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I had been somewhat overweight in the past, but not so heavy. Definitely emphasise with people here noting how it snuck up on them. Something that really was g

I had been somewhat overweight in the past, but not so heavy. Definitely emphasise with people here noting how it snuck up on them. Something that really was game changing for me was logging everything I ate with relatively legitimate counts of the calories and macros. Before even getting towards goals I realised that those random handfuls of cashews I might grab from the kitchen on the way to the restroom weren't say 60-100 calories, but more like 400!!! Fruit and especially fruit juices are another secret killer. There was just instant change in my calorie intake because so many things I was eating were much denser than I expected. Now, many of these counters aren't perfect, all people are different, and you don't absorb at consistent rates across food. Don't try and optimise down to 10s or even say order of magnitude 100 calories. But you might find some massive surprises in your food intake this way. I also did the whole diet / macro planning. Alongside going out of my way to log all food intake, having the plan added enough mental barriers to get snacking under control. Not everybody has success with these plans, but I'd still recommend the tracking and logging just to see if there's any surprises. edit: You don't even have to keep the tracking up. Just do it for a a few weeks so you at least know. I don't really track calories anymore but it's largely since i have a much better idea of what I'm eating after tracking in the past. edit 2: If you take care to track your macros, you can observe pretty significant differences in strength training results.

nunez 4y ago
100% agree. I've been tracking with MyFitnessPal for 11 years. I've gained and lost weight this way. However, tracking doesn't come easily for everyone.
civilized 4y ago
A big benefit of tracking and logging is that it makes eating annoying enough that you don't want to do it lightly. I guess this is also why I'm not great at keeping up with tracking for more than a couple weeks at a time.
roland35 4y ago
Absolutely true. For me the secret calories were in cereal. I'd have a bowl as a snack and didn't realize it could be hundreds of calories!
nradov 4y ago
That's good advice. Many overweight people have no idea how many calories they're actually consuming, or are in denial about it. The British TV show "Secret Eaters" is eye opening. While it may be an extreme example, it shows how people can be eating more than twice as much as they think. https://tubitv.com/series/4469/secret-eaters https://tubitv.com/series/4469/secret-eaters
sasaf5 4y ago
Tracking macros for a few months is huge lesson about your body's needs and the food supply around you. It clears away all the uncertainty and lets you know what you really like to eat and what is just dead weight. It also protects you from the food industry marketing departments. In 6 months I learned: - Everything sold in packages blows the fat or carb budget; - I don't really like sodas or icecream; - I cannot live without bread. I would always make sure there was some carb budget available for bread; - Tofu, eggs and milk pack a lot of energy compared with their protein content. Careful there! - Fruits can cause quite a dent in the carb budget; - Many thing sold as healthy pack an obcene amount of calories; - (Sugarless) Milk tea is a powerful tool to fend off hunger. I lost 14kgs in 6 months, and kept that result for 2 years now. Most importantly, I am more satisfied with what I eat.
- pc86 4y ago
  I too was guilty of thinking "oh fruit is healthy, eat as much as you want" and frustrated with lack of progress - or even regression - in my goals. Then I started reading more about nutrition, got a coach, got a nutrition certification, etc. There are certain food that you can eat if you aren't super diligent about tracking, weighing, etc. and still see great progress in whatever your goals are. Fruit definitely isn't one of them!
  - sasaf5 4y ago
    Yes, and at the same time they are helpful with micronutrients and fibers... counting macros help making sure you are not going overboard.
  - cardiffspaceman 4y ago
    I know someone who used to work in sales at Weight Watchers. They said that WW found success in compliance by zeroing out the points for fruit and/or vegetables. Apparently clients were spending their points on other things before the change, and not getting ANY fruit or veg before the change. Stated that this phenomenon was regional; e.g. Californians tended to make room for fruit and veg in their point budget. I personally find most fruit juice so acidic that I only drink it with a big meal.
spiffytech 4y ago
I've had success with calorie counting (lost 65lbs!), but I could only do it when I was mentally healthy. Once my depression set in, like the author I ate to feel better because it was one of the few ways I could feel anything good at all. Not just the taste, but the anticipation was a form of hope for something better when I was hopeless. The worse I felt, the more I binged. And like the author, between the behavior and the meds I climbed to 300lbs (up from 163). I'm finally making progress on my weight again, through strength training and through being mentally healthy enough to make decent dietary choices. But when I was in the thick of it I barely had the strength to hang on, much less exercise methodically-calculated denial of my immediate desires.
vjk800 4y ago
Another surprise to some people might be cooking fats. The olive oil you use to fry your vegetables might easily be hundreds of calories.
JKCalhoun 4y ago
Tracking was interesting to me — made me identify the worst offenders and try to come down on those first. Sodas went right away. I like my coffee sweet so dropped down to just one cup in the morning. What worked best for me though was simply portion control. When I lay food out on my plate I can make a pretty good guess as to what's enough. The trick is to stop when you clear your plate — no seconds. That ended up slowly taking the weight down. It only came back when I slacked off from my portion control regimen (started back on it again a few weeks back).
Fatnino 4y ago
The word you want is empathize. Not emphasis.
- vgatherps 4y ago
  It’s amazing to me how many HN commenters think people want their discussions filled with grammar/spelling nitpicks in the days of rampant autocorrects gone wild
solarmist 4y ago
Absolutely, but one caution. Don't lump whole fruit in with fruit juice. No one ever got fat eating fruit.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
  They're not all the same either. A fibrous apple won't cause nearly the same glucose spike as a bowl of sugary-sweet grapes.
  - solarmist 4y ago
    Very true, but you’d get sick of grapes before you got fat from them.

