HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

You are what you don't breathe out would be more accurate.

https://youtu.be/vuIlsN32WaE

I love how he captures it in a balloon during this Ted talk on fatloss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

If you think about it, you breathe in 21% oxygen and breathe out 5% CO2. If you switch to 100% oxygen, you still breathe out 5% CO2. This is because the carbonic acid is tightly regulated in the body at a level that is in equilibrium with 5% CO2. When we produce excess, through exercise, we ventilate more to maintain the balance. But the partial pressure of CO2 remains the same. There is some oxygen removed but only as much as the hemoglobin can carry.

Prolonged 100% oxygen has no effect on this and is also toxic over time. People on oxygen therapy are really breathing 40%, and 100% is only used for short stints during anesthetic procedures.

This video explains how weight loss occurs: https://youtu.be/vuIlsN32WaE

Here's how I lost weight:

1) Download the Lose It app

2) Buy an apple watch (or whatever matches with your phone)

3) Connect the watch up to the app

4) Fiddle about with the settings

5) Stay below the line

Excercise is optional. I did this for my dad and he can barely move, and he lost like 12kg.

The only reason ANYONE ever loses weight is because they consume less energy than they burn, there is no other way for energy you consume to leave your system:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

Fat stores are considered, metabolically, as stored energy as they expand and diminish based on the metabolizable energy of the diet, which may be different from the measured total energy.

But you’re definitely right! There’s a great Mr. Wizard-style TEDx video about it: https://youtu.be/vuIlsN32WaE

Your description above is not how the body works. To support a mass M must require a quantity of energy E obtained from food. The attempt to alter this model with “loose” ideas about “burn rates” therefore does not make sense.

The mathematics of weight loss is laid out clearly in 20 minutes here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

⬐ hsn915

Let's suppose (it's probably true) that there's an absolute minimum amount of calories your body must use per day to stay alive today.

Is that amount even sufficient to stay alive every day? Maybe your body can reduce some organ function for some amount of time, but it can't keep it shutdown forever.

ok, let's assume we're talking about the minimal burn rate that can sustain your body without shutting down any organ function what so ever.

Does that mean your body is burning exactly that amount of calories every day like a clock?

Certainly not. It's probably burning a lot more to help you move and think and deal with the daily stressors.

When you cut calories what generally happens is you feel lethargic. As if you can't muster the energy to do what you want to do and which you could previously do without problems.

I'm not into "studies" but I'm pretty sure there are some studies that show people who cut calories after a while their body adapts and lowers their base metabolic rate.

⬐ stonemetal12

For the studies type:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803033/

Total energy expenditure is constrained not additive.

⬐ naasking

Yes, when calories are cut below a certain level, your body downregulates "NEAT" (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), which includes activities like fidgeting, walking around a lot or walking instead of driving, taking stairs instead of elevators, etc. This actually accounts for a considerable number of calories.

Furthermore, a mass M needing energy E is too simplistic because it neglects environmental factors. A mass M in sub-Saharan Africa or a tropical jungle will require considerably more than E for maintenance than the same mass M in a relatively mild climate. This is because your body expends energy to regulate homeostasis (sweating and increased heart rate to cool the body in hot and humid conditions), so more difficult environments require more energy.

That said, "calories in vs. calories out" is still true, you just have to consider that your "calories out" responds to the number of calories in. Drop them too low too quickly, and your NEAT drops to maintain energy balance. But, you can force your body to expend more of that energy by requiring yourself to walk (increasing NEAT), or putting yourself in uncomfortable environments (like saunas), or my forcing yourself into strenuous exercise regimes (weight lifting, HITT, etc).

I agree that cooking is a form of digestion, but that is not what I was thinking when I made my comment. We are walking tubes. The cavity inside of the tube is still external to the tube itself.

This is a video that partially explains the concept.

https://youtu.be/vuIlsN32WaE

A good demonstration of this by Ruben Meerman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

Fun Ted talk of this point

The mathematics of weight loss https://youtu.be/vuIlsN32WaE

This is a fantastic video that breaks down the process, including great visual aids: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

For the science geeks, here's a great TEDx demonstration with lab experiments: "The mathematics of weight loss " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

⬐ perilunar

The presenter in the video is one of the authors of the article.

