4 ms·

In the last few months I read two books on this topic, and both (if I recalled correctly) mentioned The Biggest Loser (or similar). Exercised - Daniel E Lieber

In the last few months I read two books on this topic, and both (if I recalled correctly) mentioned The Biggest Loser (or similar). Exercised - Daniel E Lieberman https://www.npr.org/2021/01/05/953249677/exercised-explains-why-it-can-be-hard-to-commit-to-working-out-and-why-we-should https://www.npr.org/2021/01/05/953249677/exercised-explains-... Burn - Herman Pontzer (who I believe was a student of Lieberman's) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-human-metabolism-research-upends-conventional-wisdom-about-how-we-burn-calories/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-human-metabol... Both a fairly dry and academic, but do get into the weeds if that's your thing. A third book that's related but is an easier more entertaining read is "The Comfort Crisis" but Michael Easter. https://eastermichael.com/book/ https://eastermichael.com/book/ Easter actually interviews / quotes Lieberman. The gist of all three...from an evolutionary perspective, the human body is designed for lean caloric times. When there is more calories than there is activity to burn it, those calories will be stored as fat (in preparation for leaner times). There's no ceiling on that so you'll keep adding weight. In modern times, our evolutionary advantages become disadvantages. The best way to lose weight, is to not gain it in the first place.

csours 3y ago
Hungry Brain by Guyenet is huge recommend from me, and I second the recommendation for Burn
- chiefalchemist 3y ago
  I'll check that out. Thanks. Speaking of the brain, I've often wondered if less focus and thinking is also contributing to weight gain. The brain is responsible for ~20% of resting metabolic rate. If the brain consumes just a bit less calories per day, that's also going to add up.
  - Angostura 3y ago
    The calorific difference between an active and resting brain in negligible
    - voisin 3y ago
      Interesting! Source?
      - Angostura 3y ago
        Quite a few, but https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-cal... https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/does-concentrated-thought-burn-calories https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/does-concentrate...
        chiefalchemist 3y ago
        From the second link "There have been some experiments to show that abstract problem solving does raise the brain’s metabolic requirements, and the higher your IQ, the more extra energy you can expend in this way. But it’s unlikely to amount to more than five calories an hour, either way. So you can’t Sudoku yourself slim" 5 kcals x 15 hrs = 75 kcals. Actually, this is significant in the sense that if you over kcal by 100 kcals per day that'll add up. 75 is 75% of 100. It looks small but in the context of weight, 75 kcals per day is enough to make a difference.
DiscourseFan 3y ago
I've managed to keep a good amount of weight off for years, but only with vigilance, because even a couple weeks of unrestrained eating can be disastrous. I'm not at my lowest ever weight, that was during COVID, when I got hit with a nice Δ-variant, and lost my appetite for a month before force-feeding myself back to normal. That was the my first experience with truly unhealthy weight loss, and made me realize that while being nice and slim is good in the short term, in truth we aren't so far from the terrifying infectious diseases and famines that plagued humanity even last century, and if you aren't running around all the time desperate for something to eat, you probably don't need to be doing much moving anyway. Thinner people are healthier out of evolutionary necessity, the environment is working against them! It's desperation, all the other benefits of exercise still come to the heavy.
- cmrdporcupine 3y ago
  Encountering someone with a serious anorexic eating disorder, or watching a loved one with cancer -- who was formerly slim and healthy -- whither away their insufficient fat reserves while under treatment... can put things in an entirely different perspective. My mild obesity doesn't seem so bad now. I'd rather have a little too much and be fine with it... than be psychologically tortured by it, or not have enough in case of health emergency.
  - chiefalchemist 3y ago
    In those two case, sure extra weight seems like a positive. But have back problems? Or leg issues? And that extra weight will make you even less mobile. Can't move? That'll get you bed sores and perhaps eventually an infection. The body didn't evolve to carry so much extra weight. You're on the wrong side of history.
    - DiscourseFan 3y ago
      Don't bring history into this! In any case, thousands of years of evolution, boom and bust cycles of metabolism, show that having excess fat stores is very, very useful when you have to go months without regular sustenance. Those are the people we're descended from, not the ones who have "fast" metabolisms. It leads to problems later in life, sure, but not before one reproduces!
blowfish721 3y ago
He (Michael Easter) was actually on ”The Drive” with Peter Attia recently. https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/the-peter-attia-drive/id1400828889?i=1000640881663 https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/the-peter-attia-drive/...

csours 3y ago

Hungry Brain by Guyenet is huge recommend from me, and I second the recommendation for Burn

chiefalchemist 3y ago
I'll check that out. Thanks. Speaking of the brain, I've often wondered if less focus and thinking is also contributing to weight gain. The brain is responsible for ~20% of resting metabolic rate. If the brain consumes just a bit less calories per day, that's also going to add up.
- Angostura 3y ago
  The calorific difference between an active and resting brain in negligible
  - voisin 3y ago
    Interesting! Source?
    - Angostura 3y ago
      Quite a few, but https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-cal... https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/does-concentrated-thought-burn-calories https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/does-concentrate...
      - chiefalchemist 3y ago
        From the second link "There have been some experiments to show that abstract problem solving does raise the brain’s metabolic requirements, and the higher your IQ, the more extra energy you can expend in this way. But it’s unlikely to amount to more than five calories an hour, either way. So you can’t Sudoku yourself slim" 5 kcals x 15 hrs = 75 kcals. Actually, this is significant in the sense that if you over kcal by 100 kcals per day that'll add up. 75 is 75% of 100. It looks small but in the context of weight, 75 kcals per day is enough to make a difference.

DiscourseFan 3y ago

I've managed to keep a good amount of weight off for years, but only with vigilance, because even a couple weeks of unrestrained eating can be disastrous. I'm not at my lowest ever weight, that was during COVID, when I got hit with a nice Δ-variant, and lost my appetite for a month before force-feeding myself back to normal. That was the my first experience with truly unhealthy weight loss, and made me realize that while being nice and slim is good in the short term, in truth we aren't so far from the terrifying infectious diseases and famines that plagued humanity even last century, and if you aren't running around all the time desperate for something to eat, you probably don't need to be doing much moving anyway. Thinner people are healthier out of evolutionary necessity, the environment is working against them! It's desperation, all the other benefits of exercise still come to the heavy.

cmrdporcupine 3y ago
Encountering someone with a serious anorexic eating disorder, or watching a loved one with cancer -- who was formerly slim and healthy -- whither away their insufficient fat reserves while under treatment... can put things in an entirely different perspective. My mild obesity doesn't seem so bad now. I'd rather have a little too much and be fine with it... than be psychologically tortured by it, or not have enough in case of health emergency.
- chiefalchemist 3y ago
  In those two case, sure extra weight seems like a positive. But have back problems? Or leg issues? And that extra weight will make you even less mobile. Can't move? That'll get you bed sores and perhaps eventually an infection. The body didn't evolve to carry so much extra weight. You're on the wrong side of history.
  - DiscourseFan 3y ago
    Don't bring history into this! In any case, thousands of years of evolution, boom and bust cycles of metabolism, show that having excess fat stores is very, very useful when you have to go months without regular sustenance. Those are the people we're descended from, not the ones who have "fast" metabolisms. It leads to problems later in life, sure, but not before one reproduces!

blowfish721 3y ago

He (Michael Easter) was actually on ”The Drive” with Peter Attia recently. https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/the-peter-attia-drive/id1400828889?i=1000640881663 https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/the-peter-attia-drive/...