Weight Loss Isn't as Simple as You Think

[redeyemindtricks]

It's easy to scoff at how simple it "should" be for extremely overweight people to lose weight. "Just eat less and move more," people say.

That seems like an easy enough prescription... right?

It seems insane NOT to do this -- since slimming down is definitely the ticket to better health, a better love life, a better personal life overall, and even greater professional success.

...So why don't overweight people just "eat less and move more"?

The answer is, honestly, something that neither side really wants to hear.

• The "eat less and move more" people don't want to hear it, because they might have to acknowledge that, at some point, the situation really does get to a point where it's beyond these people's control. And that might knock them off their collective high horse and force them to have (heaven forbid) a little empathy.

• And of course it's painful for overweight people themselves to hear it -- because it's disheartening and demotivating.

But... Reality that sucks is still reality.

Once someone is overweight by a certain amount, the hormones that regulate her/his hunger and satiety are, in polite terms, fucked.
Permanently fucked.

The most recalcitrant views on this stuff tend to be held by the older generation -- which is hardly a surprise, since they came of age in an era when we knew literally nothing about the science of hunger and satiety.

We still don't know much -- but, until just over 20 years ago, we knew quite literally nothing at all.

The head honcho in charge of all this stuff appears to be a hormone called leptin, which wasn't even discovered until 1994.

The current state of knowledge on leptin -- well, "current" as of about 2 years ago, meaning already somewhat out-of-date but good enough for starters -- is here.

Long story made short: Leptin is the "satiety hormone". One of its most important functions is to tell people it's time to stop eating. Yes, that's an oversimplification -- as is absolutely everything in human biology -- but it's a decent first-order approximation, and it's more than good enough as a basis for understanding what's happening here.

Now, see, this leptin stuff is produced by fat cells.
That SHOULD be a defense against getting too fat. It's supposed to work like this:

• Accumulate enough fat cells...

• ...thus, produce more leptin...

• ...and that should make you reduce your food intake, by killing your appetite.

But, for some reason, in a lot of today's obese people, that isn't happening.

Once people reach a certain level of overweight, their bodies just stop "listening" to leptin... and they stay hungry... and they keep overeating.

There's a certain level of overweight that shuts down the body's ability to regulate its own appetite.

No one really knows what causes this phenomenon ("leptin resistance" or "leptin insensitivity"). Some examples of pioneering research are here and here.

If you slog through that second link, you'll notice this: "Certainly however, combinatorial approaches appear to hold some promise for clinical leptin therapy"... ahahahaha. Do you know what that actually means?
"Combinatorial approaches", in medicine, literally means throwing completely random combinations of drugs and/or therapies at some problem or condition, and simply observing whether (and/or how well) each combination works.

The best response so far, from the best and brightest in all of medical science, is ... "throw a bunch of random stuff at the wall, and see what sticks".
That's how stubborn this problem is.

That's literally the best weapon in our arsenal right now, against this obesity monster... Random guessing.

Like pressing random buttons on a video-game controller to try to beat the big boss.

Encouraging, huh?

__

So... What's the actual experience of people who reach this level of overweight? Why DO they have such a hard time "eating less and moving more"?

Well...

I'm all for personal responsibility, and seizing the day, and all that... but, in this case, things can quickly reach a point where causation starts going in both directions.

After a certain point, obesity can actually CAUSE overeating and lack of exercise!

It's fucking crazy, but, this is actually true. This is really a real thing that is real.

What happens when people reach this point?

• As already discussed, their response to leptin is "broken", so they literally NEVER feel full.

People who have passed this "point of no return" are ALWAYS hungry. Even if they overeat to the point of vomiting, they still FEEL hungry.

• They literally become physically lazier. Because of changes in their bodies' responses to insulin, they start to move LESS. Both in terms of actually moving around from point A to point B, and in terms of general restless fidgeting (which can burn up to several hundred calories a day, in particularly restless/"fidgety" people).

Just moving around like a normal person becomes an epic struggle -- let alone trying to "move more".

• Worst of all... These things don't get any better when they DO lose weight.

This is where the stakes get high, folks.

According to pretty much the entire corpus of current research -- see here, here, and here -- once someone's response to leptin is fucked, it stays that way in perpetuity. For the rest of this earthly life.

From that last study... "The relation between leptin and hunger was not influenced by amount of weight or body fat loss." That's about as blunt as the text of a medical study is gonna get, kiddies.

Someone who gets up to 250 or 300 pounds is going to be stuck with the appetite of a 250- or 300-pound person... or even an unlimited appetite.
FOREVER.
And ever and ever and ever.

...Yep. Say goodbye to EVER feeling satisfied by food again.

__

So... Can ANYTHING be done about this?

Yes... BUT.

But but but but.

It ain't gonna be easy.

And when I say "it ain't gonna be easy", I mean it's damn well going to be the hardest, most miserable, most unforgiving, most initially unrewarding thing EVER. It's going to be a test of every last molecule of stubbornness and dedication and grit at the bottom of someone's heart and soul.

In short, it's gonna fuckin' suck.

The only way to break the cycle is ... NO starches, NO sugars, NO dairy, and, generally, NO carbohydrates AT ALL, other than tiny amounts of fibrous vegetables.
For MONTHS.

Or even YEARS.

That's NO as in NO.

As in ZERO.

That's NO to samples at Costco or Trader Joe's, NO to snack foods, NO to your mother's and grandmother's cooking, NO to the finger food at parties, and NO to basically every single other form of social eating known to mankind.

For months.

Or years.

This is one of those "If you're not ALL in, then you're out" things. Even smallish amounts of carbohydrate will maintain leptin resistance, and maintain all of the awful things described above -- as amply documented in studies such as this one, this other one, and this one right here, too.

The fastest results -- where "fastest" can absolutely still mean a period of months or years, depending on the level of overweight we're talking about -- will come from what's known as a PSMF diet. This means eating as close as humanly possible to ALL protein, ZERO fat, and ZERO carbohydrate. (Rare moments of weakness should involve fat, and NEVER carbohydrate.)

PSMF is EPICALLY shitty, and INCREDIBLY difficult to stick to. It's so grueling that even professional fitness models -- whose living literally depends on this stuff -- can hardly stick to it for more than a month or so.

But... for those who can stick to it, the weight drops right off (and muscle mass stays on!). And this type of diet is the ONLY thing that has EVER made any headway on resetting that perpetual hunger thing... even a little bit (see the last link above -- the one that says "this one right here, too").

__

But...

Obviously, the BEST outcome is ... not to be in that kind of situation in the first place.

The best thing to do, then, is to nip this problem in the bud -- before it becomes a problem in the first place.

Be BRUTALLY honest with yourself about your diet and exercise habits.

If you correct small problems, you'll never have to face BIG problems.