There is a nice Ted talk about the same topic. Something I often link to people saying "I can eat everything I want in this diet..." The mathematics of weight loss | Ruben Meerman | TEDxQUT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

My personal weight-loss (and now sports) is largely based on understanding how the human body works with metabolism.. carbs, fat, protein.. nice and geeky

TED talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

⬐ grondilu

Also a DNews video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ialLlcdcw

Really great data! Thank you for sharing.

The hard part for me is mindset and willpower. Unfortunately, knowing the physics* behind weight loss doesn't make it any easier, and perhaps might make it more stressful. Why can't I do this simple thing that logically is as complex as 2+2. Our minds have their own prerogatives.

I wonder then what did you tell yourself? How many times did you have a bad day? What was your mood like throughout? I'd love to know so much more about the psychology. Great article though and thanks again for sharing!

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

⬐ jsty

In my experience, one of the easiest ways is to make the process enjoyable. Try and find some sort of exercise you enjoy, or let yourself listen to your favourite podcasts / music whilst you're exercising.

At the end of the day, if you're hating every minute of it, there's very little likelihood you'll keep with your programme. So do whatever you need to do in order that you enjoy yourself whilst doing it, and results will follow :)

⬐ rwhit85

Beat Saber (Oculus Rift) + fitness watch (Vivosmart HR+) + My Fitness Pal is working great for me.

I'd been counting calories for a couple months and dropped about 8 pounds (which is good), but slow. My self-control was 'meh'.

Got Beat Saber two weeks ago. I love music, and apparently I love dancing. Kept tracking calories. Down another 8 pounds in those two weeks. I've been playing about 30-60 minutes a day, and with my average heart rate (at a safe level) and weight, I should be burning ~400-1000 calories in those sessions.

I understand a lot of that is water weight from working out, but I'm also keeping my calories in check WAY more easily. My graph from those two months of calories consumed was spiky with missing days (out of shame, not willing to enter them in). After starting with Beat Saber, my graph is incredibly consistent within ~200 calories, and always at or below my goal.

Having an understanding of what 500 calories actually means in terms of effort helps me mentally connect that with the value of eating that extra 500 calories. It's some kind of connection that doesn't exist when I'm not physically active and tracking calories.

Side note, I only keep track of my calories "burned" out of curiosity. Fitness trackers are notoriously unreliable overall, but it's motivating. I do NOT eat more calories based on activity done, which is a recipe for disaster IMO.

⬐ masklinn

> In my experience, one of the easiest ways is to make the process enjoyable. Try and find some sort of exercise you enjoy, or let yourself listen to your favourite podcasts / music whilst you're exercising.

TFA notes that they didn't exercise (that they tried but didn't stick).

Ideally you'd combine exercise and calorie counting, but for nerds calorie-counting makes the diet into a numbers game which can be a great motivator on its own.

⬐ pottspotts

I like this idea. I have also been bad about picking podcasts that I like, though. I think laziness and procrastination might be a huge factor for me. :-?

⬐ jsty

If you're struggling to start, there's a couple of things that might help.

1 - Arrange a regular workout with friends / a personal trainer. Once you're in the habit of exercising regularly, it gets much easier. And putting it off becomes harder thanks to someone else expecting you to turn up.

2 - Take something you really like (food, movies, etc.) and commit to yourself that you'll only do that thing after you've exercised to make it more appealing.

⬐ time0ut

My approach is that I can only watch an episode of a show if I spend the first 30 minutes of it on my stationary bike. (I am currently following Westworld Season 2 and The Expanse Season 3.) Tying my motivation to do cardio to my motivation to see what happens next has worked well for me. Getting motivated to lift 2x a week is another issue...

⬐ gavingmiller

> Getting motivated to lift 2x a week is another issue...

Was in the same boat until I started doing group classes. Used that to build accountability, motivation, and a "vocabulary" of how the gym works. Now I could spend hours at the gym by myself and love it. Find what works for you, cuz lifting is a blast!

