> work in general

That's far from sure at this point. Yes, HN is a hotbed of intermittent fasting propaganda [1], which may make it seem like there is general agreement. But you'll find other communities pushing other diets as the one true diet, so... more research is needed.

[1] Note, for example, that the submitter subtly but crucially changed the title, which in the original says "works for many" (emphasis mine).

I'm not particularly claiming that IF works. My main point is that nothing we know of really works generally and reliably.

I've personally lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off continually for more than a decade. But I don't really know how I did that, nor do I have much confidence that whatever I did would work for others.

Weight loss is in theory very simple - just eat less. In practice, however, doing that is extremely hard (for a lot of people), as it goes against our upbringing and evolutionary and social pressures.

The key of any weight-loss diet is that it somehow hacks our brain so that we end up eating less. But everyone’s brain is different, so different hacks work (or not) for different people. That’s why you have so many diets - fasting, intermittent fasting, keto, paleo, zero carb, low fat, food separation diet, ...

Personally, intermittent fasting hasn’t helped me lose weight (might have helped me maintain it though). So far, the only thing that has helped was very strict calorie counting, but that was accompanied with severe emotional/mental discomfort (constant hunger). I’m now experimenting with one-day fasting (turns out not eating, for me, is associated with less hunger than eating too little, go figure ...), we’ll see how t goes.

Not eating was easy for me even as a teen, 20s, and 30s. I found eating a necessity and that's it. That didn't mean I was eating healthy food but small amounts of anything. For me going a day or two without eating was easy. I didn't do it to lose weight and I never did lose weight I was a consistent 150lbs from early teens to my early 40s.

But then in my 40s my thyroid failed and I have hypothyroidism. I suspect it was failing for a decade maybe a bit less. I should say my thyroid was working less not really failing since that takes a while to notice rather than an outright failure.

Now I consistently weigh 40 pounds more than I did all my life. I was always the slim guy who never gained weight. Now I have to fight the urge to eat food when I am not hungry. It feels like I need something to reset my clock or reboot my programming.

I agree that IF is for me the easiest way to lose weight, people should really give it a try. But in regards to the need of something magical because it’s difficult, as someone who has lost a lot of weight and stopped smoking, the latter was orders of magnitude harder. Wanting to smoke a cig was like being tempted by a cookie AFTER a fast. Also controlling my weight is child’s play compared to building muscle with a good muscle/fat ratio.

CICO magically answers your need for losing weight.

The magical part is sticking to it though.

Sure, but you're simply restating the problem. You can also keep from getting seriously burned by carefully following the strategy of keeping your skin cool all of the time. Problem solved. Hooray.

Im confused about your point.

Methods for the "material" part of the problem are here. But the psychological problem will probably not be solvable by any "method". Its up to anyone's own mastery of itself and its a personal development issue.

> (And no, didn't read the article, because paywall.)

If you’re so inclined, Google the exact article URL, then click the first result that matches.

If calorie counting and exercise aren’t working, it’s time to go to the doctor. You may have a hormonal imbalance or something. It affects more people then realize it.

Unfortunately, humans are terrible at these two basics. e.g. "it's just a cookie i'm having for a snack, that doesn't count, does it?" or "i walk up three flights of stairs to work every day, that's the same as 30 minutes of exercise a day, right?"