Ask a friend, or two, or six, to help keep you on track, too -- especially if you tend to eat according to your emotions or your monthly cycle, when you have the least control over yourself in general.

Make sure these are REAL friends, and not "frenemies" who would secretly enjoy seeing you gain weight. Those are the kinds of "friends" that are best left in the past tense.

But, when you have real friends on your side, it's easier to stay on top of your game. As they say, when you replace "I" with "we"... you turn illness into wellness.

Stay healthy, kids.

#BATTLEROYALE #TeamRJ

[Puppylove94]

Ahh this is an amazing take!!! Applies to pretty much everyone.

Gaining weight is rough and it's hard to face the realization that you're not where you want to be anymore. Weight seems to go on so fast but then come off so slow.

My friends always used to tell me "you look great" "why do I worry about it", "guys like curvy" blah blah. And I wasn't fat by any means.. Just curvier. It got to the point where I wasn't happy with myself anymore though.

Some women are happy curvy, but I'm not a fan. I prefer the slimmer look so I learned it's important to not listen to the compliments people give you cause in my experience, it makes me not worry about losing weight anymore.

[redeyemindtricks]

Interesting.
I'm one of those annoying natural slim chicks. I grew up eating my father's Mexican food -- not super greasy (he's from the desert), but, still, Mexican food -- and I was all of 125 pounds at 6'2" in high school. Lol.
Even after 3 natural childbirths, I'm still RIGHT at the edge of "underweight" and "normal weight" according to the government BMI thingy... but that's still sorta cheating because my breast implants weigh a little over 3 lbs total.

I WILL tell you that "guys like curvy" is absolutely true.
Whenever I'd gain 10 lbs back in the day -- which was pretty much the most my body would ever let me gain -- the amount of male attention I'd get would increase EXPONENTIALLY. Including from every boyfriend I ever had, and from my husband too... and those were guys whose eyes presumably worked when they met me, so... even THOSE guys like me better a little bigger. (:
Srsly... girl I don't think there's a single straight guy in the world who has a *sexual* preference for

[redeyemindtricks]

super slim. Aesthetic preferences are another thing, and there are certain clothes that only look right on certain physiques, but... yeah lol.

Beyond that, though... do you think these girls are real friends, who just misunderstood you? Or do you think they were doing that passive-aggressive frenemy thing, like "Come on girl! Live a little!" ... when they were really just trying to bring you down to their level, or whatever?

I'm lucky enough to have a core group of girlfriends who REALLY don't EVER do that -- we always bring each other up and encourage each other, and we NEVER do that "bring everyone else down to the lowest common denominator" bullshit. Makes a BIG difference in life overall, in terms of having that kind of support.

[Puppylove94]

Yeah I mean I haven't found that I get less attention. Not to be conceited- but I've always had a decent amount of guys interested in me. I will say I felt more confident being naked when I was skinnier than my weight now.

The clothes situation is what really bothers me. I used to be a size 4 and had the cutest clothes. I refuse to buy a new wardrobe in size 6 because I love my old clothes. Plus, a lot of my weight is in my boobs and it's harder to find clothes with bigger boobs.

I know a few of my friends always wanted the best for me but there were a few that I could see being fake.

It's my good friends that don't have boyfriends i don't trust.. Just because I know they're competitive and I could see them wanting me to look worse than them just to lower the competition if you know what I mean?

[redeyemindtricks]

Hahah I feel you on the clothes.

If you were a sz 4, then that's not the level of skinny I'm talking about (in terms of straight guys not being interested).
I mean, girl, back in the day, I was a sz 2, sometimes 4, at MY height. That's basically equivalent to being a size 00 or even 000 at an average height. (Remember that dress sizes don't scale up -- they're based on measurements -- but everything about a woman's body DOES scale up. So, the meaning of a dress size is VASTLY different depending on height. Most of the VS angels, for instance, are size 2's and 4's, not 0's or 00's -- because of their height.)

What kind of stuff do you wear?
I'm pretty hourglassy since I had the breast augmentation (my current measurements are about 40.5-26.5-38.5), and I don't have tons of trouble finding clothes to wear. But... I also don't wear the kinds of styles that basically demand small boobs (like a loose tank over a bralette, for instance) lol. Like what are you having trouble finding?

[Puppylove94]

That's exactly them lol I love the baby doll clothes, loose fitting shirts, bralettes ahh and you can't wear very revealing shorts cause you look slutty. I used to wear a lot more revealing clothes when I was a c

[redeyemindtricks]

Hahah... the evolution of my teenage fashion sense could fill a whole picturebook. 😂😂 I was... an interesting girl.

[Anonymous]

TO top it off, I think PSMF is a bit hard (or very hard, or not that hard, depending on your research) on your liver.

But I still recommend it to people here who want to crash diet, it's the best bet going for going -hard-.

[Opinion Owner]

I'd also put it a bit like this:

Overeating is an addiction, as real as any other.

But most other addictions, you quit cold turkey.

Food, you can't. So it's like telling a crack addict, okay, you need to dial it down to a tiny bit of crack three times a day and also every family gathering for the rest of your life, people will try to get you to smoke a ton of crack, but just moderation bro, it's easy!

[redeyemindtricks]

Ironically, "going hard" is MORE likely to lead to positive results in terms of keeping the weight off long-term.
Yep.
Exactly the opposite of the conventional wisdom (most people believe that you have to lose weight slowly to keep it off, and that rapid weight loss will result in a "yo-yo effect").

Evidence:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12119640

[Opinion Owner]

Yeah, for weight loss in the short-medium term, I think for most people PSMF cleans up. The exception would be people who are engaged in HIIT usually sport specific, where for me at least, I simply can't do it without carbs, but in that case you can be doing some nutrient timing (no carbs in the evening) type eating, etc, and those don't tend to be the people who are super overweight.

The best 'crash' diet I've seen (and used at one point) was a modified PSMF, based on whole foods, with a couple cheat meals a week (for people at lower fat levels, no cheat meals but a structured carb refeed to adjust hormone levels). It works well. Part of it is 'going hard'. Part of it is that psychologically its actually easy. Being careful all the time for slow results is discouraging. A lot of people are better off pushing hard but seeing the weight really drop and feeling like its worth it. The whole food side helps too...

[Opinion Owner]

... because it basically forces you to restructure how you eat and cook. (like... you have to actually do it, lol).

I think a lot of the small adjustments to diet just don't help because their basic way of eating is so flawed. So starting from scratch is actually easier.

[redeyemindtricks]

"No carbs in the evening" is EXACTLY backwards. The late part of the day is when you should be eating ALL of yr carbs, if you're into nutrient timing.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21475137

... And that study isn't even getting into the obvious, like how carbs promote sleep, and all that.
Eating all yr carbs early in the day is the best way to have a roller-coaster of ravenous hunger, random sleepiness, and flagging energy levels all day long (the "Chinese food effect"), and then to get shitty sleep at night to top it all off.