⬐ masklinn

Note that TFA did not exercise (much), instead they used numbers tracking as motivators, think RPG min/maxing. It also works great with laziness and procrastination because all it requires is tracking and optimising a counter or two.

⬐ magic_beans

Exercise is ideal, but most people* don't burn enough calories exercising to enter a calorie deficit. Worse still: appetite spikes after exercise make most people eat more. All that really matters is eating below your maintenance calories. Exercise is the cherry on top for making your body actually look good.

*If you're weightlifting HEAVY 2-3 hours a day 6 days a week or running marathons every weekend, then you are burning enough calories to enter a deficit. Otherwise: your workout is burning fewer calories than there are in a banana.

⬐ triviatise

for me exercise has to be fun. I can easily do a 2 hour mountain bike ride and just have fun. I can kitesurf for 3 hours and still want more. Same with ultimate frisbee and hockey. Cycling, running, weightlifting are mind numbing.

The problem I have with exercising is that it makes me really hungry causing me to overeat. If Im exercising 4 days a week, it isnt a problem. But if Im only doing 2 times a week, it is better to not exercise at all.

Skipping dinner works for me (I eat breakfast around 8, lunch at 2, and late snack around 6) except my family wont let me skip dinner. When I used to travel for business it worked and I was able to get down to 165.

Ive been stuck at 175 (5' 9") for a long time, I just downloaded myfitnesspal and will try that. I do like low carb because it reduces the hunger I feel making it much easier to follow reduced calories.

⬐ dahart

> The hard part for me is mindset and willpower. Our minds have their own prerogatives.

Exactly right. Losing weight by counting calories is an almost entirely mental activity, not physical. We have a physiology that wants food and abhors not eating enough.

> I wonder then what did you tell yourself?

Like the author, I discovered counting calories a couple of years ago, after trying and failing to lose weight through exercise for 20 years.

I do have some mental tricks that worked for me.

Number one: the reason I got overweight is because I’m mis-calibrated. When I feel full, it’s because I already ate too much. What I need to do is re-calibrate to understand what “enough” is. By assigning a negative judgement to feeling full, and seeking the feeling of enough, it helps remove the idea that I just need willpower to overcome any hunger. A little bit of hunger (but not a lot) is a good thing, so I want to stay there.

Number two: I set my calorie budget to my future weight, not my current weight with minus a thousand. This is a “set it and forget it” plan. I want to calibrate my normal eating for the rest of my life, not diet for a month or two and then regress. I also don’t want to make adjustments when I’m done, I want to act like I’m already done. If I want to be 180lbs, and I should be eating 2k calories when I’m 180lbs, then I just start doing that and my weight will trend toward 180lbs. This takes longer than having a larger deficit, but mentally I don’t need to care how long it takes. I spent decades overweight despite trying, a couple extra months losing weight more slowly is nothing, it’s way ahead of where I was before.

Third, I also save some budget in my day for a treat at the end of the day. It leaves me just a tiny bit hungrier, but then when I get my treat it feels like I’m splurging.

Fourth, I still exercise. To lose weight fast I don’t count my exercise as calories burned. In maintenance mode, I use my exercise as a way to earn more calories. Now I’m actually going to the gym not to lose weight, but so I can eat more!

I had days where I went over, but I didn’t really have “bad” days or bad moods, it was never severe. It was more like go to a party when I’m not counting, and whoops, I’m 400 calories over my budget.

The hardest part about counting calories is the first few days. That’s when hunger is worst. After the first week, my body adjusts and my appetite goes down.

⬐ toyg

Yep, it’s all in the mind.

I had my “come to Jesus” moment about 3 months ago, at the green age of 39. I’ve since lost 10kg (1.5st or 22lb) and counting.

I am never hungry, I removed all starches and cheese from my diet and the stomach is now silent 100% of the time. I still have the occasional “fuck it, the world hates me, I want a pizza so bad”, but I learnt to manage it: when I feel angry or bored (my triggers), I get my mind busy with something else, anything really (from sudoku to programming, going for a walk with a podcast, or painting miniatures). After a few minutes the impulse is gone. I cheat once or twice a day, in small quantities and in a controlled fashion: knowing the worst time is right after a cheat, I make sure to be very busy and plan follow-up snacks with nuts, to slowly ease off the starch-induced crave.

