Watched a tiktok (where else to get health science) that made the point that obesity is a chronic disease and should be treated as such.
For example. No one criticises insulin because your diebetes symptoms come back when you stop taking it…
(EDIT: not saying anyone here is making that criticism of Ozempic)
Im viewing this as any other sort of diet. If I lose too much weight too fast, that’s unlikely to be sustainable no matter the root cause.
I dont have any problem with the weight loss drugs. If they work but you have to take them for life, how is that any different than taking a pill for your schizophrenia or genetic high blood pressure?
And yes, it is a medication, but it still requires the user to make a food based lifestyle change. No different than diet. Its just an assist. We still dont fully know how badly the metabolism of an obese person gets fucked up. I have heard (so take this with a skeptics eye) that there are some scholars who think that once the body gets to a certain point of obesity, losing and keeping the weight off is nigh impossoble without drugs or surgery.
One thing I have a real problem with when it comes to weight loss drugs is insurance refusing to cover it, and this scarcity from those who are using it cosmetically raising the price artificially. Those with money using it for cosmetic reasons while people with life threatening weight issues sit on the sidelines waiting to die makes me furious.
Australia will only subscribe it with a BMI of 30 and above. Or above 27 with one of a list of specific weight related health issues.
At BMI of 34 I had no issues getting the subscription.
Although, I think at a BMI of 30 (technically obese) I was 114kg (251 lb) playing rugby nearly every day and I felt amazing, so the BMI measure has its limits
I usually try to start resolutions in December to get a jump on things, but alas not this year. I have found a reliable approach to weight loss (diligently calorie tracking + calorie target) but have not found it to be sustainable. I’ve bounced between 210 and 230 a lot in episodes of focusing up, tracking, being diligent, for a few months, then sloowlly drifting north for a while longer.
Changing it up, trying to aim for -10% body weight (230 → 207) and then try to stay at maintenance for a while.
I keep a calorie target, a separate calories from alcohol target (because alsochol is a calorie disaster it can be so valuable to reduce or eliminate - also it’s of course bad for you in other ways), and minutes on the peloton.
Calories - 1900 / day
Alcohol - 200 / day
Peloton Minutes - 30/day with a grace day.
Good week this week, hit all 3 targets. Godspeed to us all
For what it’s worth, I think that hardly anybody finds this to be sustainable unless your job is being a fitness influencer or something and you can dedicate time every day to this. Otherwise most people give up within a week.
It can be a really helpful tool to set the goal to do calorie tracking for a fixed period (one week, one month maybe) with the idea of identify behavioral leaks. But I think most people that get to a sustainable weight maintenance state do it by forming good habits and then they don’t have to track anymore.
Yeah for sure this is the way to go. For me it was a matter of finding a strategy that minimized hunger (keto/low carb), an eating schedule that seemed to work well (intermittent fasting, usually with a protein shake midday at work and then a fairly big dinner), and a bunch of go-to meals and snacks that I mostly rotate between. I just watch the scale and adjust based on that, I basically never have more than a vague ballpark figure of how many calories I’m eating in a day.
I allow myself some flexibility and cheat meals on weekends but that’s sort of baked into the equation now, I guess. Overall though, the solution is to find what works and then just be fucking boring and predictable as hell with it.
Right, and for many people the exercise of tracking calories and identifying errors is instructive. A very typical example is someone who doesn’t plan meals for the week, and after a long day at work is driving home close to dinner time and is starving. That person often has a choice of fast food or, at the worst possible time, trying to work up the discipline to decide on something healthy to prepare for dinner, and going to get the groceries, and then preparing the food, all while being hangry. If that person’s goal is to avoid the fast food, then they are never going to be successful by working up the self control day after day to make the “right” choice. They need to adapt their schedule to make a meal plan and buy groceries at the beginning of the week. When the choice is fast food or go home and make the thing I already planned to make, it is WAY easier to make the “right” choice.
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that you just need to come up with the willpower day after day to make good choices at the worst possible time, with predictable results.
Yup. It also helps to have one sort of quick failsafe meal that you virtually always have stuff on hand for. For me, I know that even if our schedule goes sideways and I have to fend for myself making some random shit at home at like 9pm, I can always whip up some bacon and eggs. It takes me <10min, has virtually zero carbs, fills me up, and I never really get sick of it.