[Opinion Owner]

When i'm timing them, i'm eating them, digesting, exercising, and that's it. Of course maybe not everyone else works out at 1 pm :D

[redeyemindtricks]

Hm. Well, post-workout carbs are more important than pre-workout carbs, with the sole exception of *performance* athletics (... and if you were a performance athlete you'd be eating a metric shit-ton of carbs anyway, so none of this would even be an issue).

That goes for both weight workouts and hiit/cardio workouts.

For weights, you'll get yr best performance in the gym when you just eat something like 25 to 75 grams of carbs an hour or two beforehand. If you eat a bigger pre-workout meal, you'll do WORSE in the gym, because you'll be more sluggish and you'll have less energy (from all the insulin released from the bigger carb meal). You should be eating way more carbs later.

For hiit/cardio, the best results in terms of fat loss come when you do the workout fasted, and eat EVERYTHING afterward.

[Opinion Owner]

At this point I'm primarily training for performance, not fat loss, and most weight work is bodyweight. It's mainly HIIT and sport specific training.

[redeyemindtricks]

Ok yeah, in that case you're probably eating a diet that's at least 50% carbohydrate anyway.

Can I ask what sport?

[Opinion Owner]

Boxing. Not a serious competitor, but I do a bit of sparring, sometimes with active amateurs.

[redeyemindtricks]

Very cool.

My son (13 years old) boxes at our local YAL gym here in Los Angeles. When my husband goes outside and holds the mitts for him on the weekends... aahhhh I just about melt into the floor lol

[Opinion Owner]

Nice, lol. I haven't been able to teach my son anything, if he's able to learn i'll teach him. He has developmental delays. He's a big, sweet kid. I'd like him to learn if he can get there.

My eldest daughter I've taught to throw body shots at least.

[redeyemindtricks]

Good luck man.

My daughter is a little spitfire, like I was... Oh dear sweet lord.
Consider: (mho opinion here)
www.girlsaskguys.com/.../q2034408-do-you-recognize-character-traits-of-yourself-in-your-kids-or-vice

She's punched around a little bit. We're gna try to go the Laila Ali route with her and her little shit-fits of rage... we'll see how that goes.
Ironically, I'm kinda scared of raising a girl ahah... all I know is boys (I had 4 brothers and a single/widowed father). Boys are easy. My daughter is like a fuckin space alien. A space alien that I love with all mah heart.

[Opinion Owner]

Lol, I could imagine you finding a woman a space alien from what I know of you.

I do find women odd, but my son is special in his own way too.

I remember having a son thinking I was unsure just because I had having a (toddler) daughter down at that point.

[redeyemindtricks]

How big is yr son? Is his size correlated with the other developmental stuff? (I don't know too much about those things in general -- I do know that women with triple-X syndrome are my height-ish in a lot of cases, so, that could be a thing)

My oldest is 13 and is already just a shade under 6'1". Boy's got a LONG-ass reach with them boxing gloves, lol.

[Opinion Owner]

He's 9, turning 10. Can't remember his exact heigh, but needs clothes for a 12 year old. Don't think there's any correlation. He's bigger than I was growing up, and i'm 6'3". He looks like he's on track for about 6'5", and while i'm lanky when in shape, he's more 6'5" with an average to solid build.

My 14 year old has just sailed past 5'9" and is still going up, we'll see where she ends, doubt 6', but she might have another inch or two in her.

[redeyemindtricks]

Sounds like... a handful, both literally and figuratively. Best of luck with everything. <3

[Laura89]

I found this a really jnteresting read and I wasn't actually aware of the leptin hormone and how it can stop functioning. Personally I have always struggled with my weight and over the years (since about age 13) I have fluctuated between a size 10 and a size 22, to the point where the constant weight gain and weight loss has caused me to develop a heart issue. My GP has now advised I actually just stick to my current weight and size to maintain even though I am still scoring as obese according to the BMI chart. (I am currently a size 14 and 5 foot 5 inches tall). I have to eat healthily and exercise regularly or I gain weight really easily but what I will say is I literally feel constantly hungry. Like all the damn time. I have learnt to ignore this now and I just drink water when I am hungry but before this I would just eat... obviously or I never would of made it to a size 22. It's interesting to see that research is now being made in to the issues of obesity and healthy eating. As I don't actually agree with people that skinny shame or fat shame. The issue of healthy eating should be simple but I feel a lot more research needs to be done and people need to be educated from a young age as developing bad eating habits are so easy and so easy to fall in to.

[redeyemindtricks]

I have a friend who has lost triple-digit pounds and kept it all off.

He says that, ironically, the fact that he's always hungry actually HELPS him.

His reasoning is this:
• If he actually COULD get "full" or "satisfied" from food, then he would DEFINITELY eat until he reached that point.
• But, because he knows he'll literally NEVER reach such a point... he knows that the point of "stopping" is literally just an arbitrary point.
• So, ironically, this makes it EASIER for him to stop -- since stopping at point X is really the same as stopping at point Y, no matter what X and Y are.

(:

Maybe that perspective could help you frame the whole thing so that it seems easier/better?

[MrShinyPants]

Yup, where I am at, it is hars to loose weight, in Arizona it gets extremely hot, in summer it gets between 106-117° degrees sometimes reaching up to 127 once or twice a year our record being 128, the number 2 reason of unatural death in arizona is the heat, number one is car accidents and shootings. So its highly unlikely to be able to exercise in the summer without heat stroke or your brain being cooked. To top it off, i have a back and neck injury from a severe car accident when i was 12, making it difficult to exercise being always in pain, to make it even harder, dont get much money and most of the time all we can affors for food is stratchy and sugary foods because they are the cheapest. So its difficult to loose weight. I am looking forward to winter so i can go out walking until i can't bare the pain any longer each day, in summer i am stuck inside too much because of the heat and the clouds from monsoon season, which it rairly rains, the build up from the clouds creats pressure on my artheritis and neck and back making it hurt constantly and heat also makes it worse. So when winter comes, im exercising as much as i can bare until it starts getting hot again in April

[redeyemindtricks]

Just do what you can... Anything's better than nothing. (The great thing about health/workouts is, even a *little* is a LOT better than nothing.)

Your summer is, ironically, MY favorite time to go outside and do outdoor workouts... lol. (I used to live in Vegas, and I LOVED going out and running outdoor stairs when it was 110-115° outside. #desertrat lol)
... but I'm the same girl who wears leather gloves in any temp below 65-70°, and I basically disappear when it's below 55°. Lol.