Another trick is to metabolise the concept that the corporate world tries really really hard to sell you food; when you really start to see that it’s all a way to screw you out of your money, it gets easier to say “no thanks”.

⬐ toyg

*cheat once or twice a week, derp.

⬐ proussea

I speak about what worked for myself about the psychological part (I lost 20kg in 2 years).

First it was to not enter in a willpower fight. I did accept that I will fail, and I did fail many times (sorry did not count, often in the beginning and I was still failing from time to time until the end). But every time i failed, instead of giving up i was telling to myself "ok you failed, but it worked for X days, you trained your body to eat less, let's start again, it will be more easy this time." And it was true. With time your body require less food to fill "full" even when you fail.

Also a lot of ppl here are talking about fasting. I'm not sure about it at all. Your brain may try to prevent the next "fasting time" and may try to trick you to eat more. I would advise to eat at very regular times so your brain "knows" when you will eat (for me: 6:00/12:00/19:00 +/-30mins). Take time to eat, move in another place, etc ... so you appreciate it more.

I liked the cheat days principle because it gives you short term goals, and it helps to keep some pleasure eating food. It also helps to not bring your diet with you when you go to lunch with friends/family. I also noticed that with time I was cheating less during these days.

Preparing food for myself also saved money, sometimes it helped for motivation.

⬐ bonesss

> I'm not sure [fasting] at all. Your brain may try to prevent the next "fasting time"

There are a lot of varieties of 'fasting'.

Intermittent Feeding or 'Time Restricted Eating' involve upping dietary fat to control hunger feelings and ensuring daily caloric needs are met within a shorter timespan. This leaves the body enjoying 'fasting' benefits for longer while enjoying a normal diet.

⬐ quakenul

I think daily tracking in combination with a long term goal is key here, because it allows you some wiggle room when it comes to progress while having a strong rubber band effect (that gets stronger the more you sway) to get you back on track.

⬐ AnIdiotOnTheNet

Having lost and kept off half my body weight, yeah, the math is really, really, really stupidly easy part of weight loss.

I envy people who don't know what it is like to feel compelled to gorge themselves. It's an unstoppable force sometimes. You'd be amazed at what your mind will do to make you ingest more calories.

And then you get on the internet and, in addition to all the "it's really simple, just eat fewer calories" idiots, there's a thousand know-it-all fucks trying to tell you that if you just follow their fad diet you'll never feel hungry again and your dick will grow three sizes and you'll win the lottery.

⬐ lifeisstillgood

This

There is a part of my brain that, usually around 1030 at night, says, right eat everything in the immediate vicinity because it might vanish / get eaten by sabre-tooth tigers, just be taken away from you.

It's so deeply wired in me i actually resent (no deeply hate) the food industries that take advantage of my biology.

I think the only hope for health care costs to be brought back to earth is to treat most foods like we treat alcohol or tobacco - chocolate bars that cost the same as a bottle of whiskey, sugar eating areas away from other parts of restaurants, cities that revolve around walking not driving,

It's wholesale chnage - and no please don't throw the nanny state argument at me - look at the Libertarian party (Their presidential candidate suggested it would be a good idea to have a driving license ... got crucified) We live in a nanny state and most people don't think it's sane to leave

⬐ bonesss

> a part of my brain that, usually around 1030 at night, says, right eat everything in the immediate vicinity

Late night snacking has always been my personal achilles heel...

A high-fat diet -- say, steak tacos with avocado sauce in cheese-tortillas -- can do a lot to mitigate snackiness. So instead of a late night chocolate bar, maybe try eating half a pack of bacon and see how you feel... Or an extra half-pack of bacon with your last meal so your appetite calls it quits for a few hours extra...

Within the same caloric footprint, and the hard suffering of eating bacon, I think it's possible to radically reshape your appetite towards more satiating foods that don't leave you snacky. And if you're like me, cutting out the snacking is most of the caloric control you need.

