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Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by shadowpho on Thursday September 22, 2022 @03:42PM (#32943721)
98% of people are unable to follow your "simple" idea. Hence, it's not simple by definition.

Furthermore, it's not that simple. Lots of other factors affect metabolism, hunger and energy levels, all of which have huge effect on weight loss\gain.

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by elil17 on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:03PM (#32943931)
People are always going to make these arguments. Yes, I know that there's scientific evidence that your mass effects your weight and that hunger, metabolism, etc. effect your mass. But we have to look at effect sizes. Whatever diet you try, you are only every going to have, at most, a modest effect on your own mass which will indirectly lower your weight.

I challenge people to go out there and start launching chunks of matter on escape trajectories from Earth. Yes it is hard, yes it takes a lot of energy, but you will start reducing the force of gravitational attraction acting on you. These are real results, not just a temporary change.

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by idrios on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:32PM (#32944246)
I'm inclined to agree with the parent comment on this, maybe argue they're being conservative. I'd say closer to 99.999% of people would struggle with this weight-loss plan, and hurling chunks of matter from your backyard to out of earth's orbit doesn't sound simple to me. But I'm not gonna knock an idea before I've tried it.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by elil17 on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:36PM (#32944295)
Fair, but if just 1 person can do it, it works for everyone on Earth.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by EGreg on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:01PM (#32944584)
Have you personally shown people how to do this? Can you link to some testimonials or endorsements from former clients?

After all, anyone can say anything, and even point to lottery winners, but I want to learn from the best what it takes to actually win the lottery. I myself am not a success coach but the other day, someone very successful told me that anyone can succeed at a startup. All they have to do is get their billionaire parents to give them a small loan of 10 million dollars, and let them iterate through and fail a few times. The key is to go back to the family trough and then you can get bailed out multiple times. If your parents are not billionaires then there are ways to fix it. This can work for anyone. He showed that such an approach actually pays off because in the end you make back everything you lost AND you can now afford an amazing car and TV!

His friend said he was “reducing a hard problem to a much harder problem”. But what does his friend know, he is poor by comparison and seems bitter

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by idrios on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:17PM (#32944743)
True. And I suppose it does get easier the further you go, what with escape velocity going down as you remove more mass..
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by floppydisc on Friday September 23, 2022 @07:57AM (#32950693)
This is very reasonable
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by checkyoursudo on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:18PM (#32944746)
Wouldn't it be easier for me to go live on the moon instead? Or better yet, a nice, comfy asteroid?
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by tsimionescu on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:51PM (#32945087)
Easier, but far more selfish. By helping reduce the Earth's mass, you not only help reduce your own weight, but the weight of all current and future inhabitants of the Earth!
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by throw0101c on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:01PM (#32943915)
> Hence, it's not simple by definition.

simple != {easy, convenient, etc}

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by elil17 on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:09PM (#32943992)
Exactly, thank you. Simple != convenient is absolutely the best way to summarize it. Losing weight this way is extremely inconvenient. It does mean that earth will become uninhabitable. But that does not mean that it's not worth the hard work!
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by function_seven on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:20PM (#32944107)
You’re ignoring genetics. We have evolved to store fat to survive in harsh conditions, but this does not mean we can survive a missing crust and exposed mantle.

Perhaps CRISPR can help?

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by the_mar on Friday September 23, 2022 @05:37PM (#32957416)
there were no fat ppl in concentration camps.

genetics matter but not as much as you think they do

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by function_seven on Friday September 23, 2022 @05:39PM (#32957435)
With the Earth’s crust missing I assure you that certain genotypes will fare worse than others.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by swyx on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:14PM (#32944707)
insert obligatory Rich Hickey mention
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by gilded-lilly on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:21PM (#32944775)
I once lost 17kg (50 pounds) by caloric restriction (500cal deficit per day). I’ve got news for you: you will be slightly hungry most of the time. Meals will be the highlight of your day.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by Broken_Hippo on Thursday September 22, 2022 @06:10PM (#32945281)
You only know that you were slightly hungry most of the time. For you, meals were the highlight of your day.

But you didn't need to go hungry. Folks lose weight by caloric restriction and fill up on a lot of fruits and (non-starchy) vegetables. Some folks have luck with legumes and beans and filling foods. Some folks snack and don't have meals.

And the experience of hunger changes, too! Sometimes, in the same person and definitely between folks.

Examples: I used to smoke. Nicotine is an excellent appetite suppressant, and honestly made it easier to lose weight.

High stress can make me lose most of my appetite or do the opposite.

I menstruate. A few days each month, I have indescribable hunger. It is hormone driven, and unlike other hungers I've experienced. Suddenly, I feel like I've skipped meals. It consumes me. I can't do anything about it, but if I eat a little, I can go back to paying attention to other things.

Not me personally, but there are a number of drugs that increase your appetite, too.

Again, the point really is that hunger isn't as simple as "you'll be slightly hungry most of the time".