[MrShinyPants]

Lol your crazy, but i can't talk too much, i go running around in shorts and a tshirt in winter haha, sweat in -20 degree temps lol, when i sit in a car in winter i always fog up all the windows, love winter and yeah when you become sedentary it actually cause the physical pain and arthritis to become worse if you stay stationary too long

[anonman32]

Personally when i was still going to the gym i would weigh off all my food, all of it up to the gram. I would then give it in in a website to keeo track of my diet. It knows ALL the foods from EVERY store and ALL its nutrients. It used to work just fine for me. I just give in some value of 2500 calories and if i wanted to lose weight i would put it to 2400 for week one then 2300 for week two all the way to just 2000 calories. And then i would stay there for some time before going back to 2500 week by week. I would maintain my protein intake and fat intake and cut back on carbs. I made sure that i hitted the macros every day while staying under the calorie limit and it worked, i just stopped eating when i was at the calorie limit, even if i was still hungry i would not eat anything that day and it worked just fine for me. but it required some disipline though and dedication to weigh off every bit of food you put in your mouth and put it in the computer too. It has been the only way for me to lose or control my weight, not that i was too fat, i was just on the weight that i wanted to be. Even though i was never really overweight i still had some appitite problems

I did not know how the human appetite worked so i learned something new today. Awesome take, it was very informative.

[redeyemindtricks]

So you ate mostly packaged food, then?

That's... workable, although ideally you would eat a diet that has more whole foods in it. (It's a devil's deal -- the most precise nutrition labels tend to be on the most highly processed foods.)

If you are capable of planning and preparing an entire week's worth of meals at once, then, planning *weekly* calories and macros can be done with an extraordinary degree of precision. I can do mine and my husband's within about 1 or 2 percent tolerance for the week, even if I use literally NO packaged foods with nutrition labels to do the cooking.
(The problem with daily calories is that the scale tolerances are the same, but the amounts are smaller -- so the error is 7 times as much. Especially if you're trying to weigh out things like amounts of cooking oil... you're basically just guessing.)

But, yeah, it's EXCELLENT that you are actually willing to weigh yr food. Most people aren't.

[anonman32]

Well if i cooked rice or pasta i would give in the brand or the kind it was to be more accurate and then weigh it off. Eventually i came to standard measurements of food for every day so it became easier over time unless i was cooking something new. If i ate some canned tuna i would not weigh it off because the website knew how much was inside of the can and the same for protein powder. I agree whole foods are better than proccessed ones, they taste better too lol.

[redeyemindtricks]

Ironic, since pretty much all rice has the same macros, and so does pretty much all wheat-based pasta. Those are two foods for which the particular brand is essentially irrelevant. (:
(unless you've got some of that new lower-carb, higher-fiber pasta that's been a thing last couple years)

__

you wrote:
"when i was still going to the gym..."

I can't resist asking... what happened? why not anymore?

[anonman32]

I did not know all rice and pasta had the same macros so i just gave in the brand to be safe.

I bought and cooked my own food because i could not hit my macros with my parents food. I had a job to pay for all of it but i lost my job and i couldnt pay for it anymore but i still kept going to the gym thinking i would be able to keep up with my training but i had a mental break down and now its hard to recover and to try again. My parents are not exactly supportive of this lifestyle, they dont like me not eating their food and going to the gym.

[redeyemindtricks]

That's... interesting. What's their reasoning? Are they afraid that you're using anabolic steroids, or something else like that?
Or... are they just those kind of parents who don't like to see their kids succeed any more than *they* do/did? (I don't understand this at all, but I've DEFINITELY seen it -- usually with mothers and daughters. I've seen mothers who try to fatten up their own daughters when they get fat themselves... some sort of passive-aggressive competition thing, I dunno. I really don't get it, and it's disgusting.)

In any case, you can create bodybuilding diets that don't cost a ton of money. But if gym memberships are expensive then that's another issue.
Can you negotiate the price? (I'm awesome at negotiating, lol -- I'm still paying $29 per YEAR for access to the entire network of 24 Hour Fitness gyms)

[anonman32]

my parents always make excuses, they live in an illusion. they smoke and drink every day and somehow they are convinced that they have a healthy lifestyle. when i started going to the gym and bought my own food they were confronted with their excuses and illusions. they knew my lifestyle was healthy and theirs is not and they could not deal with it. i had to deal with passive aggressiveness all the time. i had to bicycle to the gym every day in the winter and summer and eventually it was too much, the food my parents bought could not sustain my training any longer and my mind gave in before my body did.

my mom used to tell me that if my lifestyle was better than hers that i had to move out. the only way they can get away with this kind of behavior is because of the economy, if the economy was not so bad i would've moved out long ago. but one of these days i will be gone.

[redeyemindtricks]

"my mom used to tell me that if my lifestyle was better than hers that i had to move out."

https://www.reactiongifs.com/r/fr.gif

Fuck, dude, I'm sorry.

Well, know one thing -- Things will be a LOT better when you move out.
Till then... Hang in there.
<3

[anonman32]

its ok, i can deal with it.

she told me ever day i had to move out. but now everything has somewhat stabilized. but i have not forgotten anything she said. when i am finally gonna move out she will miss me.

[redeyemindtricks]

Good luck man.

[anonman32]

Thanks. This puts a smile to my face.

[redeyemindtricks]

<3 xx

[Anonymous]

I believe that my own weight gain was directly correlated to how much money I was spending. I used to have a habit of eating out. But I couldn't eat anything more than $10. I tried to stay far below that threshold, though. It was not like I was raised poorly on junk food. My mother raised me well on a very healthy diet, and for the most part of my childhood, my mom's cooking was all I ate. But I loved to eat, so I did whenever I got the opportunity or saw free samples. Then, I thought what would happen if I just didn't eat out. Well, my monthly spending went down tremendously, and I lost tremendous amount of weight. Apparently, I lost weight without much thought at all. As I am getting thinner, going from a Size 14 (since high school) to a size 10, my mom is getting fatter. Hee, hee, hee. Maybe for the first time, I would be thinner than my mom. :D

[redeyemindtricks]

Lol competition with moms... is this common? /:

Mah lord, I hope my daughter doesn't think there's a competition with me -- I'm naturally built like a freakin handrail

[Fathoms77]

All true. :)

The sooner you start with an unhealthy lifestyle and the longer you stick with it, the harder it's going to be. It's an awful vicious circle; when you're grossly obese, you can't move enough to burn a significant number of calories and yet, you eat a tremendous amount because as you said, you never feel full. And when you can't really move, lethargy sets in because humans also abide by the "a body in motion tends to stay in motion" law (if in a different way).

That all being said, there is always a way. Stop eating so much and start eating better food. It's going to suck and the longer you wait, the worse it's going to be... doesn't ever make it impossible. :)

[redeyemindtricks]

Yep.

