4 ms·

At the end of the day, isn't it just burning more calories than you take in every day to lose weight? If you can't exercise and are gaining weight, shouldn't yo

At the end of the day, isn't it just burning more calories than you take in every day to lose weight? If you can't exercise and are gaining weight, shouldn't you be able to reduce calorie intake until you start losing weight. I think we are organic machines, there isn't any magic involved.

devinmrn 3y ago
I agree and I'm not understanding the seemingly dissenting opinions in the larger comments. This is basic thermodynamics.
- gumby 3y ago
  There's more to digestion and metabolism than basic thermo. I mean sure, supply your body with inadequate calories and it will make up the difference by pulling by storage. But that's like saying the steam train and diesel turbine train work the same way: just heat up a fluid to move some metal to turn a crankshaft. The food labels on your food packages are determined by calorimetry. But your body digests some food more readily than other foods, also affected by what else you eat with it, how you prepare it, etc. Also your body encourages you to eat certain things to get various nutrients: you rarely eat those nutrients alone; typically they come along with a bunch of other stuff. Then peoples' feedback systems are heavily influenced by all sorts of things: signals from your gut biome, your emotions and response to social signals and learning, various kinds of signalling reflecting what you eat (and those signals are empirically hacked by food engineers), and random brain bugs, among others. Exercise is hardly scientifically measurable either. It's not like that "calories burned" reading on your bike, is comparable to a bike from a different manufacturer, much less a different kind of exercise.
  - bostonsre 3y ago
    It's hard to be precise about it, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. If you are gaining weight on your current caloric intake and exercise regiment, lower the amount of calories you are eating. Being an advanced sniper that takes into account all the various impacts of physics is great and can work, or you can use tracer bullets and walk in your shot with a simple ooda loop.
halostatue 3y ago
There may not be any magic, but there is science advanced enough that we cannot tell the difference (the impact of personal microbiomes is largely unknown at this point). And the reality is that simply taking in fewer calories will often cause your body to burn fewer calories because your body is meant to conserve energy for the times when it is needed to run away from the bigger predators.
- bostonsre 3y ago
  I'm sure there are effects on metabolism from eating less, but it should still be the same basic premise, burn more calories than you take in every day and your body will need to use its reserves to keep going. There may be medications you can take to make it easier, but at the end of the day, there will need to be discipline. If you are gaining weight on the current caloric intake and metabolism, you'll need to consume less calories until you are heading in the right direction. It won't be fun, it will be hard and you'll more than likely be hungry at times, but it will get easier over time if you get in to the routine.
  - pseudalopex 3y ago
    > There may be medications you can take to make it easier, but at the end of the day, there will need to be discipline. Discipline is easier when you aren't hungry it turns out.
onicosta 3y ago
A lot of people think that their daily calorie intake is lower then it actually is. A pill or injectable is not a cure to this problem, no matter how good they say it works.

devinmrn 3y ago

I agree and I'm not understanding the seemingly dissenting opinions in the larger comments. This is basic thermodynamics.

gumby 3y ago
There's more to digestion and metabolism than basic thermo. I mean sure, supply your body with inadequate calories and it will make up the difference by pulling by storage. But that's like saying the steam train and diesel turbine train work the same way: just heat up a fluid to move some metal to turn a crankshaft. The food labels on your food packages are determined by calorimetry. But your body digests some food more readily than other foods, also affected by what else you eat with it, how you prepare it, etc. Also your body encourages you to eat certain things to get various nutrients: you rarely eat those nutrients alone; typically they come along with a bunch of other stuff. Then peoples' feedback systems are heavily influenced by all sorts of things: signals from your gut biome, your emotions and response to social signals and learning, various kinds of signalling reflecting what you eat (and those signals are empirically hacked by food engineers), and random brain bugs, among others. Exercise is hardly scientifically measurable either. It's not like that "calories burned" reading on your bike, is comparable to a bike from a different manufacturer, much less a different kind of exercise.
- bostonsre 3y ago
  It's hard to be precise about it, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. If you are gaining weight on your current caloric intake and exercise regiment, lower the amount of calories you are eating. Being an advanced sniper that takes into account all the various impacts of physics is great and can work, or you can use tracer bullets and walk in your shot with a simple ooda loop.

halostatue 3y ago

There may not be any magic, but there is science advanced enough that we cannot tell the difference (the impact of personal microbiomes is largely unknown at this point). And the reality is that simply taking in fewer calories will often cause your body to burn fewer calories because your body is meant to conserve energy for the times when it is needed to run away from the bigger predators.

bostonsre 3y ago
I'm sure there are effects on metabolism from eating less, but it should still be the same basic premise, burn more calories than you take in every day and your body will need to use its reserves to keep going. There may be medications you can take to make it easier, but at the end of the day, there will need to be discipline. If you are gaining weight on the current caloric intake and metabolism, you'll need to consume less calories until you are heading in the right direction. It won't be fun, it will be hard and you'll more than likely be hungry at times, but it will get easier over time if you get in to the routine.
- pseudalopex 3y ago
  > There may be medications you can take to make it easier, but at the end of the day, there will need to be discipline. Discipline is easier when you aren't hungry it turns out.

onicosta 3y ago

A lot of people think that their daily calorie intake is lower then it actually is. A pill or injectable is not a cure to this problem, no matter how good they say it works.