6 ms·

This is so true. The mental pressure your body brings to bear to try to reestablish the old equilibrium, and the emotional energy needed to withstand that menta

by dkarl 1y ago

This is so true. The mental pressure your body brings to bear to try to reestablish the old equilibrium, and the emotional energy needed to withstand that mental pressure until your body accepts the new equilibrium, are incredibly hard realities of weight loss. Unfortunately, when you mention these realities, people react very negatively. They say that if it's hard, then it's unhealthy and you're doing it wrong. They preach that it should feel easy and natural, as if that's a path forward. It isn't. It's the end goal, and the path is long and hard.

arp242 1y ago
I think the thing is that different people are, well, different. I talked about this a few weeks ago[1], but for me losing and maintaining weight actually is quite easy. I foresee no problems maintaining weight going forward because I managed to do that for 25 years without really paying much attention to it, and can easily identify the source of my weight gain. Even losing weight is just a few relatively simple adjustments to my diet. But the reality for other people is very different. Because I never had problems with my weight before I never really paid much attention to any of these discussion until a few months ago. I've been a bit surprised at the amount of aggression in some of these discussions at times (including on HN). It seems to me that people with different bodies and experiences are just talking past each other, and in addition to that there is a section of rather unpleasant people who are so high up on their moral high horse that they've become hypoxic. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44554154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44554154
- theshrike79 1y ago
  > But the reality for other people is very different. "Food noise" is the term people use nowadays. Basically I'm always thinking about food. Always. It's a source of dopamine for me - I have others, but food is a constant. It's like trying to get off a drug, but you still need to take that drug 3-5 times a day to not die. Then there are people for whom food is just fuel. They can just ... stop eating. Or eat less. Food doesn't give them any pleasure, it's just a thing they have to consume to not die.
  - arp242 1y ago
    > Food doesn't give them any pleasure, it's just a thing they have to consume to not die. There are very few, if any, people like that; almost everyone enjoys nice food. The major exception being people with eating disorders.
  - anon373839 1y ago
    Changing the composition of your diet will do much to quiet this noise. If you’re eating a high protein diet with lots of fibrous vegetables, you will likely end up eating more food with fewer calories overall. And this type of food is very satiating - sometimes to the point that lack of appetite can be an issue.
    - Fire-Dragon-DoL 1y ago
      No, unfortunately. I eat a very healthy diet and still struggle.
      - anon373839 1y ago
        Hm. A "healthy" diet is a somewhat slippery concept. There are lots of diets that are healthy, but not optimal for supporting fat loss. Are you building each meal around a significant lean protein source, with a total protein intake somewhere in the vicinity of 0.8+ g/lb. of your goal body weight? And then for the remaining calories that are not protein, are you minimizing high calorie density foods (oils, butter, sugar, breads, pasta, etc.) and maximizing low calorie density foods (quinoa, oats, sweet potato, etc.)? And then finally, are you at a calorie intake that is 80-85% of your TDEE, and not lower? Usually, this kind of diet plan results in eating a large volume of food that alleviates physiological hunger. Granted, it's not the kind of food that lights up most people's reward pathways. If you're fending off cravings for sweet treats and stuff, there are different strategies you can try to help with those. Sometimes it is best to just cut them out for a time, until the "addiction" breaks. But you can also try penciling them in at infrequent, scheduled intervals in highly regulated amounts.
        1y ago
anon373839 1y ago
A lot of this is mental. It really helps to deliberately shift your identity to match your target weight. Instead of thinking of yourself as a 220 pound person who has forced themselves to 180 through deprivation, you think of yourself as a 180 pound person who eats what a (healthy) 180 pound person would eat. The old lifestyle and food choices are something you have to detach from because they are gone forever. If you don’t do this, you’ll continue to feel as if you’re in a transient space, and that increases the lure of familiar old ways.

by dkarl 1y ago

arp242 1y ago

I think the thing is that different people are, well, different. I talked about this a few weeks ago[1], but for me losing and maintaining weight actually is quite easy. I foresee no problems maintaining weight going forward because I managed to do that for 25 years without really paying much attention to it, and can easily identify the source of my weight gain. Even losing weight is just a few relatively simple adjustments to my diet. But the reality for other people is very different. Because I never had problems with my weight before I never really paid much attention to any of these discussion until a few months ago. I've been a bit surprised at the amount of aggression in some of these discussions at times (including on HN). It seems to me that people with different bodies and experiences are just talking past each other, and in addition to that there is a section of rather unpleasant people who are so high up on their moral high horse that they've become hypoxic. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44554154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44554154

theshrike79 1y ago
> But the reality for other people is very different. "Food noise" is the term people use nowadays. Basically I'm always thinking about food. Always. It's a source of dopamine for me - I have others, but food is a constant. It's like trying to get off a drug, but you still need to take that drug 3-5 times a day to not die. Then there are people for whom food is just fuel. They can just ... stop eating. Or eat less. Food doesn't give them any pleasure, it's just a thing they have to consume to not die.
- arp242 1y ago
  > Food doesn't give them any pleasure, it's just a thing they have to consume to not die. There are very few, if any, people like that; almost everyone enjoys nice food. The major exception being people with eating disorders.
- anon373839 1y ago
  Changing the composition of your diet will do much to quiet this noise. If you’re eating a high protein diet with lots of fibrous vegetables, you will likely end up eating more food with fewer calories overall. And this type of food is very satiating - sometimes to the point that lack of appetite can be an issue.
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 1y ago
    No, unfortunately. I eat a very healthy diet and still struggle.
    - anon373839 1y ago
      Hm. A "healthy" diet is a somewhat slippery concept. There are lots of diets that are healthy, but not optimal for supporting fat loss. Are you building each meal around a significant lean protein source, with a total protein intake somewhere in the vicinity of 0.8+ g/lb. of your goal body weight? And then for the remaining calories that are not protein, are you minimizing high calorie density foods (oils, butter, sugar, breads, pasta, etc.) and maximizing low calorie density foods (quinoa, oats, sweet potato, etc.)? And then finally, are you at a calorie intake that is 80-85% of your TDEE, and not lower? Usually, this kind of diet plan results in eating a large volume of food that alleviates physiological hunger. Granted, it's not the kind of food that lights up most people's reward pathways. If you're fending off cravings for sweet treats and stuff, there are different strategies you can try to help with those. Sometimes it is best to just cut them out for a time, until the "addiction" breaks. But you can also try penciling them in at infrequent, scheduled intervals in highly regulated amounts.
      - 1y ago

anon373839 1y ago

A lot of this is mental. It really helps to deliberately shift your identity to match your target weight. Instead of thinking of yourself as a 220 pound person who has forced themselves to 180 through deprivation, you think of yourself as a 180 pound person who eats what a (healthy) 180 pound person would eat. The old lifestyle and food choices are something you have to detach from because they are gone forever. If you don’t do this, you’ll continue to feel as if you’re in a transient space, and that increases the lure of familiar old ways.