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The Startup Diet: How I Lost 35 Pounds While Working Overtime
- mipapage 16y agoNicely done PStamatiou. I went thru the same crunch a couple of years ago and dropped bread, dairy, coffee etc and it made a world of difference. I actually had the folks at the gym and some friends casually tell me to eat more food as I had taken it a bit too far. What happened was mostly me trying to find that sweet spot where you can get benefits from the gym and not overdo it on either side (weight too low versus weight too high).
- teej 16y ago"I went thru the same crunch a couple of years ago and dropped bread, dairy, coffee etc and it made a world of difference." What's the compelling reason to drop coffee? Coffee is nothing but brown caffeine water and caffeine is a safe, cheap appetite suppressant.
- starkfist 16y agoI love coffee, but when I go on a cutting diet, it makes me feel much more anxious than normal.
- machrider 16y agoCoffee can actually be an appetite suppressant. I don't think there's any reason to drop coffee for weight loss, but you'll probably want to reduce the added sugar and cream.
- matwood 16y agoAnd there's the problem. Most people don't drink just coffee, but instead some bastardized triple caramel pump, white chocolate mocha espresso. For the record I like my coffee black (mmm espresso) and maybe a little milk :)
- peteforde 16y agoI love that you've proven the Butterfield Diet Plan works! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjnuBTPOaKY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjnuBTPOaKY Don't forget... Saturday is Treat Day.
- peteforde 16y agoI object to the down-mod. Stammy suggests eating anything you want, one day a week. Sorry if you don't have a sense of humour, but my comment was topical.
- KirinDave 16y agoI'm not sure why people feel any type of carb is bad for regular weight loss. There is no significant evidence that refined or unrefined carbs are bad for your weight loss (assuming you are not diabetic). Carbs can be bad because carb-rich foods tend to be surprisingly high in calories, but that's about it from a weight loss perspective. Also, 1,200kcal/day diets are brutal. Caloric restriction diets have overwhelming scientific evidence of being an ineffective strategy in the long term. Even if you have some elaborate food system with rest days, it doesn't matter. They fail for the overwhelming majority of people. They lose weight, fail to maintain the difficult diet, then pop back up. Your body doesn't defy thermodynamics, but your metabolism is a clever thing. The best way to achieve permanent, long term body-fat loss is to reduce your diet to something reasonable and exercise (both aerobic and weight) regularly. I know hackers desperately want the clever solution, but as it stands there is no evidence-based way to get results that is as reliable as the "eat-less-workout-more" approach.
- desigooner 16y agoany calorie deficit of more than 500 cals a day doesn't really help as you'd be putting those pounds again after you return to your regular diet. A healthy deficit of 500 cals and working out 3-5 times a week should be the best approach as far as the long run goes as it's just not about losing weight but maintaining it as well in a healthy manner.
- KirinDave 16y agoRight. People seem to forget that if you modestly restrict your diet daily and work out 3-5 times a week, you're actually shaving quite a lot of calories off your weight in a weekly or monthly timespan. Halving normal intake daily may look good on a daily ledger, but it's really hard on your body.
- manvsmachine 16y agoI didn't get the idea that he was saying that 1200kcal was an everyday thing; if it was, then I totally agree. I can picture having 1200kcal days here and there when he's not really active though, like his aforementioned 12-15 hour hacking days. The main point being: listen to your body. I you feel like you really need to eat something, then eat something. If you don't, then don't.
- jotgot 16y agoNice job on losing the weight and good luck on gaining mass. It's pretty incredible how fast our body's can shed pounds when eating correctly.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoSide topic, but can anyone suggest a diet (vegetarian, ideally) for putting on muscle? I've been hitting the gym regularly (2-4x/week) for the past year, lifting weights consistently each time, and haven't made any major gains.
- starkfist 16y agoYou just need to eat a lot more calories. You might be doing the wrong weightlifting routine. If you can do egg whites, those work pretty well. I went from 150 to 180 in college on a "hard gainer" program. My diet back then was: egg whites, brown rice, vegetables. Now I'm trying to get back down to about 165, so be careful what you wish for...
