Programming and Dieting? 130
duncan bayne asks: "I've been using the Hacker's Diet to lose weight. What's interesting to me is how hard it is to focus on a complicated task when my body is busy running out of energy. I'm having to pay careful attention to snacking - eating enough that I don't 'fade out' in the afternoon, yet not so much that I exceed my daily kilojoule allowance. This got me to thinking about energy levels of those who aren't dieting. Do you find yourself correcting 'fade' by snacking (careful or otherwise) as you work?"
No. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No. (Score:2)
Ritalin puts more people than medschool than trust funds do.
The opposite... (Score:2)
I find that if I consume too much food, my ability to focus is diminished. This is particularly true for sugars, caffeine, and simple carbs. I can feel my blood sugar getting high, and then the weird antsy hyper mentality kicks in, and I'd be better suited for writing off the wall humor.
If I snack, I have to make sure that it is not the stuff that comes out of a vending machine. What I typically do, or would like to, given the amount of self-control that I have on certain days, is to eat half the sandwi
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The opposite... (Score:2)
Re:The opposite... (Score:2)
Re:The opposite... (Score:1)
Re:The opposite... (Score:2)
The real trick is to make sure you never go more than 4 hours without eating and that when you eat you do not eat too much or something super unhealthy. Also when
Re:The opposite... (Score:2)
Re:The opposite... (Score:1)
Snacking isn't actually that bad (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Snacking isn't actually that bad (Score:2)
Personally I lost my own overweight simply by blocking the calory intake after dinner. During the day I eat normally and drink soda, but after dinner I switch to water and stop eating candy/snac
Re:Snacking isn't actually that bad (Score:2)
1) East as soon as you wake up
2) East 6 times a day
3) Eat mostly healthy food and not cereal, milk, or ice cream.
And that is not only a way to lose weight, that is the most proper way to eat for the rest of your life. People who skipped breakfast were almost 2 or 3x as likely to be obese. Eating breakfast keeps your hunger urges down for the rest of the day.
Eating 6 times a day is important because you eat in small portions to give yourself a boost and you don't
Re:Snacking isn't actually that bad (Score:2)
The fade goes away (Score:1)
For a second there.. (Score:1)
After a while, reality kicked in and reminded me that the two are mutually exclusive.
Re:For a second there.. (Score:2)
Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2, Insightful)
Incorrect. There is one great key to losing weight and keeping it off. Its called Math. If you take in more calories then you use, you will gain weight. If you burn more calories then you take in, you will lose weight. It is that simple. Eat a healthy blend of foods. Eat less and exercise more and you will lose weight. Period. Whether you eat nothing but stake, are a vegitarian, a junk food muncher, what ever your gimmic is, you need t
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:1)
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2, Informative)
The point it's making is that eating fewer calories than you burn isn't "magic," it's physics.
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
I read the introduction. I figured reading the introduction of the guide would give me at least an idea of what the book would cover. I appologize for making that assumption. My bust. </sarcasm>
-Rick
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:1)
The book is based on the premise that there is no "magic secret" to losing weight. You stated that was incorrect. Then you listed a bunch of things that aren't magic secrets as ways to lose weight.
Also, the online book has some computerized tools like you mentioned available for download, although they might be out of date no
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
No, I listed 1 way. Not magic, but very much a (media/marketing) secret. No gimic, no huge price, no crazy fad, no marketing department. Just Math. If that's what the guide gets to, great, but the intro made it sound like loosing weight was painful, hard, confussing and very complexe. Which its not. It is challanging though.
-Rick
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
Or you could just
Some got it, others don't.
I've lost 76 pounds over the past 6 months (I'm now 6'3", weigh 170, 31" waist).. just exercise a
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
Then I do an additional 2 hours a week of strength training not to get big but because you're obviously going to lose what you don't use during heavy weight loss.
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:1)
I guarantee that will help you lose weight!
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
eat that dracula!
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
And as for buying a quality diet/exercise tracking system? As far as I can tell, that's exactly what the book's Excel files are. And yes, they make graphs.
Remember, it's the Hacker's diet. Do you really expect a self-respecting hacker to buy such simple software?
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
Yes, I realise that now. It appears that the guide has a very valid thesis and a very weak introduction.
"Remember, it's the Hacker's diet. Do you really expect a self-respecting hacker to buy such simple software?"
So, answer me this hacker, how many calaries are in a grilled cheese sandwhich, A cup of OJ, and a side salad with light dreasing? Sure, you could look up each item, figure out how much cheese you used on your sandwhich and how many cal
Fitday by Cyser (Score:2)
Its $29 for a download copy. Its extremely easy to use and has helped my wife loose and keep of 25 pounds.
