it. I quite smoking on my 30th birthday (7 years and counting) by just stopping. No messing with patches, therapy, my mum got ill from smoking related illness, I realised how stupid it was (or more correctly woke up and truly realised) my 30th was a few weeks later so I made a note and stopped cold turkey. You can do pretty cool things when you draw a line and just go for it. As for keeping the weight off, I just run a mental tally of what I've eaten and approximate calories, if I get close to 2500 I stop eating for the day, if I go slightly over I go under the next day, 1 day a week I eat whatever I want if I want it (rarely do, I've lost a lot of my cravings for junk over the last couple of years, it always leaves me feeling shitty the next day).
- onuralp 9y agoAnother self-quantified in a similar spirit - machine learning and ketosis: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12279415 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12279415
- milli1 9y agoIf you're a pro, you take Deer Antler spray