Cons: have to cut carbs so you don't balloon, natural progression towards keto. Pros: less snacky; red wine, whiskey, and bacon as part of a 'weight loss' regimen.

⬐ AnIdiotOnTheNet

That's generally how I am. I can't be around food because as soon as I know it is there a part of my mind spends all its time thinking about it. I'll eventually cave and eat it. All of it. People sometimes say things like "no one can eat all that X" and I can tell you from personal experience they are almost always wrong.

Even keeping just enough food in my house for a week's worth of meals (I only eat one, lunch) only works in combination with an appetite suppressant, otherwise I'll find excuses to bake bread or elaborate confections or something. And attending any social function where food might be present is extremely dangerous and to be avoided if at all possible.

⬐ bonesss

Unrestrainable appetite has a natural answer: dietary fat.

Food cravings, hunger pangs, insatiable demands to scarf things: that's often the dark side of an insulin cycle where carbohydrates play a determinative role. But barring issues better treated with psychiatry, most people aren't going to feel the urge to snack after eating a soup-bowl worth of butter...

Its mildly nauseating to eat too much fat. Eliminating insulin spikes makes appetite control 100 times easier. Every body is different, but if you might want to consider a (low carb) high-fat diet for a while.

Also: eating once a day is a bad habit unless you're working things correctly. Maybe check out the "OMAD" (one meal a day), types to see how they're eating? High fat generally plays a role there, too, for satiation and energy reserves.

⬐ AnIdiotOnTheNet

Ugh. Internet know-it-all parrots some keto bullshit, film at 11.

I have eaten entire 24 ounce jars of peanut butter in one sitting, blocks of cheese, cans of nuts, whatever. It doesn't matter what I'm eating at all. It is endlessly irritating that people like you keep insisting you know more about how my body works than I do.

⬐ bonesss

The reason "people" keep telling you the same thing for the same problem is because you're either describing a treatable mental condition unrelated to nutrition or totally talking out your neck...

Dietary fat causing satiation is hardly "internet know-it-all" and has anything to do with keto in an of itself. The keto diet does encourage other dietary habits that enhance and strengthen the satiation of those goods fats to control and mollify the specific appetite problem you are discussing. It's a system of effects that specifically addresses that urge (https://paleoleap.com/dietary-fat-and-satiety/).

Not a single example you have retorted with points to anything other than poor blood sugar regulation, poor dietary habits, and insufficient fat in your standard diet (which is totally different than binging on something fatty, in the presence of your admittedly poor diet). You are Doing It Wrong.

A whole thing of peanut butter is not going to avoid the insulin spikes. A whole thing of nuts is not sufficient by itself and likely were nuts with the wrong macros. Cheese is nice, but single source foods are not how you should be eating as a grown up, and that habit is causing the problems (says you).

"It doesn't matter what I'm eating at all" contradicts observable research in every aspect of medicine, basic biology, and the standard model. You're whining from ignorance.

⬐ bscphil

> I'll eventually cave and eat it. All of it. People sometimes say things like "no one can eat all that X" and I can tell you from personal experience they are almost always wrong.

100% true for me as well. If it's there I can and will eat it, sometimes past the point of feeling sick. "You ate that whole pint of ice cream in one sitting??" No, you don't know about the other pint of ice cream that I ate a few hours ago and didn't say anything about because of guilt.

⬐ bena

The thing I've heard is that "weight loss is simple, not easy".

⬐ bonesss

Kinda like "avoiding technical debt" :)

Easy to prescribe, tricky to implement judging from the state of the world.

Article version of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

Someone on youtube made a perfect video explaining this with enough precision:

not sure it's this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE but close

⬐ perilunar

It's the same guy — the presenter in the video, Ruben Meerman, is one of the authors of the paper .

⬐ agumonkey

i knew the diagrams reminded me something but was too lazy to check, thanks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

There's a TEDx talk about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

⬐ gebeeson

Thanks for posting that link - after reading the article, that video was the first thing I thought of. It's a great talk that is simple to understand.

⬐ samfisher83

Basically fat becomes CO2 and Water. You lose fat breathing and sweating.