-Rick
Re:Fitday by Cyser (Score:2)
Do you really want to help your wife get loose?
Spelling is important, kids!
Re:Fitday by Cyser (Score:1)
That should have been Lose, not Loose
-Rick
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
Another helpful rule-of-thumb... 30 minutes of cardio burns about 500 calories, if you keep your heart rate about 125-130.
And of course, if you lift weights or do strength training, your metabolic rate increases so you burn more calories in a day.
Simple math. No need for expensive Atkins, South
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
If you want to lose weight this is how I
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
I do basically the same thing you do...count calories. I've lost 40lbs in 12 months. Not as fast as you but I feel great.
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
Congrats on your weight loss but that's not how it works. People get Type 2 because their bodies don't regulate blood glucose levels properly. If your body is going to fail at that, it's going to fail. Being terribly out of shape can cause the failure to be worse and sooner, but it's not the cause. In fact, there's a good deal of research that indi
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
* the receptors on cells in the body that normally respond to the action of insulin fail to be stimulated by it - this is known as insulin resistance. In response to this more insulin may be produced, and this over-production exhausts the insulin-manufacturing cells in the pancreas;
* there is simply insufficient insulin available; and
* the insulin that is available may be abnorm
Blaming the victim isn't smart (Score:4, Insightful)
It's interesting how you're able to mix the insightful with the oblivious. Most people can't do that. You've got your facts right, but your attitude renders you incapable of properly interpreting them. Since essentially anonymous postings on public message boards don't change anyones attitudes, I won't try. Let me just point out the basic contradiction you've presented.
You said that "diabetes is believed to develop when..." any of several insulin-related things go wrong. That's right and there's nothing in there about weight. Later, you say that you know people who got diabetes "as a direct result of 30-40 years of doing nothing but getting fat and lazy." That's not the same thing. So, which is it? Do people get diabetes because of an insulin problem or do they get it because they're fat and lazy?
Here's a hint - characterizing people as lazy and attributing (even in part) an endocrine disorder to that characteristic is, shall we say, counterproductive to the pursuit of effective treatment. Understand, though, that remaining factually correct and accounting for attitudes and lifestyle are not mutually exclusive. A better way to explain to a new or pre- diabetic would run along these lines: "Parts of your endocrine system aren't working right. It's not sufficient for you to eat and move just like normal, thin folks. If that's all you do, you'll get fat. You're going to have to work twice as hard as most people to stay thin and you simply must do so because if you don't, that endocrine problem will spiral ridiculously out of control and put you in a world of hurt. It's not fair, but you got dealt a bad hand. You're going to have to play it perfectly if you don't want to lose the game."
See the difference? Or are you going to persist in being like those asshole ex-smokers who insist on denying that nicotine is addictive just because they were able to kick the habit?
Someone being ill doesn't make them a victim (Score:2)
Illness != victimhood, but assholism != help (Score:2)
Wow. That was, um, an excessively intense response to a simple suggestion that you look at things with a slightly broader perspective. Thanks for the exchange; I found it enlightening. I really did. It's always good to be reminded just how far people can go when they make up their minds about something.
Now I think it's time for a review. In my previous post, I said:
I think I'll stand pat on that. I
Re:Illness != victimhood, but assholism != help (Score:2)
"Wow. That was, um, an excessively intense response to a simple suggestion" No it wasn't, your post opened with an insult; "It's interesting how you're able to mix the insightful with the oblivious. Most people can't do that.", in the same smug tone as your post above.
And you're wrong, IMO, inactivity (lazy) and the resultant obesity (fat) in people (slobs) can lead to diabetes.
Re:Bleh, more phewie! (Score:2)
correcting 'fade (Score:2, Insightful)
> work?"
If by `fade` they mean `falling blood sugar levels` then the answer is to not binge on sugary stuff in the first place. But no-one wants to do boring stuff like eating properly, especially if you want to stay up all night debugging...uh, I mean coding.
Blood sugar (sex magic) (Score:2)
Seems avoiding the caffeine / sugar crash is what's important. You can only keep yourself on the leading edge of a sugar or caffine rush for a limited amount of time during the day.
work PT at.... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:work PT at.... (Score:2)
Unfortunately. my job is currently so over-tasked that I leave home at 0530, and frequently don't return until 2100. Then there are several support calls during the night.
Hopefully, this will be temporary, otherwise thats it for me.
-WS
Whole grains (Score:2)
Calories are a joke (Score:1, Troll)
I wrestled for 8 years. You want to loose weight? Get a good scale. Step on it with the sandwich, snack, drink or whatever. If you weigh more than you did in the morning or what your goal is then don't eat it.