But, ironically, even a "balanced" diet has to wait, under these kinds of circumstances. Because once the appetite regulators are fucked, the only way to un-fuck them is to eat a totally ketogenic (zero-carb) diet for an extended period.

Ketogenic diets ARE manageable in the long term -- after all, there are entire parts of the world where carbohydrates literally don't exist (like above the treeline in the Arctic, where the Inuit live -- their native diet contains literally zero carbohydrates year-round, since there are no plants up there at all).
But they certainly aren't "balanced" diets, and most people aren't accustomed to the kinds of adjustments and/or supplementation required to make them work.

__

TL;DR
My point is that "start eating better food", to most people, means some sort of "balanced" diet -- but even that sort of diet would perpetuate the vicious cycle here, unless it's preceded by months/years of zero carb.

[Fathoms77]

Eh. I don't subscribe to the zero carb thing because frankly, it isn't necessary for most. And if you're going to exercise at ALL, you need carbs for energy. The Atkins idiocy only resulted in people keeling over at gyms because they'd avoided all carbs.

For the grossly obese, though, I can see going zero carb for a while. Long enough to work that balanced diet back into rotation, I guess. But a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle absolutely requires carbs provided they - like everything else in your life - is indeed balanced. ;)

[redeyemindtricks]

"And if you're going to exercise at ALL, you need carbs for energy."

^^ Nah. Nothing in human nutrition is that simple.

I'm a figure competitor. In my pre-contest phase, I eat a PSMF diet for 4 to 8 weeks, and I really do eat absolutely zero carbohydrates, except for tiny amounts of green vegetables (we're talking single digit carbs here) for roughage.
And... this is pre-contest, so, literally, the only time *ever* when I do sustained cardio exercise. (The rest of the year, it's either high-intensity stuff, like running a bunch of stairs... or NO cardio, and just managing bodyfat in the kitchen.)

And, again, the Inuit people ate zero carbohydrates of ANY kind, for thousands and thousands of years... and they went out mushing with sled dogs to go hunt and trap food when there wasn't enough fish available nearby. That's definitely "exercise".

You have a point, in the sense that HIGH-INTENSITY exercise isn't really sustainable on 0 carbs. So, if you're doing anything explosive or

[redeyemindtricks]

all-out, then, yeah, you need some carbs for that. But, otherwise, no you actually don't.

Also, "balance" isn't the same for everyone.
For instance, I would go CRAZY if I did what most people do -- working half a day and then not working for the other half of the day, day in day out. I do much better working for literally 30 hours straight, and then just chillin' for the next "day" (I don't sleep/wake on 24 hour intervals). In the bigger picture, I'd rather work 90 hours a week for a couple months and then work 20 hours a week for a couple months, than try to hit the same medium all the time. That's MY "balance" with work.

Similarly, I feel more "balanced" doing what I'm doing now -- 6-8 weeks of strict dieting, interspersed with 1-2 weeks of eating whatever the hell, then lather rinse repeat... with special adjustments for pre-contest. I'd go nuts if I tried to find a steady-state "balanced" diet to eat year round. Couldn't do it.

Don't take this the wrong way, but you seem to be

[redeyemindtricks]

on a bit of a high horse about perspectives that are in fact mostly or totally subjective.

[RJGraveyTrain]

media.giphy.com/media/NnGGHE0muVqpO/giphy.gif

As interesting and deeply informative as always. I think there are a lot of people out there who could massively benefit from reading this. In fact, no shit, I am going to share this with a few folks I know.

Very great work.

[redeyemindtricks]

Thank you. And, yes, by all means share away!

[akadatank44]

I hope to god your not say no to all carbs are you? Like veggies? I hope to god your not saying people should do this for a long period of time. Its unsustainable in the long run and even in the short run 0 carbs is the weight will be water weight for one becaude carbs hold onto water and its we need fiber to feel full and satisfied as well as protein. How the hell are you gonna get zero fat and high protien foods? I agree with every else you said except this diet and I'm on less then 40 carbs a day right now.

[redeyemindtricks]

Obese people have successfully run the PSMF diet for over a year straight -- in a few cases multiple years -- with no breaks.
Here's a typical study with obese patients (under medical supervision), in which the average duration of the PSMF was about 4 months:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1646394/

PSMF is not meant to be a forever thing. It's a way of achieving rapid fat loss, before transitioning *into* something that's more sustainable.

For someone at competition levels of bodyfat, there'd be no reason to EVER do PSMF for more than about 2 months, and even that would be extreme (like, going from "offseason fluffy" to stage ready). More like 3-4 weeks on average in a pre-contest.

__

It's possible to eat a zero carb diet indefinitely.
The Inuit people of the Arctic live where there are literally NO plants AT ALL. For thousands of years, they've survived on a traditional diet that has 0 carbs. (Vitamins and minerals that normally come from

[redeyemindtricks]

fruit/veg come from animal brains/livers/hearts/offal instead.)

That kind of diet is incompatible with high intensity (sprint) exercise, and it won't let you pack on muscle... but it *is* sustainable (the Inuit are still around). And it can neutralize epilepsy and reverse type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, too.

LOL @ "feeling full and satisfied". Did you read the take?
For anyone who's ever been obese, that's all fucked anyway. There's NO SUCH THING as "full and satisfied" for them, so, that's a non-issue.

__

"How the hell are you gonna..."

^^ There are TONS of foods that are nearly pure protein.

Any recipe posted on this forum should at least roughly conform to the PSMF:
forums.lylemcdonald.com/forumdisplay.php

(Lyle McDonald's "RFL" diet is basically the PSMF, repackaged for bodybuilders and fitness competitors. Lyle knows his shit.)

[akadatank44]

Ohh ok. Is it similar to this "ideal protein" diet that all these hospitals and health care centers are doing now?
I honestly don't think I could do it. I'd have to be secluded on my own little island haha at least I can eat veggies now lol.

[akadatank44]

Please tell me cuz fish, chicken, pork, beef, eggs have fat. Unsure never had tofu or stayed away from soy unsure if that has fat or not lol.

[redeyemindtricks]

In a real-life PSMF diet, there will be a few grams of tag-along fats. Those won't disrupt the goals of the diet the way carbs would.
The idea is to get AS close to zero as possible... but in the real world it's understood that getting completely rid lf tagalong fats is neither possible nor necessarily desirable.
(When fitness people use this diet as a pre-contest, we usually supplement with fish oil, which is... well, fat, lol. A 1000mg fish oil pill is a gram of fat; weirdly, lots of people forget this.)

__

I think you are also HUGELY underestimating the degree to which obese people's bodies can do... uhmm... "special" things.

I mean...
Dude!
If you think this PSMF shit is extreeeeeme... peep this report of an obese man who did a TOTAL fast -- yep, that's 0 calories of any kind at all -- for OVER A YEAR.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../postmedj00315-0056.pdf

Yep.

