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I see a lot of comments from people I suspect have never struggled with weight loss here. "Put the fork down" is easy advice, but for many it's a lot more chal

I see a lot of comments from people I suspect have never struggled with weight loss here. "Put the fork down" is easy advice, but for many it's a lot more challenging than it sounds. For me, and I suspect a lot of people, focusing on exercise first is the key. I can plot the number of miles I post on the bike against my weight. Of course I absolutely do more than 300 minutes a week on the bike. Diet is super important, likely more important that fitness, but diet is vastly more difficult for me. Also, when I'm working out regularly, my diet naturally shifts. If I'm sitting at my desk or on the couch for weeks at a time, food intake increases. I'm sure if I could ever properly reign in my eating I could change this, but I've tried so many times and it never works. Working out on the bike does, and as I mentioned above, the intake adjusts correctly when I do it.

castlecrasher2 6y ago
My failures in dieting have always been from losing sight of my goal, and my successes in dieting have always been from making a proper decision. My current target is feeling hungry most of the day, usually eating a ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast and lean meats/vegetables for other meals, and if I'm still very hungry by the end of the day I may indulge in a protein or granola bar and possibly a small glass of milk. I feel like my target of feeling hungry helps put the hunger pangs into perspective, and helps me stay on track.
lenzm 6y ago
The conclusion was that exercise can help with appetite suppression. These people have not struggled with their weight but do struggle to RTFA.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
CogitoCogito 6y ago
"Eat less" is the correct advice for weight less just like "don't drink" is for alcoholics and "don't think of him" is for someone going through a breakup. It's just basically useless advice totally lacking empathy. People are different. They have different bodies, different psychological dispositions, different experiences, etc. I think more people should ask themselves some basic questions. What would need to happen in my life to put me in the position of being 100 pounds overweight? What type of person would I be? How would it feel to try to fight my way back? How can I gain a bit of perspective?
- silicon2401 6y ago
  > Eat less" is the correct advice for weight less just like "don't drink" is for alcoholics and "don't think of him" is for someone going through a breakup. It's just basically useless advice totally lacking empathy. People are different. They have different bodies, different psychological dispositions, different experiences, etc. None of what you described changes the example solutions you gave. An alcoholic does need to not drink to improve their health, just like to lose weight you do need to eat fewer calories. The way to solve a problem is to find the solution, and empathy doesn't cure being overweight or addiction. Only when you know the solution can you work backwards to find the steps to get you there from where you are today
  - ogre_codes 6y ago
    > empathy doesn't cure being overweight or addiction No, but it would prevent a lot of insensitive, boneheaded forum posts. EDIT: Wasn't trying to suggest your post was insensitive or boneheaded.
    - Zancarius 6y ago
      > EDIT: Wasn't trying to suggest your post was insensitive or boneheaded. Maybe it wasn't, but I think your original sentiment wasn't far off from my reaction to the same OP. While I haven't struggled all that much with my weight, I know people who have. One of the most important things for weight loss (and anything else for that matter, up to and including break ups, as was in the original example) is support networks. I learned that lesson rather harshly when I went through a really ugly break up earlier this year. Humans are social creatures, after all, and I can't fault you for your original response. We need others around us who are a positive influence.
  - CogitoCogito 6y ago
    > Only when you know the solution can you work backwards to find the steps to get you there from where you are today I specifically said that the advice was _correct_. My point is that fact isn't that useful. Knowing the solution (i.e. eat less, drink less, think less) is the _easy_ part. It's the part these people have usually been told many times. It's rarely a lack of advice that is missing. It's true that empathy doesn't cure these problems. But it is through empathy that you can understand what someone's true obstacles are to the "obvious" solutions.
toddh 6y ago
A pound is 50 extra calories a day for a week. It doesn't take much fork action to eat 50 extra calories a day.
- pureliquidhw 6y ago
  What? Don't know where you heard that but fat has about 9cal per gram. That's ~4000cal. Did you mean 500?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - toddh 6y ago
    One pound of weight is equal to 3500 calories, so that's 7 * 500. Whoops, looks like I dropped the extra 0.

castlecrasher2 6y ago

My failures in dieting have always been from losing sight of my goal, and my successes in dieting have always been from making a proper decision. My current target is feeling hungry most of the day, usually eating a ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast and lean meats/vegetables for other meals, and if I'm still very hungry by the end of the day I may indulge in a protein or granola bar and possibly a small glass of milk. I feel like my target of feeling hungry helps put the hunger pangs into perspective, and helps me stay on track.

lenzm 6y ago

The conclusion was that exercise can help with appetite suppression. These people have not struggled with their weight but do struggle to RTFA.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

CogitoCogito 6y ago

"Eat less" is the correct advice for weight less just like "don't drink" is for alcoholics and "don't think of him" is for someone going through a breakup. It's just basically useless advice totally lacking empathy. People are different. They have different bodies, different psychological dispositions, different experiences, etc. I think more people should ask themselves some basic questions. What would need to happen in my life to put me in the position of being 100 pounds overweight? What type of person would I be? How would it feel to try to fight my way back? How can I gain a bit of perspective?

silicon2401 6y ago
> Eat less" is the correct advice for weight less just like "don't drink" is for alcoholics and "don't think of him" is for someone going through a breakup. It's just basically useless advice totally lacking empathy. People are different. They have different bodies, different psychological dispositions, different experiences, etc. None of what you described changes the example solutions you gave. An alcoholic does need to not drink to improve their health, just like to lose weight you do need to eat fewer calories. The way to solve a problem is to find the solution, and empathy doesn't cure being overweight or addiction. Only when you know the solution can you work backwards to find the steps to get you there from where you are today
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  > empathy doesn't cure being overweight or addiction No, but it would prevent a lot of insensitive, boneheaded forum posts. EDIT: Wasn't trying to suggest your post was insensitive or boneheaded.
  - Zancarius 6y ago
    > EDIT: Wasn't trying to suggest your post was insensitive or boneheaded. Maybe it wasn't, but I think your original sentiment wasn't far off from my reaction to the same OP. While I haven't struggled all that much with my weight, I know people who have. One of the most important things for weight loss (and anything else for that matter, up to and including break ups, as was in the original example) is support networks. I learned that lesson rather harshly when I went through a really ugly break up earlier this year. Humans are social creatures, after all, and I can't fault you for your original response. We need others around us who are a positive influence.
- CogitoCogito 6y ago
  > Only when you know the solution can you work backwards to find the steps to get you there from where you are today I specifically said that the advice was _correct_. My point is that fact isn't that useful. Knowing the solution (i.e. eat less, drink less, think less) is the _easy_ part. It's the part these people have usually been told many times. It's rarely a lack of advice that is missing. It's true that empathy doesn't cure these problems. But it is through empathy that you can understand what someone's true obstacles are to the "obvious" solutions.

toddh 6y ago

A pound is 50 extra calories a day for a week. It doesn't take much fork action to eat 50 extra calories a day.

pureliquidhw 6y ago
What? Don't know where you heard that but fat has about 9cal per gram. That's ~4000cal. Did you mean 500?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- toddh 6y ago
  One pound of weight is equal to 3500 calories, so that's 7 * 500. Whoops, looks like I dropped the extra 0.