You will quickly learn what your body burns during the day and at night.
Also drink a glass of water and wait 15 minutes before you eat anything.
Re:Calories are a joke (Score:2)
Simple solution, drugs...caffeine is a drug right? (Score:1)
Or you could go for calorie free caffeinated water from www.buzzwater.com which is the best solution...caffeine actually speeds up your matabolism so you'll feel pumped from the extreme caffeine dosage and burn more calories.
Just don't get too addicted!
Good luck.
You may want to experiment with your food intake (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm not saying that yogurt and fruit is a magic combination that will work for everyone, but it worked for me. Try different foods and different mixes of the big three (protein, carbs and fat) and see how you feel. If you're already doing the hacker's diet, it shouldn't be too hard to track the additional information.
Good luck and keep at it. It's been about nine months since I started and I'm down to 175 pounds. I lost my workout routine (new job doesn't have a gym like the old one), but I have been able to keep my food intake under control thanks to what I learned using the Hacker's Diet.
What works for me ... (Score:5, Insightful)
1.- Watch what you eat, (http://www.nutritiondata.com/ [nutritiondata.com] has been a wonderful help) 1600 Kcalories enables you to loose up to 2 Kg every month.
2.- Eat frecuently, no more than 4 hours without eating something, 100 gr of fruit is right between meals when you are hungry. This way you are not empty (and hungry) when you do the real meal.
3.- If you are really hungry between meals, 10 gr of butter (yes pure butter only) helps me to avoid the starving feeling (thanks to Atking, this really works).
4.- Don't eat outside meal time, and stop doing it as soon as you have enough or you don't have hunger, this is really important, and it is an habit change that you need to track carefully.
5.- Make a little exercice, you don't need to train like Mr, Universe, just 20 minutes walking every day and some serious aerobic exercice 2 times (or more) a week is right.
6.- Avoid highly carbohydrated food, like rice, sugar, pasta, flour etc..., vegetables and fruit will give you more than enough for your needs.
7.- Drink, no less than 3 Liters of water every day, but no sodas or similar, just water or tea with a sugar substitute, saccharin is better than aspartame.
8.- Put the maximun food intake in the breakfast and the lunch, and the minimun in the dinner, this way you go to sleep almost empty.
9.- Loosing weight is a SLOW PROCESS, so don't try to recover your perfect weight in 2 weeks, put a realistic schedule, 1 to 2 years is a correct one. Going faster will not work in the long term.
10.- Persistence, all this is nonsense if you do it for 1 week and forget it the next one, loosing weight is a state of mind.
I've lost 20 Kg, in the past 18 months, and today I'm quite happy, even my sexual life has improved a lot, but I understand that every person is a world and at the end you need to decide what is right and what works for you, so watch how your body reacts to your actions.
Re:What works for me ... (Score:2)
God, I stopped reading there to go vomit at the thought. That must be how atkins works.
Re:What works for me ... (Score:1)
sheesh, am I really THAT big???
More notes (Score:1)
(1) Stairs really help a lot. It made me realize how out of shape I had become. Take the stairs when you can, and be persistent. You'd be surprised how much more you can go after a few weeks of stair climbing at your office.
(2) Avoid drugs, including caffeine and alcohol. You've got to break that caffeine habit if you have one. When I drink a caffeinated beverage, I get really, really hungry.
(3) A little bit of candy or anything with too many carbs really does ruin your week. Avoid
Re:What works for me ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What works for me ... (Score:2)
This is a known phenomenon and is usually called a plateau. It happens with any kind of diet if you keep at it long enough. Simply keep going and eventually you will start losing weight again.
I've lost 19 kilos using Atkins so I'd like to add a few comments:
Re:What works for me ... (Score:2)
v. loosed, loosing, looses
v. tr.
1. To let loose; release: loosed the dogs.
2. To make loose; undo: loosed his belt.
3. To cast loose; detach: hikers loosing their packs at camp.
4. To let fly; discharge: loosed an arrow.
5. To release pressure or obligation from; absolve: loosed her from the responsibility.
The 'Fade'... (Score:3, Interesting)
Now, I've never been one for exercise. I played a few sports occassionally just for fun, but didn't really exert myself. Since my operation I hadn't played any, and lost the desire to do it. I had to lose the weight somehow, and I reasoned myself into a simple diet: no desserts, only a bowl of cereal for breakfast and one for dinner, and drink ONLY water. This last part was probably the biggest kicker. I lost 15lbs just from cutting the sugary drinks out of my diet. The best way to go on a diet cold turkey is to use water--whenever you want anything that you aren't supposed to have, cram water down your throat. That may sound extreme, but drinking 100 ounces of water a day is what made me lose 90 lbs.