That's a thing.

[Pacificblue62]

No pain no gain. You have to may have to toure yourself and like it. It sounds crazy and takes a lot of discipline but eat very minimal amounts, drinking lots of water, and getting outside and exercise is so beneficial. Learn to love this lifestyle and be satisfied with it. You only truly need what you can to survive. No one needs sweet candy's or fast food to fulfill that survival need. You don't need to lay on the couch all day watching tv either. It's all about breaking bad habits and the willpower to change. It's not a chore to have to change its a gift to be able to change. Not saying the change will be easy, saying it will be worth it.

[redeyemindtricks]

Indeed.

[kelvinmed]

Amazing take. Overweight is a prevalent issue for Americans and a lot of Hispanics (my own ethnicity). At the end of the day, we setting ourselves for disastrous eating habits.

I was capable of seeing myself in the mirror And being honest with my self - do I want to not be able to walk up the stairs and feel like I'm dying, eat two or three helpings or not be able to find clothes that fit or look amazing? My weight loss was for myself and own happiness. I did insanity workout program. It was grueling and hard af but totally worth it. I can now drop and give 20 easy. I enjoy vegetables and can lift myself. Now I want to tone more, build muscle and be able to do pull ups or go out into the wild and not worry about easy injuries like my ankles

[redeyemindtricks]

I'm half Latina myself (I was raised by my father, who is an immigrant from the Mexican desert state of Sonora). Dunno if you knew that.

You mentioned enjoying vegetables. In context, you seemed to imply that you didn't *always* like vegetables, but that you STARTED liking them.
Is that true?
If so... How'd you start yourself on that habit?

Because if there's one thing that I find people can almost *never* get used to, it's eating lots of vegetables when they never really did before.
Like, really... almost never.
The best I've really seen, with people who didn't grow up eating vegetables much, is that (1) they grudgingly eat vegetables "for health reasons", and (2) they find a FEW vegetable dishes that they like -- usually smothered in sauces and/or spices -- but they get sick of those pretty fast, too.

I honestly don't think I've met a single person who was a non-vegetable eater as a kid who has actually gotten to the point of eating vegetables DAILY, with some enjoyment. You?

[kelvinmed]

I would say that I was never ever in my life a picky eater. For example, I've never been the real definition of poor but I've seen people struggle, break their backs working. I lived in the Dominican Republic. In Bani, Peravia. Food, electricity and water were scarce and most of my friends were poor. I can be lazy at times but I know hustle for the shit I need and want. To this day my sister asks me why do you hoard your money and save so much but it's that I've been where people has to hid money under the couch or mattress. I wasn't born in DR I was sent there by my parents. But I was there long enough for my mindset to change moderately. Yeah food is just food but your eating habits reflect your personality and this is how I grew up.

Nowadays I have a steamer and it makes the vegetables takes good and crunchy. My sister was raised spoiled and is a extremely picky eater she can go hungry for long and I advise to eat healthy and exercise; so you see the up bringing difference.

[kelvinmed]

I advise everyone to really consider spending time living with poor people or send their kids to underdeveloped countries. Sadly, even Dr is modernizing too much but not their mindsets

[redeyemindtricks]

Yeah, well, first people need to get over their irrational fears of even setting foot in these places.

Like... I tried to inject a little sanity into this discussion about Brazil, a couple of months ago. (In my opinion thread, I also mentioned when I lived in Medellín, Colombia, and used to run the stairs up into the poorer neighborhoods -- I don't know if the DR is like this, but, in Colombia, the nicer neighborhoods are in the flat valleys and the poorer neighborhoods are up in the hills. Opposite of the States, basically)
www.girlsaskguys.com/.../q2000046-should-everyone-just-skip-out-on-the-brazilian-olympics

Ehh

How old were you when you lived in the DR?

Why didn't yr sister also go?

[kelvinmed]

I mean Yeah there are dangerous areas but most stuff happens to people who go do dangerous stuff or go to drink to get fucked up. I've never been into doing that stuff. O sea what white people go to these places for.
How is medellin nowadays?

I was four or eight I don't know lol and I came here for the sixth grade so 13 or 15. She lived here because my mom lived here, was recently divorced and my mom needed company

[redeyemindtricks]

The face of Medellín has changed COMPLETELY.

The top of the stairs I used to run in Sto Domingo Savio now has a gigantic public library, with a park surrounding it (in an area that used to be desolate and gang-ridden)... and they've installed "cable cars" that go up and down into the neighborhood and connect with the main metro system.
c8.alamy.com/.../...ingo-savio-district-CN4TEY.jpg

Comuna 13 now has a gigantic escalator (yep, an *escalator*) running parallel to the old stairs.

There's not nearly as much crime as there was during the Escobar years. (Even then, that was mostly restricted to internal warfare -- there weren't a lot of random civilian casualties, except for the time when Escobar's people took out a wing of a hotel.)

Honestly I wouldn't mind going back there, someday. Who knows. With a family it's a different story, though (there are bilingual schools there, but there isn't anything that dovetails seamlessly with the American

[redeyemindtricks]

school system... and my oldest son is on track to be getting football scholarships when he's older, so we couldn't really take him out of the States at this point without fucking that all up.)

[kelvinmed]

That's really amazing I never had a predetermined opinion of medellin I was young when I heard of all that but it's really turning around. Santo Domingo, DR just got a metro and it had one accident. Drugs are being transported through from time to time but violence related to drugs is reduced.

The American school system could be better (well the public school system that is). That's nice for your son. I was encouraged to pursue sport scholarships but my true passion wasn't sports. I found myself in the arts and I'm on a well paved track.

[redeyemindtricks]

Oh, yeah, I meant to tell you, I looked at yr insta. I really like black-and-white art in general, so I'm predisposed toward that sort of thing in the first place -- but, I like it.

Mb you could find some sort of "special" application? Like, DO something specific with yr art that no one else is doing, and you could make yr name that way?
(My husband does leatherwork, and he's made his niche making a couple of products that -- as far as we know -- literally no one else makes. His commissions pay very well. Can tell you more about that in pm iyw)

The men in yr family are... uhmmm... yeahh <3 Damn boy. ahah

[redeyemindtricks]

Also... A big part of my son's early success is his size (he's already a little under 6'1" and just starting 8th grade this month). He's had college scouts already at his games last year, but we'll have to see how HE develops, in addition to how his game develops. Nothing's for sure there lol.

He's also pretty accomplished as a musician/singer/percussionist, too, and he's also weirdly smart (a lot more book-smart than either of his parents... in addition to having a good head on his shoulders). So he's got a lot of options.
The one thing he DOESN'T do -- and the one thing that honestly no one in this family does -- is visual art, lol.

