3 ms·

I have benefited from his "The Hackers Diet" book - https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/ https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/ and his numerous book reviews. He was

I have benefited from his "The Hackers Diet" book - https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/ https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/ and his numerous book reviews. He was one of persons who inspired me with his voracious reading habit. It was unbelievable to me first. He also led his life in his own way, with not many knowing that he was the founder of Autodesk. He will remain an inspiration to hackers.

cryptozeus 3y ago
Thanks for sharing this. What a gem !
tjansen 3y ago
Wow, yes. I first read it 25-30 years ago, and had no idea who he was. But it's one of the few books that really changed my life.
- jimmydddd 3y ago
  This past weekend I noticed I've been logging my weight daily on his site (it does a 10 day weighted running average) since 2006. I was thinking of sending him an email thanking him for the help he provided me. So, a strange coincidence. RIP.
gtirloni 3y ago
Looks nice! Is the science sound?
- Quekid5 3y ago
  If you mean The Hacker's Diet, then yes. It's just a way of doing CICO and weight tracking (+ smoothing to avoid demotivating wild fluctuations), so yes.
- p_l 3y ago
  For hacker's diet? Yes, but it's very barebones basics of calorie deficit calculations, and do not take into account (very individual) differences across the day.
  - zikzak 3y ago
    Actually, on close reading, you realize he's eating one large meal a day and that's it. This is actually intermittent fasting "before it was cool".
    - p_l 3y ago
      Yes, but it's not articulated in detail why and how it works. It's a good start, and for many it will help - hell, it did help me just by putting it down in clear numbers that ultimately calorie deficit is the crucial thing.
      - Asooka 3y ago
        > it's not articulated in detail why and how it works Answering that is a very long and fascinating deep dive in human biology with plenty of unknowns. I wouldn't even try to summarise as I myself am nowhere near knowledgeable enough on the topic. For myself, I've noticed that maintaining a calorie deficit is simply easier if it's a regular meal and then no meal than if it's two half meals.
        nsxwolf 3y ago
        I can go for days without eating and not think about it too much - but as soon as I start eating, I become obsessed with food and cannot stop. So if I just eat dinner, there's not enough time left in the day to overeat. That's why it works for me.
        mediumsmart 3y ago
        You might like this talk fwiw: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOvn4UqznU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOvn4UqznU
        p_l 3y ago
        Reduction of meal count definitely helps in maintaining caloric deficit, and even more if like me, you're insulin-resistant. Trying to do classic '5 meals a day', no matter their size, ensured I'd end up with completely out of whack blood sugar driving me into cravings that ensured there was no weight loss, but weight gain.
chpatrick 3y ago
It helped me a lot too. Rest in peace, John.

cryptozeus 3y ago

Thanks for sharing this. What a gem !

tjansen 3y ago

Wow, yes. I first read it 25-30 years ago, and had no idea who he was. But it's one of the few books that really changed my life.

jimmydddd 3y ago
This past weekend I noticed I've been logging my weight daily on his site (it does a 10 day weighted running average) since 2006. I was thinking of sending him an email thanking him for the help he provided me. So, a strange coincidence. RIP.

gtirloni 3y ago

Looks nice! Is the science sound?

Quekid5 3y ago
If you mean The Hacker's Diet, then yes. It's just a way of doing CICO and weight tracking (+ smoothing to avoid demotivating wild fluctuations), so yes.
p_l 3y ago
For hacker's diet? Yes, but it's very barebones basics of calorie deficit calculations, and do not take into account (very individual) differences across the day.
- zikzak 3y ago
  Actually, on close reading, you realize he's eating one large meal a day and that's it. This is actually intermittent fasting "before it was cool".
  - p_l 3y ago
    Yes, but it's not articulated in detail why and how it works. It's a good start, and for many it will help - hell, it did help me just by putting it down in clear numbers that ultimately calorie deficit is the crucial thing.
    - Asooka 3y ago
      > it's not articulated in detail why and how it works Answering that is a very long and fascinating deep dive in human biology with plenty of unknowns. I wouldn't even try to summarise as I myself am nowhere near knowledgeable enough on the topic. For myself, I've noticed that maintaining a calorie deficit is simply easier if it's a regular meal and then no meal than if it's two half meals.
      - nsxwolf 3y ago
        I can go for days without eating and not think about it too much - but as soon as I start eating, I become obsessed with food and cannot stop. So if I just eat dinner, there's not enough time left in the day to overeat. That's why it works for me.
      - mediumsmart 3y ago
        You might like this talk fwiw: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOvn4UqznU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOvn4UqznU
      - p_l 3y ago
        Reduction of meal count definitely helps in maintaining caloric deficit, and even more if like me, you're insulin-resistant. Trying to do classic '5 meals a day', no matter their size, ensured I'd end up with completely out of whack blood sugar driving me into cravings that ensured there was no weight loss, but weight gain.

chpatrick 3y ago

It helped me a lot too. Rest in peace, John.