I never really started to notice the 'fade' as you're calling it until I got to college though. The key was that, because of my course schedule and economic status (I couldn't really afford to eat that often), I had to start cutting back my meals. I started eating just 1 meal a day (dinner), and made it a big one. While I got used to that diet, and did continue to lose weight on it, I started to notice that midway through the day I got really tired. I needed more and more sleep if I wanted to feel truly rested, and even then I didn't feel great the whole day.
The main difference between the two diets was that I was eating the two bowls of cereal at regular intervals, everyday, and keeping my glucose levels high. Interestingly, I've recently tried to fix the fade I get now by cutting various things out of my diet and have realized that without a lot of meat in my diet I have a lot more energy. The fade isn't ever going to be completely gone if you aren't having a small meal in the middle of the day, so a snack might be a good idea.
So my 3 suggestions for cutting out the fade is to eat cereal for breakfast (keep cutting down bowl sizes also if you're like me and are used to much larger portions), eat something relatively small for lunch (nothing more than another bowl of cereal would give you (~300 calories)), and cut back on the meat you're eating.
advice (Score:2)
The other thing to consider is that different foods make you feel more or less full, and this is not necessarily related to their calorie content. If you feel like you need to eat throughout the day, take a look at one of the various lists on the internet, and cho
For me (Score:2)
Re:For me (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:For me (Score:2)
Re:For me (Score:2)
My Died works (Score:2)
I used to do tech support for a computer company. Think Geeksquad, but without the stupid name. I'd go from company to company during the day, work on their network, their servers, under their desk... It was a LOT of moving around. The catch was, since I was out, I always ate out. Mexican 3 times a week, Chinese 2. (After eating mexican, you're hungry again at 6pm, chinese - 3pm) I was nearly 200lbs, all on a pot-belly.
Now I wo
How much do you burn? (Score:1)
Re:How much do you burn? (Score:2)
How do you find out how much calories you burn during a day?
You track your caloric intake and body mass over a period of time. At the end of the period of time, you take the difference in your weight at the beginning and end of the test period.
A pound of body fat is equal to 3500Cal, a kg is 7700Cal, a stone is 49000Cal. Multiply this by your weight gain/loss.
Now, if you lost weight, add this to your caloric intake. If you gained weight, subtract it from your caloric intake. Take this new numbe
From someone who succeeded (Score:2)
I went on the Hacker's Diet in April of 2004 and lost 10kg over a couple of months.
I found that, for me, the best solution was to eat around 200-300Cal for each regular meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and about 100-200Cal snacks in mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and sometimes mid-evening.
I also found that, in order to keep my sanity, some small amount of chocolate helped. I ate around 20 M&M's each day after lunch.
I drink iced-tea all day anyway. Don't get the bottled stuff, make the real stuff. Y
Re:Tea suggestion (Score:2)
This is good information. Thank you.
I don't guarantee it will work, because I have a terrible sweet tooth (always have), but it is certainly worth a try.
Can't help but remembering (Score:1)
Don't forget .... (Score:2)
Pay attention to things like the gylcemic index of food. Food which has a really high glycemic index will be processed by your body very rapidly, give you a spike of energy, followed by a lull as your body crashes from all of the resulting insulin. And long term that will exacerbate possible things like Diabetes and the like. There may be the same amount of carbs in your ganola bar or your bag of chips, but medically/nutritionally, you're way better off with the granola bar
Stuff your stomach... (Score:2)
Re:Stuff your stomach... (Score:2)
-WS
My Diet Plan (Score:2)
Last year I lost over 30lbs. between October and January-ish using the mathematically proven method of simply eating less. I run with 1100 calories a day while on the diet and it works wonderfully. I just started it again a couple of weeks ago to shave off the remaining lbs. that I didn't get to last year and it's going quite well. It is not nea
tsk (Score:2)
Hacker's Diet and Atkins (Score:2)
I've lost 100+ lbs after I started three years ago, and it is _never_ coming back.
Hacker's gives you all the tools to meter yourself, Atkins gives you the means to control yourself. The combo of the two is like have a scalpel for your weight.
BTW: One of the side effects of Atkins is the elimination of the "two o'clock doldrums".
Re:Hacker's Diet and Atkins (Score:2)
The problem with Atkin's is that is treats all carbohydrates as evil, and pretends that outrageous amounts of fat and no greens is healthy. It's way more complex that this.
