Losing weight slowly and sustainably without serious drugs (e.g. BMI 30 ⇒ 25).
The main problem is that for many people this thing works like a ratchet, it’s easy to get +0.5 BMI very quickly, and if one lets a few days after that slip, then one is often stuck at that new level.
As a result, both going down and staying there often require consistent discipline, and the whole thing is rather unforgiving in terms of slip-ups, social occasions, and such.
One thing that almost nobody tells you about exercise, which I think needs to be said more often, is that if you stick with it long enough it becomes enjoyable and no longer requires discipline.
Eventually you’ll wake up just wanting to go to the gym/on a hike/play tennis, to the degree you’re looking forward to it and will be kind of mad when you can’t.
It’s just that it takes a few months or maybe even a year to get there.
But I have also found that it’s really easy to lose, an illness or injury forcing a long break is enough.
If the activity is one I really like intrinsically, like walking, it’s one thing, but when it’s the one I value more for results than for the process, then yes, it’s not too difficult to start enjoying it, but this does not always survive long breaks.
EDIT: This is actually a good exercise for me: to try to enjoy that other part of my exercise routine more, so that the natural pressure is towards doing it.
People say that often enough that I believe it is true for them. Yet the relapse rate within groups after experiments suggests that you and those like you are in the minority.
Very few people keep exercising, meditating, etc after year long interventions. They keep it up for a while, but it definitely doesn’t stay a permanent part of their life. And the desistance rates during experiments are not small either.
There is something internal that remains to be identified about who falls on which side of the line.
This is why the drugs for weight loss have been so transformative. If people could actually come to enjoy exercise in a reliable way, there would never have been a market for the drugs.
Most of the studies I am familiar with are from cardiology and describe “moderate” and “light” categories. Where light is walking, and moderate is 30+ minutes three to five times a week, of gym or calisthenics.
From personal experience as a competitive track runner in youth, and trying to lose weight as an adult, I have never experienced anything but loathing for exercise at any level of intensity. I do it anyway. Daily, for my whole life.
I hear the same thing about cold immersion, which a lot of people swear by, but also doesn’t induce any dopamine reaction in me.
What I want to see is someone do the research but break out groups by body type (endomorph, ectomorph, mesomorph) and see if that’s part of it.
As a result, both going down and staying there often require consistent discipline, and the whole thing is rather unforgiving in terms of slip-ups, social occasions, and such.
I personally found it very helpful to use a “budget”-style calorie counter—ie. instead of just having a 2100kcal goal every day, you can eat more on some day and then your next day goal will be lower to keep the average at 2100 (and vice versa—if you eat less on a given day, you’ll be able to eat more later). This gave me a lot of freedom to not worry about eating too much at social occasions or just on bad days, while still keeping the weight loss results consistent.
Of course though, as with any weight loss method, this will really vary from person to person. I understand that for some people this might not be helpful or maybe may even be detrimental.
Yes, immediate compensation is useful, even if one has no idea how many calories have been involved (I would not usually know).
Although, in my experience, one needs to be very careful at least for the next two days (if not three) in order to avoid a partial bump.
The most difficult situation is when there are few “wrong days” in a row (e.g. guests are staying, and so on).
But, generally speaking, it seems that there is (often) a very strong asymmetry between the directions of “up” and “down”, the system has a bias to go “up”, that’s what one is fighting against.
Very drastic changes (like serious drugs, or like making one much stronger (and more consistently) committed to some set of goals, not necessarily directly related to one’s body) might sufficiently shift the equilibrium, that’s true...
Losing weight slowly and sustainably without serious drugs (e.g. BMI 30 ⇒ 25).
The main problem is that for many people this thing works like a ratchet, it’s easy to get +0.5 BMI very quickly, and if one lets a few days after that slip, then one is often stuck at that new level.
As a result, both going down and staying there often require consistent discipline, and the whole thing is rather unforgiving in terms of slip-ups, social occasions, and such.
One thing that almost nobody tells you about exercise, which I think needs to be said more often, is that if you stick with it long enough it becomes enjoyable and no longer requires discipline.
Eventually you’ll wake up just wanting to go to the gym/on a hike/play tennis, to the degree you’re looking forward to it and will be kind of mad when you can’t.
It’s just that it takes a few months or maybe even a year to get there.
Yes, I have found that this is true.
But I have also found that it’s really easy to lose, an illness or injury forcing a long break is enough.
If the activity is one I really like intrinsically, like walking, it’s one thing, but when it’s the one I value more for results than for the process, then yes, it’s not too difficult to start enjoying it, but this does not always survive long breaks.
EDIT: This is actually a good exercise for me: to try to enjoy that other part of my exercise routine more, so that the natural pressure is towards doing it.
People say that often enough that I believe it is true for them. Yet the relapse rate within groups after experiments suggests that you and those like you are in the minority.
Very few people keep exercising, meditating, etc after year long interventions. They keep it up for a while, but it definitely doesn’t stay a permanent part of their life. And the desistance rates during experiments are not small either.
There is something internal that remains to be identified about who falls on which side of the line.
This is why the drugs for weight loss have been so transformative. If people could actually come to enjoy exercise in a reliable way, there would never have been a market for the drugs.
I’d be interested in seeing what kind of exercise were used for those experiments.
I do think there’s a certain minimum level of intensity involved to get to the dopamine/seratonin release phase.
Most of the studies I am familiar with are from cardiology and describe “moderate” and “light” categories. Where light is walking, and moderate is 30+ minutes three to five times a week, of gym or calisthenics.
From personal experience as a competitive track runner in youth, and trying to lose weight as an adult, I have never experienced anything but loathing for exercise at any level of intensity. I do it anyway. Daily, for my whole life.
I hear the same thing about cold immersion, which a lot of people swear by, but also doesn’t induce any dopamine reaction in me.
What I want to see is someone do the research but break out groups by body type (endomorph, ectomorph, mesomorph) and see if that’s part of it.
Have you tried different types of exercise? Sports, heavy vs light lifting, running vs swimming, etc?
I’m wondering if the effect is just universal for physical exertion or if there’s just something that’s a good “fit” for you.
I personally found it very helpful to use a “budget”-style calorie counter—ie. instead of just having a 2100kcal goal every day, you can eat more on some day and then your next day goal will be lower to keep the average at 2100 (and vice versa—if you eat less on a given day, you’ll be able to eat more later). This gave me a lot of freedom to not worry about eating too much at social occasions or just on bad days, while still keeping the weight loss results consistent.
Of course though, as with any weight loss method, this will really vary from person to person. I understand that for some people this might not be helpful or maybe may even be detrimental.
Yes, immediate compensation is useful, even if one has no idea how many calories have been involved (I would not usually know).
Although, in my experience, one needs to be very careful at least for the next two days (if not three) in order to avoid a partial bump.
The most difficult situation is when there are few “wrong days” in a row (e.g. guests are staying, and so on).
But, generally speaking, it seems that there is (often) a very strong asymmetry between the directions of “up” and “down”, the system has a bias to go “up”, that’s what one is fighting against.
Very drastic changes (like serious drugs, or like making one much stronger (and more consistently) committed to some set of goals, not necessarily directly related to one’s body) might sufficiently shift the equilibrium, that’s true...