Hacker News Reader

Comment by matz1 | Hacker News Reader

How is it disrespectful?

It’s the phrasing, not the idea per se. Like, yes, weight loss is energy consumed - energy burned, but it’s rather obvious, rather unhelpful, and simplifies things in a way that triggers shame, not determination for people who have to overcome more barriers.

It’s like you’re in the middle of a marathon and someone running a 5k goes “have you considered running faster?”

Sure it can be interpreted multiple ways and like with any idea, there will always be some people that offended.

Some people may find it obvious but some other people can find it helpful.

Hahaha yes this is great. Similar with “Oh, you’re poor? Have you tried making more money?”

Yep, fat shaming doesn't work because the rich bully the poor all the time and that definitely hasn't changed anything

I love Rutger Bregman’s Ted talk on how being poor impacts decision making.

https://www.ted.com/talks/rutger_bregman_poverty_isn_t_a_lac...

"Money in, money out."

You would think it obvious but suprisingly a lot of people didn't know that.

I lost 30kg in a year or so by following "calories in / calories out". For me it was very helpful for two reasons:

1. Unlike a fixed diet or meal plan, it freed me to keep eating the things I wanted to eat. Not exactly as before, but to a large degree. I really enjoy my food, so not being forced to eat stuff I didn't want or like was crucial. Instead I focused finding ways of keeping the calories per day roughly at a target value. This simplified things a lot for me, as it was a clear and very tangible goal.

2. If I failed one day, say maybe I went out with some friends or I just had to have some ice cream or whatever, it allowed me to not feel bad about it. I knew this process would take a year at least, so "calories in / calories out" meant whatever I do today doesn't matter much, it's what I do every day that matters.

Imagine the time before the formalization of dyslexia within medicine. It would have been very disrespectful and cruel to tell people who found learning very challenging something like “just try harder! It’s basic physics, the more you study, the more you learn!”

Calorie in calorie out principle doesn't imply that its not challenging

Why not? It just means you eat a specific amount of calories and you’ll lose weight no?

That its true but that statement doesn't say anything about the difficulty of it.

I agree. Neither you nor I made a specific comment in difficulty. Your parent comment stated it was disrespectful. I agreed and tried to use an analogy that would be considered both disrespectful and cruel by most people.

In addition, I have successfully eaten the “correct” amount of calories for years and years and still gained weight. I admit, andcdata, but I am not the only person with this story nor am I the only one with this odd medical outcome.

And i pointed out the issue with saying it disrespectful.

>In addition, I have successfully eaten the “correct” amount of calories for years and years and still gained weight

So that means you are not eating the correct amount of calorie. But i guess you knew that since you use the word correct in quote.

Sorry, I don’t understand. What is the issue?

I put correct in quotes because it was ineffective. I did not lose weight eating the amount of calories that the doctors calculated. Is that surprising?

If you eat exactly 100g of refined sugar then your body can extract at most 400 calories. If you then burn 500, that 100 calorie difference must come from your body. That's all it means.

Finding how many calories your body needs right now to maintain weight is another issue entirely, and one which involves estimation and uncertainties.

If you find you're not losing weight while hitting your target value, well then it's simple[1]: your target value is wrong and needs to be lowered.

[1]: Assuming your doc verified you're not gaining weight due to water retention or similar.

No. The food you eat affects both sides of the equation. Different people will also have different responses to the same food due to factors like genetics, gut microbiome, etc. Calories in calories out works for everyone. Saying eat X calories per day to lose weight does not.

Indeed. I know first hand how much more difficult it is than everyone who hasn't had to do it thinks it is.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com