Having something like that in your arsenal goes a long way toward avoiding the inevitable trip to the drive-thru because “there’s no time and we have nothing at home”.
I’ve certainly logged enough times and dropped 10-15 pounds enough times to know the behavioral leaks / things I change when I’m logging or focusing on weight loss.
At least my known leaks are alcohol and late night snacks - obviously both things that come from when it’s hard to summon the will power. Snacks through the day as well - the ones that add up to like 500-700 calories but go unnoticed.
Late nights is in general something that I go back and forth on. I’m definitely a night owl, I’ve have times when like between 10am and 2am I’m super productive and get a ton done. It’s also a form of self-care - I have a busy family life so getting a couple of hours doing exactly what I want is really nice from time to time.
But more broadly, totally hear you that diligently logging every day isn’t sustainable! Agree and ideally I can do 4 months of diligent logging, get to -10%, then keep logging but aim for maintenance to try to build long-term sustainability there.
1 week into logging and paying attention to food. Down 2.2% from 318 to 311. Feeling good more importantly. More energy and this morning was the first time I didnt feel like I was desperate for food upon waking so hopefully im getting a little shrinkage
I’m in the same boat. I just don’t buy beer and snacks anymore and keep them around the house. Usually when I have a passing fancy for an IPA or potato chips, I’m not motivated enough to hop in the car and drive to the store to buy them. So I just don’t have have them. But if I buy a 6 pack of IPAs and two bags of potato chips on my weekly grocery run on Sunday, by the following Sunday I have consumed 6 IPAs and two bags of potato chips 100% of the time.
I’m not a calorie counting person, but I pretty much know what my leaks are. Replacing liquid calories, especially beer, with water, tea and coffee is huge. No fast food, limit processed food and sugary desserts. Stay active. The pounds just melt off. I don’t worry about measuring my exact weight bc it’s not that important to me
What I’ve done that helps in terms of diet is simply keep a daily journal of what I eat. Then, I highlight each food as either green (optimally healthy), yellow (neutrally healthy), or red (unhealthy).
Just doing this each day and noticing the color trends can be enough to nudge you away from foods you shouldn’t be eating and toward the foods you should.
Also weigh myself first thing each morning and record it in the same journal and a fitness tracker. Beyond that though, I never count calories and would hate life if I had to.
Re counting calories I’m just a math and data guy. Professionally and on and off as a hobby. So that part makes it way easier for me - reducing this to a math problem helps.
I think for me when the logging falls off is when my discipline is starting to slip and it’s getting depressing to log bigger numbers
Anyone here have any cholesterol issues? My cholesterol has been high for the past three years despite making every possible diet and lifestyle change. So I went to the doctor and he prescribed a statin. Really don’t want to take medication if at all possible but I’m out of other options.
Anyone have experience with this kind of med?
High cholesterol runs in my family. Statins can cause muscle pain but that’s about the only side effect. If it causes muscle pain you’ll know it though. There are plenty of alternatives but they are less effective / more expensive AFAIK.
A lot of the olds in my extended family are on statins. I’m sure my time will come.
None of them have had any side effects. Just take a daily pill. Like taking a vitamin.
I know of some people who have had the muscle soreness mentioned above. If it is bad then they are prescribed other alternatives until something is found that agrees with them.
Unfortunately some people are SOL when it comes to cholesterol. The gene for it can be pretty aggressive and being able to change that is still a ways in the future.
As always, trying to do deep dive research into the risks and efficacy of statin sucks one into a maze of conflicting opinions. Those who hail the drug as having saved their lives to those who swear it is bodily poison and everyone in between.
It becomes impossible to know who or what to believe.
Oh, if that’s your problem you’re probably looking in the wrong place. The evidence for statin use is pretty solid. Most of the problems are side-effect related. Just try them, and if they give you significant side effects, then stop and consider something else. If no side-effects, then just take them. There is a reason they are so widely prescribed. They show benefit and most people tolerate them pretty well.
I guess the only problem with above strategy is that if you think that they are going to fuck you up permanently. Is that what you’re afraid of?