- misterbwong 16y agoHave you tried taking protein powder along with your diet? Depending on how much you want to gain and the type of shake you get, you'd probably want to drink one within 20 mins of a weightlifting session and one a day in the morning.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoI will try this - I've already tried eating more eggs/beans, and my diet is primarily rice and veggies right now. Can you recommend any particular brand/kind of protein powder/shake? Google gives me a bunch of spammy looking sites that I don't really trust.
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- jc-denton 16y agoProbably by not eating all the time :D
- duck 16y agoNice write-up Paul. As a fellow GT grad I think I gained 15 pounds because of the Varsity. One tip - lose the metal spatula on the non-stick pan.
- PStamatiou 16y agoYeah I got a softer one a few months later. I had a metal one in that pic because my dog chewed up my plastic one...
- maukdaddy 16y agoActually a nice cast-iron pan would be better.
- rcoder 16y agoThis is actually a great tip -- cast iron is not only great to cook in, it helps provide dietary iron, which is especially important if you're eating a diet light in red meat (which naturally contains iron) and prepared cereals (which tend to be fortified with it).
- manvsmachine 16y agoNice writeup Paul. One thing I'd point out is that your dietary needs will evolve as your body and metabolism does. Once your body adapts to its new state and you start gaining muscle mass, you'll actually start needing more calories and you can relax on the little thing like egg yolks, etc. Another thing that you might want to consider if you're not the hardcore gym type is adding some less traditional forms of exercise. A lot of people really get into martial arts despite not liking to "workout"; I know you like driving, so I'd recommend seeing if there are any good karting options in SF. Karting is crazy amounts of fun, and its a great all-around workout: http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=46561&PO=46561 http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=46561&PO=4656...
- eru 16y agoWhy do people eat egg whites without the yolks? The yolk is the best part of the egg (flavourwise).
- markbao 16y agoA lot of them eat egg whites only because egg yolks contain a little less than half of the protein but all of the fat and cholesterol. Some say that the cholesterol in yolks actually has a small impact on, and even reduces your blood cholesterol, but I haven't seen a definitive study.
- Samuel_Michon 16y agoThe science behind losing weight really isn't complicated: just make sure your intake of calories is less than you need to sustain your current weight. To lose 1 lb, you need to give up 3500 kcals. This can be accomplished by eating less, exercising more, or ideally, a combination of the two. Say, you're a programmer, you're 6' and you weigh 220 lb. Assuming you don't exercise, you need to consume 2700 kcals to sustain your curent weight. If you want to lose 2 lb a week, a doable and healthy method would be to cut your calorie intake down to 2000 and burn 300 calories through exercise. Ofcourse, the trick is to eat well, so that you don't feel hungry all the time. Foods that are rich in protein (like chicken, fish, beans and greek yogurt) will keep you from feeling hungry. Corn syrup, trans fat, and saturated fat are the stuff to stay away from (that's most processed foods), those will only make you more hungry. Also, timing is important to keep from eating too much. Start with a breakfast rich in fiber, and don't skip meals during the day. Drinking enough water is important too, at least 8 glasses a day. And for each cup of coffee, compensate it with a glass of water. Finally, knowing how many calories are in the foods you eat helps a lot. I use Livestrong.com's Daily Plate service to track my daily intake of calories, calorie goals, weight, and weight goals. Any math geek or stats addict looking to lose weight should use it. There's even a free DailyPlate iPhone app.
- timdorr 16y agoOf course, there's a big distinction between losing weight and losing fat. You can simply lower your calories and lose weight, but your body fat % might stay the same simply because you're also losing muscle mass too. That's why exercise is really the key, unless you want to get very militant about your food intake. You can lose fat without exercise, but it's not fun or easy.
- eru 16y agoAnd by the way, you should not aim to lose weight. Give yourself a better target: Aim for a smaller waist line. Nobody sees weight, and but big belly makes doesn't look too nice. And: Muscles are also heavy.
