Weight loss. Diet over exercize.

Waterclone

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#1
Don't get me wrong. I am not disparaging exercize. It's critical for fitness. However, I believe when it comes to weightloss, it's 90% diet.

I was watching an ironman competition. If you are unfamiliar, it's a triathlon that is 2.4 miles of swimming, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full 26 mile marathon. If you are too slow on any segment (like if your swim takes too long) then they don't let you continue because the whole thing will take too long. It's the kind of thing you have to train hard, for a very long time, to be able to complete. So, my cousin was competing and I was watching the finish line and I was stunned at the number of people who were fat and even obese who were able to cross the finish line. I couldn't believe one could train for such an event and still be overweight like that.

Then I read Penn Jillette's book, "Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales". He lost 100 lbs in 3 months (under a doctors care) all with diet and I was inspired. Now, the first thing the book says is that if you take diet advice from a magician, then you are an asshole. I didn't look at the book as an instruction manual. I simply took inspiration from it and did what worked for me. And I lost 30 lbs in 4 months. Basically, the thing that did the most for me... I stopped eating when I wasn't hungry. I used to always eat 3 meals a day, but, quite frankly, if I have breakfast, I'm usually not hungry at lunch time. So now, if I'm not hungry, then I skip the meal.

That doesn't work for everyone. If I do get hungry later in the day, I don't mind. Hunger isn't pain. It doesn't bother me. I can wait. Some people get hangry if their blood sugar goes down. But, for me it worked.

Anyway, I highly recommend the book. Even if you aren't looking to lose weight, it's really a good read.
 
#2
Don't get me wrong. I am not disparaging exercize. It's critical for fitness. However, I believe when it comes to weightloss, it's 90% diet.

I was watching an ironman competition. If you are unfamiliar, it's a triathlon that is 2.4 miles of swimming, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full 26 mile marathon. If you are too slow on any segment (like if your swim takes too long) then they don't let you continue because the whole thing will take too long. It's the kind of thing you have to train hard, for a very long time, to be able to complete. So, my cousin was competing and I was watching the finish line and I was stunned at the number of people who were fat and even obese who were able to cross the finish line. I couldn't believe one could train for such an event and still be overweight like that.

Then I read Penn Jillette's book, "Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales". He lost 100 lbs in 3 months (under a doctors care) all with diet and I was inspired. Now, the first thing the book says is that if you take diet advice from a magician, then you are an asshole. I didn't look at the book as an instruction manual. I simply took inspiration from it and did what worked for me. And I lost 30 lbs in 4 months. Basically, the thing that did the most for me... I stopped eating when I wasn't hungry. I used to always eat 3 meals a day, but, quite frankly, if I have breakfast, I'm usually not hungry at lunch time. So now, if I'm not hungry, then I skip the meal.

That doesn't work for everyone. If I do get hungry later in the day, I don't mind. Hunger isn't pain. It doesn't bother me. I can wait. Some people get hangry if their blood sugar goes down. But, for me it worked.

Anyway, I highly recommend the book. Even if you aren't looking to lose weight, it's really a good read.
You are basically suggesting "intermittent fasting". It is an effective tool not only for weight loss but for other health benefits.

When combined with a low carb or Ketogenic diet, the two work synergistically to provide greater fat loss while retaining muscular mass.

I don't need to lose weight but I have recently experimented with this diet regime for the last three months and have noticed a slow reduction of subcutaneous fat in some stubborn areas while retaining muscle mass, thus creating even better muscular definition.

Again, one must experiment, through trial and error, to see what works best for them.

Even with that, however, it is a good idea, as is in ones exercise routine, to change it up every so often to give a little "shock" to the body to avoid staleness and plateauing.

Most fitness enthusiasts will call it 80 % diet and I am in accord with that
 
#4
....... And I lost 30 lbs in 4 months. .......
My 2¢.
The question is "You lost 30 lbs of what?" A problem of solely using diet to lose weight is in addition to losing fat you also lose muscle. Other than your brain (which consumes around 20% of your bodies calories) the majority of metabolic calorie consumption is muscle. Combination of reasonable deficit diet and exercise is the way to, albeit slow, way to lose weight and when you reach your target and resume a non-deficit diet, to keep it off.

Ill take a look at the book - sounds interesting.
 

Waterclone

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#5
Well, I wasn't sitting in a bed, atrophying, but that is a fair point. I maintained my normal activity level. Walking about 10 miles a day. So, I don't think I was losing too much muscle mass. As detailed in the book, Penn had medical issues that required the loss of the weight pretty quickly, so he was on a fairly strict no exercise plan during the initial weight loss.
 

Waterclone

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#7
I wasn't looking to diet. I read it because I like him and what he has to say. I wouldn't call it blather, but I guess that's a matter of perspective. Incidentally, after his recent heart attack Kevin Smith started to follow the same plan and lost like 30 lbs and is also feeling much better.
 
#8
I wasn't looking to diet. I read it because I like him and what he has to say. I wouldn't call it blather, but I guess that's a matter of perspective. Incidentally, after his recent heart attack Kevin Smith started to follow the same plan and lost like 30 lbs and is also feeling much better.
I'm happy to hear Kevin Smith started to follow the same plan and lost like 30 lbs and is also feeling much better.

Just curious - did you just so happen to read his f**king diet!!

  • 2 weeks (Penn went 15 days)
  • A “monodiet” of potatoes only, skin must be eaten
  • As many potatos as you want (Cronise: O.K. to eat 30 a day, “but you won’t”)
  • Apparently no “fed window” (see below), you can eat 24 hours a day (“as often as you want”)
 

Waterclone

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#9
Yes. The potato thing isn't the actual diet. It's basically a precursor to reset your palate. Like I said, I didn't follow his diet. "I didn't look at the book as an instruction manual. I simply took inspiration from it and did what worked for me."

The actual diet comes after that and is basically (but not exactly) a vegan diet.
 
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