Something like the South Beach diet which takes a more intelligent view of greens and carbs
No-S Diet (Score:1)
For exercise, I use a portable gym made with a sledgehammer called Shovelglove [shovelglove.com].
Both of these plans, along with Urban Ranger [urbanranger.com], were developed by a computer programmer, so you may find they work for you too.
Once
Hacker Diet and Exercise? (Score:1)
I haven't read The Hacker's Diet in a year or so, but IIRC what surprised me at the time I read it was its comments about exercise, i.e. it said something like "If you exercise hard for an hour you'll only burn off a can of Coke so don't waste your time with exercise, just don't drink the Coke."
What this overlooks is the fact that if you exercise regularly you'll build muscle, and once you have more muscle you'll burn more calories just sitting around (muscle
Re:Hacker Diet and Exercise? (Score:1)
Re:Hacker Diet and Exercise? (Score:2)
Re:Hacker Diet and Exercise? (Score:2)
Don't deprive yourself... (Score:2)
zerg (Score:3, Funny)
we're all different (Score:1)
Non-Dieters Don't Need To Be Careful (Score:2)
The Hacker's Diet uses a balloon analogy; energy in - energy out = excess fat. You can decrease the energy in by eating low-calorie foods or decreasing the amount of food consumed. You can increase the energy out by exercising or eating the right combination of foods.
There's nothing wrong with that analogy. Unfortunately the human body isn't
Re:Non-Dieters Don't Need To Be Careful (Score:2)
The Hacker's Diet isn't really a diet plan, it's more of a diet tracking system. Within that framework, you still need to find a way to get your caloric intake down and/or your caloric output up. If you are losing weight on the Atkins diet, it's not because of some magical properties of low carb food, it's because your caloric intake goes down or your caloric need goes up. It works because it's easier to maintain a low calorie diet that way. The Hacker's Diet does not give you the tools to change your calo
To answer the question... (Score:2)
As someone who happily has never had to diet, I can report that I've never been in the habit of eating between meals - just the way I was brought up I suppose - and I haven't experienced what you call 'fade'.
(If I'm out walking in the hills and lunch is very late, I've been known to run out of energy and just have to stop and eat a chocolate bar, but
A few causes of fade... (Score:2)
1. When I eat, I have to eat a diverse meal. I need to eat some sugars (simple carbohydrates - immediate energy), some complex carbohydrates (medium to long term energy) and proteins (long term energy). If I eat only sugars then I'll fade and/or feel hungry very soon after eating. If I only eat carbs I'll probably feel sleepy for an hour or so, then I'll pick up for a few hours and then get tired again
Re:A few causes of fade... (Score:2)
Not to co-opt your post here, but I would expect that you didn't mean to include the word NOT in that sentence, correct? That sounds opposite of expected.
Cheers
Uncle Sam Wants You (Score:2)
How? I joined the Marines.
At first, as a DEPer, I had no change in habit other than twice a week aerobic excersices for less than an hour. Once at MCRD San Diego, the following became my schedule:
5 minutes before Revelle: Wake up, go to the bathroom, brush teeth, get back in rack.
Reveille: Wake up (again)
Rev + 5 seconds: Get dressed, make rack
Rev + 60 seconds: Get on the street in formation
Rev + 90 seconds: Start marching to m
Its a coping system... (Score:2)
Oral Fixation (Score:2)
I suggest learning to drink water as an alternative. You need more water anyways, being mentally active, and it fulfils the oral fixation. I suspect most people do not drink enough water, do yourself the favor and try it. Without fail, everyone I've converted to my h2o cause swears by impro
Re:The answer is (Score:1, Interesting)
( )South Beach
( )CowboyNeal
(*) Exercise
Eat all you want (sensible food not Big Macs and fried chicken all the time) but, exercise accordingly. Run, and I mean run like a nigger with the KKK on his heals, for several miles everyday. None of this "jog" or "power walk" shit. Full sprint for more than 30 minutes everyday.
Lift weights regularly. You don't need a gym membership, look around you there are lots of heavy things to lift, dumbbells, chairs, 5 gallon water jugs, whatever. Also, get a chin up b
Be careful, though... (Score:2)
Do remember, though, that a full sprint for 30 minutes could be dangerous to the health of someone who hasn't excercised in years. Those people should first start by walking some 30 minutes 4 or 5 times a week during a couple of months before even starting to "power walking" for another couple of months. Only then should those people start to jog.
Re:The answer is (Score:2)
Also remember that sprinting all the time is VERY BAD because by overdoing it you can get big time injuries. Shin Splints, Plantar Fasciitis, etc.
Re:Fade Correction (Score:2)