nunez 4y ago

100% agree. I've been tracking with MyFitnessPal for 11 years. I've gained and lost weight this way. However, tracking doesn't come easily for everyone.

civilized 4y ago

A big benefit of tracking and logging is that it makes eating annoying enough that you don't want to do it lightly. I guess this is also why I'm not great at keeping up with tracking for more than a couple weeks at a time.

roland35 4y ago

Absolutely true. For me the secret calories were in cereal. I'd have a bowl as a snack and didn't realize it could be hundreds of calories!

nradov 4y ago

That's good advice. Many overweight people have no idea how many calories they're actually consuming, or are in denial about it. The British TV show "Secret Eaters" is eye opening. While it may be an extreme example, it shows how people can be eating more than twice as much as they think. https://tubitv.com/series/4469/secret-eaters https://tubitv.com/series/4469/secret-eaters

sasaf5 4y ago

Tracking macros for a few months is huge lesson about your body's needs and the food supply around you. It clears away all the uncertainty and lets you know what you really like to eat and what is just dead weight. It also protects you from the food industry marketing departments. In 6 months I learned: - Everything sold in packages blows the fat or carb budget; - I don't really like sodas or icecream; - I cannot live without bread. I would always make sure there was some carb budget available for bread; - Tofu, eggs and milk pack a lot of energy compared with their protein content. Careful there! - Fruits can cause quite a dent in the carb budget; - Many thing sold as healthy pack an obcene amount of calories; - (Sugarless) Milk tea is a powerful tool to fend off hunger. I lost 14kgs in 6 months, and kept that result for 2 years now. Most importantly, I am more satisfied with what I eat.

pc86 4y ago
I too was guilty of thinking "oh fruit is healthy, eat as much as you want" and frustrated with lack of progress - or even regression - in my goals. Then I started reading more about nutrition, got a coach, got a nutrition certification, etc. There are certain food that you can eat if you aren't super diligent about tracking, weighing, etc. and still see great progress in whatever your goals are. Fruit definitely isn't one of them!
- sasaf5 4y ago
  Yes, and at the same time they are helpful with micronutrients and fibers... counting macros help making sure you are not going overboard.
- cardiffspaceman 4y ago
  I know someone who used to work in sales at Weight Watchers. They said that WW found success in compliance by zeroing out the points for fruit and/or vegetables. Apparently clients were spending their points on other things before the change, and not getting ANY fruit or veg before the change. Stated that this phenomenon was regional; e.g. Californians tended to make room for fruit and veg in their point budget. I personally find most fruit juice so acidic that I only drink it with a big meal.

spiffytech 4y ago

I've had success with calorie counting (lost 65lbs!), but I could only do it when I was mentally healthy. Once my depression set in, like the author I ate to feel better because it was one of the few ways I could feel anything good at all. Not just the taste, but the anticipation was a form of hope for something better when I was hopeless. The worse I felt, the more I binged. And like the author, between the behavior and the meds I climbed to 300lbs (up from 163). I'm finally making progress on my weight again, through strength training and through being mentally healthy enough to make decent dietary choices. But when I was in the thick of it I barely had the strength to hang on, much less exercise methodically-calculated denial of my immediate desires.

vjk800 4y ago

Another surprise to some people might be cooking fats. The olive oil you use to fry your vegetables might easily be hundreds of calories.

JKCalhoun 4y ago

Tracking was interesting to me — made me identify the worst offenders and try to come down on those first. Sodas went right away. I like my coffee sweet so dropped down to just one cup in the morning. What worked best for me though was simply portion control. When I lay food out on my plate I can make a pretty good guess as to what's enough. The trick is to stop when you clear your plate — no seconds. That ended up slowly taking the weight down. It only came back when I slacked off from my portion control regimen (started back on it again a few weeks back).

Fatnino 4y ago

The word you want is empathize. Not emphasis.

vgatherps 4y ago
It’s amazing to me how many HN commenters think people want their discussions filled with grammar/spelling nitpicks in the days of rampant autocorrects gone wild

solarmist 4y ago

Absolutely, but one caution. Don't lump whole fruit in with fruit juice. No one ever got fat eating fruit.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
They're not all the same either. A fibrous apple won't cause nearly the same glucose spike as a bowl of sugary-sweet grapes.
- solarmist 4y ago
  Very true, but you’d get sick of grapes before you got fat from them.