Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted
38 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Yeah. If you eat too few calories your body goes into starvation mode and you can't lose shit. The last time I had to lose weight, I actually ended up having to up my caloric intake. It was like I had to hit a threshold to give my body permission to burn fat. 

You know, if I make any money in my life, I don't want to blow it on fucking elder care for a shitty back 15 years. I'd rather die young and leave an inheritance. That's what I'm telling myself. 

From ChatGTP

Starvation mode, often described as the body slowing metabolism to conserve energy during severe calorie restriction, is partially real but overstated. When you drastically cut calories, your body can adapt by reducing metabolic rate slightly, primarily through lowered activity levels and loss of muscle mass, which burns fewer calories. Studies, like those from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, show that prolonged underfeeding (e.g., 50% calorie reduction) can lower basal metabolic rate by 10-20%, but this is not a dramatic "shutdown" as pop culture suggests. Hormones like leptin and thyroid hormones also adjust to prioritize essential functions, which can make weight loss harder over time.

However, the idea that short-term dieting or skipping meals triggers a survival mode that halts fat loss is a myth. Weight loss plateaus are more often due to water retention, reduced activity, or inaccurate calorie tracking. For most people, consistent moderate calorie deficits (15-20% below maintenance) don’t cause significant metabolic slowdown. Extreme starvation can lead to serious health issues, including organ damage, but that’s far beyond typical dieting scenarios. If you’re concerned about dieting effects, focus on sustainable deficits and adequate protein to preserve muscle.

  • Hook 'Em 3
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Derka said:

also, i had a buddy who showed me this reality show a bunch of years back. it only lasted one season and was on some niche channel, so i doubt many here have seen it, but the premise of a show was that they were going to pair up a fatty with a personal trainer- but the PT had to gain 30-40 lbs beforehand and lose the weight with the fatty.

i only watched one episode, but the PT was just a cockier version of everyone in this thread in the beginning. just talking shit about how “simple” it all is. then they made him gain weight.

this dude’s life got turned upside down. his blood sugar was all fucked up, he was always either angry or sad, he had no energy to do the things he loved to do, and his actual marriage got seriously affected terribly because he was such a hormonal POS to be around. the dude was literally crying at the breakfast table, and he wasn’t even *that* obese, plus he still had his foundation to build off of. but that’s something we don’t talk about, or realize- once you get fat, there’s a whole host of issues that make it so much harder than “just watch your calories in/calories out”. it’s like sleep depriving yourself and then telling yourself to stay awake at the wheel during a cross country road trip. it’s not about will power, it’s about biology, physiology, science. you wouldn’t “choose” to fall asleep at the wheel any more than you’d “choose” to not lose weight. but hey and still, the armchair scientists in this thread will persist with their “it’s a choice” BS. 

Fit to Fat to Fit, on A&E I think but lotsa eps are on YT.

It’s great reality TV but a terrible model.  Trainer packs in a buncha weight by eating terrible and quitting exercise then goes back to the healthy ways.  Heathy eating on top of the fact they’re burning gobs of calories doing their job.  News flash, they lose the weight very quickly.

The other party has been seriously overweight for years and has no healthy eating habits.  They get some coaching there but mostly just a trainer yelling at them to “RUN FASTER!”  A 300# man jumping straight in to high impact cardio is a terrible thing to do.  That plus marginal efforts to permanently improve diet and the fail is real.

But yeah the PT’s really struggled with fat life. Fitness is their identity and brand.  Take that away and it’s an existential crisis.

Edited by Parliament
  • Like 2
Posted
8 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

I run around with the River Oaks, HCC, and private school crowd due to where I live and where my kids go to school.  Go to a Kinkaid, St. John's or Episcopal football game on Friday night in the Fall -- almost zero obesity among the parents or kids.  Seriously, it's like stepping back in time and going back to the 1960s where there are almost no fat people. Or fat is carrying an extra 15 pounds.  When I got to my wife's hometown in East Texas and go out to eat, I am shocked by how common really fat people are.

I think it is because wealthy people tend to take care of themselves and being fat is a stigma.  Healthy people who are not otherwise disabled are healthy because make healthy choices.  They largely pass that down to their kids.  Most of the dads who I am friends with are not trust funders with nothing but leisure time.  They are business owners and professionals with very demanding careers.  They still take the time to workout and they are careful with what the eat. This is what my grandparents and parents modeled for me.  No one in my family is fat.

It is easier for people with money largely because healthy habits are both modeled by their parents and are passed down.  So in a sense you are right, it is much easier for privileged and wealthy people.  Because they have proper examples.

I think you're drawing the conclusion you want to draw. It's easier for wealthy and privileged to lose weight because healthy food is more expensive than cheap AF processed food with fillers and additives. And it goes bad over a longer timeline. And lots of poor or underprivileged areas don't have as much of a stock of healthy food because it won't sell or goes bad. And you talk about people passing down good habits and behaviors to their kids, well, guess what. People from poor backgrounds with lagging education don't know what good habits they're supposed to pass down. Because THEIR parents weren't privileged. Poor people aren't fatter or more overweight because they said "I want to be fat and have shitty habits." 