- maukdaddy 16y agoSome of the “low fat” foods are actually bad for you because they are high in HFCS or other sugary additives. This is a biggie. Much bigger than people realize. Foods that are advertised as "low fat" must have those fat calories replaced with something. And that something is usually refined carbs of some sort, be it sugar, HFCS, or something else. My wife has fructose intolerant, so we don't eat anything containing fructose or HFCS. You would be shocked to see how much food contains HFCS, and REALLY shocked to see how much "healthy" and "low fat" foods contain HFCS.
- matwood 16y agoObviously if you're fructose intolerant you need to avoid it, but HFSC isn't the evil it's been painted to be. I like reading this guys blog because it's no nonsense nutritional information with ALL his sources. http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/ http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-ab...
- gxs 16y agoI appreciate your point, but typically you want to stay away from things that contain HFCS not simply because HFCS is "bad" for you, (jury is still out on that one), rather, because foods that contain it tend to be very calorie dense. The problem with our diets as americans is that EVERYTHING contains sugar/HFCS. For example, I get all my carbs from brown rice, and bran cereal. I have the occasional slice of 100% wheat bread. Why? Because almost all bread on the market contains HFCS and each slice is typically 110 calories. I'd rather get the same amount of calories from a much more satisfying bowl of brown rice and veggies then from a dense, unsatisfying piece of bread.
- jmtame 16y agolaughed a bit at this part: "My motivation for going to the gym was rather stupid but it worked — I wanted to become the mayor on Foursquare. I never did get the mayorship.. the gym rat badge will have to suffice."
- lessthanideal 16y agoI'm writing about my journey to getting in better shape as a programmer and I find stories like Paul's to be inspirational. Thanks for all the information Paul. My goal is two-fold: get in shape / live longer and to get as strong as possible. The "getting stronger" part keeps me motivated through those long and arduous cardiovascular workout sessions. Here's my journal: http://www.strongestprogrammer.net/ http://www.strongestprogrammer.net/
- bconway 16y agoCongrats on your success, even if you do get a few critical responses on your food choices. I had a lot of post-college weight to lose (45 pounds) and did it with cardio and not overeating. My diet stayed mostly the same, much to my wife's chagrin, but I got through all the weight in 9-10 months and it hasn't been back since (a few years now). Keep up the good work.
- Oompa 16y agoI've lost 30 pounds over the course of 6 months by eating more reasonable portions (No more downing 2 cokes, 1 lb of chicken wings, and fries in 1 sitting) and exercising more. I did this gradually, never too concerned about it. Sure it wasn't as quick as Paul's story here, but it works fine and requires very little effort.
- InfinityX0 16y ago"I lost 20 pounds...How? I drank bear piss and took up fencing. How the fuck you think, son? I exercised." - @shitmydadsays
- ptn 16y agoI can recommend a guy called John Berardi, specifically these 2 articles: http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/masseating_rl_1.htm http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/masseating_rl_... http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm
- _emice 16y agoSimple Carbs like refined white flour, pastas – instead I opted for only whole grains, nothing milled or crushed. Is he chewing on whole grains? Boiling them as porridge? I figure you have to mill or crush at some point to make most things. Whole grain flours, unbleached and with the germ/bran unfiltered seems fine to me. When dealing with wheat, some people may want to watch the gluten content as well, depending on their sensitivity.
- Tamerlin 16y ago"a post for programmers and startup folks that are looking for a way to learn some healthy eating habits while doing their necessary 12+ hours per day on the computer thing:" That would be the FIRST thing that I would fix -- if you're doing 12+ hours per day on the computer, odds are you need to rethink your development process first, and then use the extra time to improve your health. Then reap the benefits that a healthier mind and body have one one's productivity. This obsession with long hours is a bug, not a feature -- rather than trying to find ways to enable it, we should be looking at how to fix it.
- xyzzyb 16y agoWhy is there no love for the (appropriately named), Hacker's Diet? Incredible results here. http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html
- asadkn 16y agoAll the low-carb advocates, one link! http://www.leangains.com/2009/02/low-carb-talibans.html http://www.leangains.com/2009/02/low-carb-talibans.html And the OP did well to keep it simple and basic. It's all about energy balance.