4 ms·

arguing by assertion doesn't make it true. You are referring to the caloric balance hypothesis, and it is sad that you guys are downvoting me for calling it in

arguing by assertion doesn't make it true. You are referring to the caloric balance hypothesis, and it is sad that you guys are downvoting me for calling it in to question. It has not been experimentally verified. And yeah, some friends and I have tested on ourselves eating 4,000 calories without significantly altering exercise levels, and anecdotally have not gained weight.

farinasa 13y ago
I just spent the last year losing 60 pounds. I did so by reducing my food intake. At one point I began to exercise without reducing intake and I began to lose weight. Once classes started, I could not longer exercise as much and my weight loss stagnated. So I tried simply eating less and continued to lose weight. I lost about 40 by exercising only and about 20 reducing intake only. There is a difference between protein calories and carbohydrate calories and how each is processed, but beside that, calories represent energy. Energy that must be used. Otherwise, it will be stored.
- whiddershins 13y ago
  Just because something works doesn't mean your hypothesis as to WHY it works is true. See any research published on Traditional Chinese Medicine for a similar example. [spoiler: it definitely works, but is it REALLY because of qi meridians?] I think it is great that your approach is working for you, because that is what matters. Congrats on the weight loss.
  - farinasa 13y ago
    >Congrats on the weight loss. Thank you. Much appreciated. >Just because something works doesn't mean your hypothesis as to WHY it works is true. But in general, it actually does. This is how science works. You get an idea that doing something will produce a result. If you do that thing and see the expected result, that indicates a successful hypothesis. After that the conversation devolves into existential questions on whether humans can really know.
    - whiddershins 13y ago
      Ah, the oldest scientific trap. In actuality you must form a hypothesis, then construct an experiment designed to DISPROVE the hypothesis. For example, for how many months must I eat 4000 calories a day without altering exercise or gaining weight (just hypothetically) before I cause you to reconsider your hypothesis.
      - farinasa 13y ago
        To disprove a hypothesis, you must already have data. You can't form a hypothesis without data. How can I start to collect data to disprove a hypothesis I haven't come up with yet? Well to get initial data, you must have some guidance in the data you decide to collect. There must be structure, a control, standardized values. You can't form a proper experiment without first having a hypothesis. Your goal is not to prove it correct regardless of the results, your goal is to gain insight on your hypothesis base on the results. I never said you must prove your hypothesis correct. But the goal is certainly to assess the accuracy of your estimation. Your comment is really just a strawman tactic anyway. Thread derailed.
VLM 13y ago
People are notoriously poor at recording and estimating both food intake and actual caloric output including changes in base metabolic rate and overall activity level including sleep and even mood changes. Unless you were in some kind of inpatient medical facility under medical observation I'm not thinking your data is going to be accurate enough to detect any change, especially short term. The other issue is a crude engineering rule of thumb (why isn't it a dietary rule of thumb?) is something like one hundred calories per day, every day, equals one hundred pounds of fat per decade, either plus or minus. Very few people get fat (or thin) in a week or a month or even a year. It takes a fairly heroic effort for a woman to just gain baby weight in 9 months. Try four thousand calories per day for a decade and get back to us, if someone can roll you to the keyboard at that time (unless you're all pro atheletes or lumberjacks or something).

farinasa 13y ago

I just spent the last year losing 60 pounds. I did so by reducing my food intake. At one point I began to exercise without reducing intake and I began to lose weight. Once classes started, I could not longer exercise as much and my weight loss stagnated. So I tried simply eating less and continued to lose weight. I lost about 40 by exercising only and about 20 reducing intake only. There is a difference between protein calories and carbohydrate calories and how each is processed, but beside that, calories represent energy. Energy that must be used. Otherwise, it will be stored.

whiddershins 13y ago
Just because something works doesn't mean your hypothesis as to WHY it works is true. See any research published on Traditional Chinese Medicine for a similar example. [spoiler: it definitely works, but is it REALLY because of qi meridians?] I think it is great that your approach is working for you, because that is what matters. Congrats on the weight loss.
- farinasa 13y ago
  >Congrats on the weight loss. Thank you. Much appreciated. >Just because something works doesn't mean your hypothesis as to WHY it works is true. But in general, it actually does. This is how science works. You get an idea that doing something will produce a result. If you do that thing and see the expected result, that indicates a successful hypothesis. After that the conversation devolves into existential questions on whether humans can really know.
  - whiddershins 13y ago
    Ah, the oldest scientific trap. In actuality you must form a hypothesis, then construct an experiment designed to DISPROVE the hypothesis. For example, for how many months must I eat 4000 calories a day without altering exercise or gaining weight (just hypothetically) before I cause you to reconsider your hypothesis.
    - farinasa 13y ago
      To disprove a hypothesis, you must already have data. You can't form a hypothesis without data. How can I start to collect data to disprove a hypothesis I haven't come up with yet? Well to get initial data, you must have some guidance in the data you decide to collect. There must be structure, a control, standardized values. You can't form a proper experiment without first having a hypothesis. Your goal is not to prove it correct regardless of the results, your goal is to gain insight on your hypothesis base on the results. I never said you must prove your hypothesis correct. But the goal is certainly to assess the accuracy of your estimation. Your comment is really just a strawman tactic anyway. Thread derailed.

VLM 13y ago

People are notoriously poor at recording and estimating both food intake and actual caloric output including changes in base metabolic rate and overall activity level including sleep and even mood changes. Unless you were in some kind of inpatient medical facility under medical observation I'm not thinking your data is going to be accurate enough to detect any change, especially short term. The other issue is a crude engineering rule of thumb (why isn't it a dietary rule of thumb?) is something like one hundred calories per day, every day, equals one hundred pounds of fat per decade, either plus or minus. Very few people get fat (or thin) in a week or a month or even a year. It takes a fairly heroic effort for a woman to just gain baby weight in 9 months. Try four thousand calories per day for a decade and get back to us, if someone can roll you to the keyboard at that time (unless you're all pro atheletes or lumberjacks or something).