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by gilded-lilly on Thursday September 22, 2022 @06:38PM (#32945531)
Interesting. You may be right - in fact, I’d never considered filling up on broccoli or other calorically thin ingredients to suppress hunger. I was just working on the assumption that hunger is the body’s response to caloric deficit (in the absence of drugs).
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by otabdeveloper4 on Friday September 23, 2022 @01:29AM (#32948396)
True hunger is a feeling of deep fatigue, not a craving to eat something.

What we call "hunger" is just habit of eating food regularly. You can untrain yourself, just like with any other habit.

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by hakfoo on Friday September 23, 2022 @12:03AM (#32947908)
I've lost about 15kg in the last year. (109 to 95 or so). While I'm not explicitly counting calories, I've definitely scaled back snacks, desserts, and "eat until I'm fed up" lunches.

I wonder if it's worthwhile to find some compelling distraction-- the equivalent of "I'm grudgingly coming to the table and slamming the least amount of food possible so I can get back to my task" sort of thing. If I'm at my desk away from food sources, I'm not consuming calories.

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by hnfong on Saturday September 24, 2022 @12:27PM (#32964148)
> 500cal deficit per day

Does this assume the body expends a constant amount of energy, or do you actually work out until the deficit level is achieved?

Because for most people trying to lose weight, the struggle is not only to reduce calories in, but in preventing the body from being more thrifty with those calories...

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by MuffinFlavored on Thursday September 22, 2022 @03:56PM (#32943874)
It's simple by definition but not easy to do. Cravings (fat, sugar, filling boredom with eating, depriving yourself from flavor of diet soda/soda) is easier said than done.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by elil17 on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:06PM (#32943955)
It's true, spending time eating can distract from the only real way to lose weight, which is by reducing the mass of the planet Earth. Stay focused, everyone! Together we can do it.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by bluGill on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:46PM (#32944424)
No way, I'm already at a good healthy weight. If I lose 20 lbs my doctor will get concerned, and I'll end up spending a lot of time getting tests for various cancers.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by dwohnitmok on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:05PM (#32944627)
If you follow elil17's suggestion your concern is moot. There won't be any doctors. Anywhere.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by parker_mountain on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:25PM (#32944185)
> Lots of other factors affect metabolism, hunger and energy levels, all of which have huge effect on weight loss\gain.

Metabolism/energy levels/etc are Calories Out. If your metabolism is low, your Calories Out is lower.

Look at BMR, such as https://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bmr

Very simple. CICO.

e: there are relatively rare medical conditions, such as water retention, that can affect weight loss. A better term might be "body fat percentage". But the end result is that if you want to lose body fat, consistently intake less calories than your body uses for energy.

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by elil17 on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:38PM (#32944313)
I think if we're looking at body fat percentage that's a very different question, and something that's probably more in the realm of biology than physics. But weight loss is simple, it's not going to be effected by medical conditions or "metabolism" if you can just reduce the mass of the Earth.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by squeaky-clean on Thursday September 22, 2022 @03:59PM (#32943896)
> Crust of the earth Out

Read the linked article, they're making a pun.

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by addisonl on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:14PM (#32944044)
> 98% of people are unable to follow

This would imply 98% of people are overweight which, even in America, is far from the truth.

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by elil17 on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:23PM (#32944152)
I think they key question is "overweight" compared to what? Yes, far less than 98% of people are overweight compared to a baseline created by doctors that was essentially biased by the existing distribution of weights in western society. But 100% of Americans are overweight compared to how much they would weigh if the Earth's mass was reduced by 50%.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by parker_mountain on Thursday September 22, 2022 @04:20PM (#32944111)
Yeah, it's much closer to 65%. And it's been constantly ticking upwards for years. Haha, uh oh.

e: overweight Americans are about 32.5% of the population. Obese is another 36.5%.

Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by gloryjulio on Thursday September 22, 2022 @06:34PM (#32945495)
Simple != easy. Simple/complex vs easy/hard if this illustration helps
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by throwaway729562 on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:38PM (#32944958)
It’s simple but not easy.
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by gcanyon on Thursday September 22, 2022 @06:36PM (#32945511)
"simple" <> "easy"
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by jannie123 on Friday September 23, 2022 @10:18AM (#32952283)
simple != easy
Re:Lose weight the slow and incredibly difficult way by notyourday on Thursday September 22, 2022 @05:04PM (#32944607)
> Furthermore, it's not that simple. Lots of other factors affect metabolism, hunger and energy levels, all of which have huge effect on weight loss\gain.

It is that simple: people simply are looking for an excuses why they aren't willing to do it.

I'm going to again plugin this guy https://hubermanlab.com/how-to-lose-fat-with-science-based-t... because his lectures are amazing and he breaks down the actual scientific consensus on these topics rather well. He is neuroscientist and tenured associate professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine who has made contributions to the brain development, brain plasticity, and neural regeneration and repair fields.