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I see this kind of 'well actually' style response a lot when calorie counting vs intermittent fasting gets brought up. Yes they're both forms of calorie restric

by rtkwe 3y ago

I see this kind of 'well actually' style response a lot when calorie counting vs intermittent fasting gets brought up. Yes they're both forms of calorie restriction in general but the mechanism and the ease of adherence is pretty difference so important to study especially given the results that IF seems to be significantly more effective because it's easier to execute.

jitl 3y ago
After causally seeing popular weight loss advice in US media over the years offering all variety of silver bullets (One Weird Trick etc), I was flabbergasted and betrayed to learn how simple the math of weight loss is once I finally looked into it 4 months ago. Very roughly, there’s 3500kcal in 1lb of body. Given that fact plus your current weight and calorie intake, you can build a spreadsheet in 30 mins to compute the calories per day to make your body any weight you want in a reasonable time frame (losing >1% a week is generally viewed as unhealthy and risky). Of course adhering to the plan is the challenging part - and then it’s helpful to consider strategies like TRE, once you understand the metric target part. I wrote the comment as a reaction to the editorialized headline suggesting to some degree that TRE is a silver bullet / One Weird Trick. Maybe it is effectively that for many people - but in case there’s a casual reader scrolling past I want to give them a bit more of the ground truth that’s somehow not popular knowledge.
- PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
  > Very roughly, there’s 3500kcal in 1lb of body. Given that fact plus your current weight and calorie intake, you can build a spreadsheet in 30 mins to compute the calories per day to make your body any weight you want in a reasonable time frame emphasis on the very roughly ... a significant part of body mass is tissue you do not want to lose: bone, brain, organs
  - anthonypasq 3y ago
    1lb of fat is ~3500 calories and that is simply 9 calories per gram of fat X 453 grams in a pound. its actually closer to 4000 but people just use 3500 because that means you would need a 500 calorie deficit per day to lose a pound a week.
    - steve1977 3y ago
      It’s even easier in the metric system, where a 500 kcal (daily) deficit should roughly amount to a 500 g (weekly) weight loss. And AFAIK this is calculated based on body fat actually corresponding to around 7.7 kcal per gram, not 9 (that is for food).
- bobmaxup 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome
JshWright 3y ago
That doesn't strike me as "well actually". The title says "more effective than calorie restriction". If it's a form of calorie restriction, then the title doesn't make sense: "Form A of calorie restriction is more effective than calorie restriction". I think a clearer title would be something to the effect of "Intermittent fasting more effective than calorie counting for calorie restriction" Also worth pointing out that the study was specific to T2 diabetes.
paulpauper 3y ago
Nothing really works that well for most people ,and there is a lot of ambiguity. I am thankfull we have GLP-1 drugs , which unlike having to compare CR vs IF, seems to work for most people .

by rtkwe 3y ago

jitl 3y ago

After causally seeing popular weight loss advice in US media over the years offering all variety of silver bullets (One Weird Trick etc), I was flabbergasted and betrayed to learn how simple the math of weight loss is once I finally looked into it 4 months ago. Very roughly, there’s 3500kcal in 1lb of body. Given that fact plus your current weight and calorie intake, you can build a spreadsheet in 30 mins to compute the calories per day to make your body any weight you want in a reasonable time frame (losing >1% a week is generally viewed as unhealthy and risky). Of course adhering to the plan is the challenging part - and then it’s helpful to consider strategies like TRE, once you understand the metric target part. I wrote the comment as a reaction to the editorialized headline suggesting to some degree that TRE is a silver bullet / One Weird Trick. Maybe it is effectively that for many people - but in case there’s a casual reader scrolling past I want to give them a bit more of the ground truth that’s somehow not popular knowledge.

PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
> Very roughly, there’s 3500kcal in 1lb of body. Given that fact plus your current weight and calorie intake, you can build a spreadsheet in 30 mins to compute the calories per day to make your body any weight you want in a reasonable time frame emphasis on the very roughly ... a significant part of body mass is tissue you do not want to lose: bone, brain, organs
- anthonypasq 3y ago
  1lb of fat is ~3500 calories and that is simply 9 calories per gram of fat X 453 grams in a pound. its actually closer to 4000 but people just use 3500 because that means you would need a 500 calorie deficit per day to lose a pound a week.
  - steve1977 3y ago
    It’s even easier in the metric system, where a 500 kcal (daily) deficit should roughly amount to a 500 g (weekly) weight loss. And AFAIK this is calculated based on body fat actually corresponding to around 7.7 kcal per gram, not 9 (that is for food).
bobmaxup 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome

JshWright 3y ago

That doesn't strike me as "well actually". The title says "more effective than calorie restriction". If it's a form of calorie restriction, then the title doesn't make sense: "Form A of calorie restriction is more effective than calorie restriction". I think a clearer title would be something to the effect of "Intermittent fasting more effective than calorie counting for calorie restriction" Also worth pointing out that the study was specific to T2 diabetes.

paulpauper 3y ago

Nothing really works that well for most people ,and there is a lot of ambiguity. I am thankfull we have GLP-1 drugs , which unlike having to compare CR vs IF, seems to work for most people .