[kelvinmed]

I'd would like to know more about your husbands business. I'm so commuted to what I want to do my eyes are always peeled for ways to make commissions and analyze needs people need. How to make my art "useful" the day my skills are not useful I will not be an artist. Harsh but the mindset gets you places.

Haha thanks 😳. Nowadays I get more attention ever since losing weight but I'll never stop being humble with my appearance.

Your son is set for good. Probably had good influence from his parents. Never let hum get off his goals and to focus on them. He can be really successful if he doesn't stray. I've know so many that were like that and let minor stuff derail them.

[Anonymous]

Yeah it's totally individual. I know a friend who has a fast metabolism and can eat everything. And others who have to be careful. And some who respond fast to exercise and others (including myself who respond a little slower).

Not to mention toning the tummy is even harder for some and comes easier to others.

I guess I was blessed with good features below to compensate for having to more sit-ups than others if you know what I'm saying!

Nice take. Can u check out mine pls? www.girlsaskguys.com/.../a30669-do-women-have-dirtier-sex-with-guys-who-don-t-care-about-them-what

[redeyemindtricks]

"Fast metabolism" is not a thing that exists. This has been thoroughly debunked by science. Yr metabolism works at the same speed as everyone else's.

If there are differences, those differences have to do with (1) appetite, (2) random thermogenesis (= fidgeting and moving around), and (3) nutrient partitioning (= how yr body divides up nutrients between muscle and fat storage).

Beyond those 3 things, there is literally no such thing as a person who burns calories "faster" than another person. That's... not a thing.
If such a person existed, she/he would literally overheat to death -- since "faster burning of calories" would have nowhere to dump off those excess calories except as heat.

[Opinion Owner]

Yeah I guess so, good knowledge of chemistry and biology there, I learnt that stuff too at uni!

I think it's pretty complicated. I mean you just have to constantly exercise and tone as well as eat as clean as you can and try not to let indulgences become your normal diet. Then you should be fine.

Can you help me out on my take?

[redeyemindtricks]

Dude, for the thousandth time, there's no point in wasting the time to answer those kinds of things about hypothetical women. You can't put women into neat little boxes like that, and you can't generalize like that. Which is why these pick-up artist guys have never really succeeded in teaching guys to seduce women... because women differ too much from woman to woman.

I am especially not willing to entertain *that* much of a wall of text for some random anon poster. If you were someone I'd seen on here a bunch, and interacted with a fair bit, then I MIGHT *think* about trying to answer something like that. Random anon? No fuckin way dude.

[Opinion Owner]

I've answered your questions before by the way. There's no need for language like that. Who do you think you are?

Seriously that's really rude and hurtful the way you're speaking. If you don't know just say that, don't be rude and abusive.

[redeyemindtricks]

Well, I apologize for the language, but, beyond that, I don't see what could be construed as hurtful.

1) You have these incredibly specific situations that are literally impossible to answer -- because, again, women vary WAY too much to even *think* of allowing generic answers to such hypotheticals.

2) You are an anon. I see no reason to expend any effort answering an anon post in such minutiae.

There is nothing possibly "hurtful" about #1 and #2. Get over it please.

If you are offended by "no fuckin way", then, I apologize for that phrasing.

[Opinion Owner]

It's not really that much of a problem the take. If you actually read it, which I don't get the impression you have, it's actually very readable unlike many other takes around here. If you were interested in being helpful, it would have been easy to give it a shot as have others.

Your language earlier was inexcusable as is the arrogant attitude you are displaying. Simply stating that other people's takes are not worthy of your time is very bad in my opinion along with the swearing.

[redeyemindtricks]

I did read through (enough of) it. It's not even really a take -- it's more like a question disguised as a take, for whatever reason I can't figure out.

Have you not noticed that the answers are the same from literally *every* woman who answers these things? Same with the one woman who's answered that one... "women are different, can't answer."
That's the only possible answer.

I am just being honest with you dude. You can post that same question as many times as you want, in as many different versions as you want, and it's still a waste of time, and the answer is still "Different women are different".
And why anon all the time? Why can't you at least post under an account where people can get to know you and yr posts?

[Opinion Owner]

I hit by mistake. Either way it's posted now. I'm just asking for an opinion on the question I asked in it. Please feel free to give an opinion over there. I'd like to know what you think she thinks.

I have described the woman at the very top to help?

[Anonymous]

I already knew this. I don't want to eat less. I want to eat the same amount and exercise more. I think the reason why people don't lose weight it's because they lose motivation to exercise and they continue to eat foods with high calories. Sometimes it's a metabolism problem too I think. I weight 160 lbs (normal for my height) and I want to lose 15 lbs. I just want to be skinnier. I don't know why. I haven't lost motivation. I'll keep trying if nothing changes. Exercising is good for overall health not just for losing weight.

[redeyemindtricks]

Good luck.

[RainbowFanGirl]

This is great and it's not easy. I've been on a diet for a year and I am still a bit away from my goal weight. I hate when assholes are just like "lose weight" or "eat less". A bit of compassion goes a long way you know. What makes it so bad is that the person criticizing them could give less of a damn about the person and just does it just to be an a-hole.

[redeyemindtricks]

Indeed.

Good luck and keep ya head up girl!

[Spiorad_Aisce]

Yeah - It is a tough one once someone gets to that level of weight, there is probably quite a number of issues going on and would probably need a lot help from dieticians, psychologists and doctors rather than being advised to eat less while moving more - I honestly feel that anyone that thinks they are very under or over weight should consult with a doctor before embarking on a weight change programme.

[redeyemindtricks]

Maybe, although it has to be the *right* doctor -- and most doctors won't (or even can't, depending on the country and the specific board cert requirements) give particularly aggressive advice, such as the PSMF.

It's the same as how doctors will tell you to avoid bearing weight on some limb for 2-3 months after surgery, when in fact it's ready to go after 6 weeks... they're just covering their asses, avoiding malpractice suits, etc. Lowest common denominator, MOST conservative possible advice.
If someone wants a more aggressive plan -- and doesn't want it to be an inpatient thing under constant supervision -- they'll have to go elsewhere (other than to the medical establishment) for advice.

[YourFutureEx]

Personally, I want to get overweight. Weighing sucks big.

Don't say no to food, say no to junk. Eat as much as you can as long as it is healthy and move your body till you get exhausted.

If nothing works, take roids and do the same. After all, they're not as bad as obesity.

[redeyemindtricks]

"If nothing works, take roids and do the same."

^^ Using steroids successfully isn't *that* easy... especially if you want to use them in a way that's sustainable, and won't permanently damage yr endocrine system.

[YourFutureEx]

Living with diabetes is far more difficult.

[redeyemindtricks]

Well... if you're trying to imply that steroid use works *against* obesity, that's not really true.

If anything, when guys take huge supraphysiological quantities of anabolic steroids, that makes them MORE likely to *eventually* become obese.
Not right away -- but, they gain weight from the steroid use (mostly muscle), but the muscle gains aren't sustainable. But now they have a greater appetite that corresponds to their greater bodyweight, and so that extra weight tends to slowly but surely be replaced by bodyfat.

Really, MOST ex-steroid users are fat. You have to be really, really, REALLY good at balancing lots and lots of things to be able to get away with using anabolic drugs without eventually becoming fat.

[YourFutureEx]

Oh no lol that wasn't I was trying to imply.

[bryon]

Awesome take as always. One question if I may. For those like me that eat like a horse yet still maintain a health weight despite eating like a starved out pig , with a blast furnace motabolizm , can this phenomenon possibly occur without mass weight gain?

[redeyemindtricks]

There's actually no such thing as a "fast metabolism". That is literally not a thing that exists. It's completely imaginary.

I mean, this is pretty much common sense, since all of our bodies burn food the same way. If you made 2 car engines that worked the same way, it's impossible that one of them would get systematically better gas mileage than the other one... same thing with human bodies.

People who are naturally skinny just have lesser appetites, and/or move more naturally, than other people.

If you REALLY eat a lot of food -- which you are probably overestimating -- then, the difference is probably that you just fidget a lot, and move around a lot, and can't sit still. That sort of thing -- all that random movement together, which kinesiologists and physiologists call NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) -- can add up to several hundred calories a day.

... Or, maybe you just don't eat (or, especially, DRINK) as much sugar as most people do.

But, yeah, "fast

[redeyemindtricks]

metabolisms" literally don't exist.

Maybe I should write another take on that, lol.

And, no, this isn't a risk if you are within healthy weight parameters and aren't diabetic.

[bryon]

I do stay very active for sure + my wife says I fidget a lot in my sleep , so I see where the combination would in fact dispatch with more calories. Thanks for the insight

[redeyemindtricks]

Yeah no problem.

There *is* a such thing as a chronically SLOW metabolism. (It results from a defect in a gene called KSR2.)
But, this is VERY rare... and VERY obvious. Like "weighing 200-250 lbs by age 8 or 9" kind of obvious.

Outside of THAT, there has literally never been a known example of "abnormally slow or fast metabolism" known to science. (:
It's important to know this, because "oh, some people just have fast metabolisms" is VERY often used by *other* people as an excuse not to go work out. It's a non-excuse, because it's not a thing.

[bryon]

Hum , good to know. I grew up hearing " a high metabolism is why I never did gain any weight that would stay

[redeyemindtricks]

Lol nope.
Although those other things -- all the random moving around, and (possibly) a lesser appetite, especially for sugars or other high-glycemic carbohydrates -- *are* mostly "hardwired".

So, effectively, it's pretty much the same RESULT as having a "natural fast metabolism", even though that isn't actually what's happening. Ya know?
In either case, you have *something* natural happening -- in reality it's just a greater propensity to move around, and a difference in appetite -- so it's kinda the same thing at the end of the day. (:

[bryon]

Cool. Is it rational to think as people age and eventually are forced to slow down in activity the lack of activity would allow weight to creep in?

[redeyemindtricks]

That's a big part of it, yeah.

That's actually the vast majority of the slowdown that people experience (in terms of how many calories they're able to burn, etc) as they age into their thirties and forties -- they just don't have as much ambient energy, and they don't DO as many things and MOVE as much. (For people with desk jobs... that doesn't exactly help, either.)

[bryon]

All good information , that will help serve as a motivator. Thank you again for sharing

[redeyemindtricks]

You're welcome.

[Cosytoasty]

I went to The Cheesecake factory (the one in Pasadena naturally :P) and your portion sizes... Jesus fookin Christ lmao. I was watching a family on another table eat and i thinking... just how can you eat all of that PLUS actual cheesecake for dessert PLUS several Coke refills. This take explains it quite well.

[redeyemindtricks]

To be fair, that is basically THE restaurant (out of all big American chains) that's best known for its portion sizes. That's basically its calling card, lol.

[ModernDayCrusader]

Here I thought I was gonna read a Take that was gonna be about weight loss for avg people!
Good my take! Never knew why obese people couldn't lose weight by just dieting and excercise.

For most people creating a small calorie deficit over a long period of time results in a gradual healthy weight loss

But for people with obesity it really is complicated

[redeyemindtricks]

Complicated indeed.

Thanks for the kind words.

[ModernDayCrusader]

Thanks for an informative take!
Really enjoyed learning from it

[redeyemindtricks]

<3 xx

[Anonymous]

All true. As counter intuitive as it is, a high fat high protein zero carb diet, has shown to be effective at curbing appetite in the way that Leptin normally does in a normal healthy person. Often known as a ketogenic diet, it is based on the sort of eating our primitive ancestors were evolved to eat.

[redeyemindtricks]

Yep.

[AlwaysBelieving]

Great take as usual from Red.

I'm so tempted to show this to a person at work, but I don't want a trip down to HR. Funny thing is that the person sees me every now and then and I think the person says to themself "why is AlwaysBelieving going to the gym, he doesn't need to?"

[redeyemindtricks]

Thank you.

[COCOCHANEL]

thank you for the informative post.
i have a question about the psmf diet. when you say stick to all protein and no fat or carbs does that mean no vegetables, fruits and oils like sesame, olive, grapeseed, etc and literally all protein? or half protein half vegetables with no fruits?

[redeyemindtricks]

The parameters are exactly what I wrote -- as close as possible to 100% protein, 0 fat and 0 carbs.

In a PSMF, you would want to eat the absolute bare minimum of fibrous/cruciferous vegetables necessary to keep yr bowel movements regular.
If those vegetables are things like broccoli, you can keep the carbs from those vegetables in the single-digit grams.

I don't think the results are much affected until you hit about 20-25 grams of carbs per 24 hours... but, the foods in the diet might carry a few grams of tag-along carbs here and there, so it's best to be conservative even with vegetable intake.

DEFINITELY **NO** fruits on a PSMF. That's sugar, girlfriend!

You wouldn't want to use those oils unless you HAD to use some small amount of them (e. g., for cooking purposes).
You *could* ingest a few grams of one of those oils with fat-soluble vitamins -- but it would be better to do that with fish oil instead of those oils. You only need a couple grams of fat to transport the vitamins.

[COCOCHANEL]

thank you !
what proteins do you recommend?
do you think chia seeds alone are a good source of protein? better than soy?
i've noticed that when i don't eat carbs (and eat only protein) for more than 24 hours i get weak, dizzy and start having trouble breathing. i have a heart condition but i kinda want to know how to get around this. doctors don't have any suggestions.