5 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

From ChatGTP

Starvation mode, often described as the body slowing metabolism to conserve energy during severe calorie restriction, is partially real but overstated. When you drastically cut calories, your body can adapt by reducing metabolic rate slightly, primarily through lowered activity levels and loss of muscle mass, which burns fewer calories. Studies, like those from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, show that prolonged underfeeding (e.g., 50% calorie reduction) can lower basal metabolic rate by 10-20%, but this is not a dramatic "shutdown" as pop culture suggests. Hormones like leptin and thyroid hormones also adjust to prioritize essential functions, which can make weight loss harder over time.

However, the idea that short-term dieting or skipping meals triggers a survival mode that halts fat loss is a myth. Weight loss plateaus are more often due to water retention, reduced activity, or inaccurate calorie tracking. For most people, consistent moderate calorie deficits (15-20% below maintenance) don’t cause significant metabolic slowdown. Extreme starvation can lead to serious health issues, including organ damage, but that’s far beyond typical dieting scenarios. If you’re concerned about dieting effects, focus on sustainable deficits and adequate protein to preserve muscle.

I can only speak from my personal experience. I was tracking the same routine, the same food, same myFitnessPal, same diet. I elevated my caloric intake by 230 and the pounds started rolling off after a month of jack shit. 

  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 1
Posted
2 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

This is what's really maddening to me.  I watched a documentary about sugar once, and then started reading labels at the grocery store.  It's fucking crazy how much added sugars are in a lot of foods.  Granola bars and yogurt are two things that I used to think were healthy snacks so I ate them a lot and I've given them up completely.  

There are low/zero versions of both, just FYI. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I think you're drawing the conclusion you want to draw. It's easier for wealthy and privileged to lose weight because healthy food is more expensive than cheap AF processed food with fillers and additives. And it goes bad over a longer timeline. And lots of poor or underprivileged areas don't have as much of a stock of healthy food because it won't sell or goes bad. And you talk about people passing down good habits and behaviors to their kids, well, guess what. People from poor backgrounds with lagging education don't know what good habits they're supposed to pass down. Because THEIR parents weren't privileged. Poor people aren't fatter or more overweight because they said "I want to be fat and have shitty habits." 

I can only speak from my personal experience. I was tracking the same routine, the same food, same myFitnessPal, same diet. I elevated my caloric intake by 230 and the pounds started rolling off after a month of jack shit. 

Plenty of healthy or healthier meals you can make much cheaper than processed junk.  Beans, rice, frozen veggies, chicken, ground beef, etc.  There are entire subreddits dedicated to eating cheap and healthy and those meals cost a lot less than processed shit.  My family was in the grocery business.  You cannot imagine how much SNAP was spent on shit that provided no nutritional value and does not fill you up by poor people.  Sugary drinks alone account for about 10% of all SNAP spending.

I can afford to buy what I want.  I can tell you I spend way, way less on food now that I eat healthier and cut out all drinks with any calories.

Yes, if you want 100 percent organic with proteins from Central Market, it can be expensive.  But some rice, chicken thighs, and frozen veggies you can buy at any store in the country will be a hell of a lot healthier and cheaper than processed bullshit. And water is free whereas your Mountain Dew costs about a buck a serving off the shelf.

 

Edited by Frank Drebin
  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
18 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

From ChatGTP

Starvation mode, often described as the body slowing metabolism to conserve energy during severe calorie restriction, is partially real but overstated. When you drastically cut calories, your body can adapt by reducing metabolic rate slightly, primarily through lowered activity levels and loss of muscle mass, which burns fewer calories. Studies, like those from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, show that prolonged underfeeding (e.g., 50% calorie reduction) can lower basal metabolic rate by 10-20%, but this is not a dramatic "shutdown" as pop culture suggests. Hormones like leptin and thyroid hormones also adjust to prioritize essential functions, which can make weight loss harder over time.

However, the idea that short-term dieting or skipping meals triggers a survival mode that halts fat loss is a myth. Weight loss plateaus are more often due to water retention, reduced activity, or inaccurate calorie tracking. For most people, consistent moderate calorie deficits (15-20% below maintenance) don’t cause significant metabolic slowdown. Extreme starvation can lead to serious health issues, including organ damage, but that’s far beyond typical dieting scenarios. If you’re concerned about dieting effects, focus on sustainable deficits and adequate protein to preserve muscle.

I don’t have the studies handy but everything I’ve read supports this summary. However, they suggest a moderate deficit in order to retain muscle mass. Your body will want to burn fat before muscle but an extreme deficit will burn both. High protein also helps preserve muscle during weight loss.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
2 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

I don’t have the studies handy but everything I’ve read supports this summary. However, they suggest a moderate deficit in order to retain muscle mass. Your body will want to burn fat before muscle but an extreme deficit will burn both. High protein also helps preserve muscle during weight loss.

There were no fats at Auschwitz

  • Fuck You 1
Posted
55 minutes ago, Foosters said:

I went from being a very athletic and fit HS Senior to a fucking tub of lard by the end of my freshman year in college. 15 pounds to my neck alone. 

IMG_4456.gif.8a97138fd67ca85c9e90a84976398c4b.gif

Posted
36 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

I think it is because wealthy people tend to take care of themselves and being fat is a stigma.

They don't make the designer clothing in double extra fat. 

Posted
3 hours ago, Celery Man said:

The shit with kids food is bananas. Wife and I are much much more “target” than “granola” but have always paid a lot of attention to that with the kids, and it’s jarring to be around even other people highly similar to us with little kids. We left our daughter with my sister for a day and were mouthing “oh fuck” to each other when we came back to find her strung out on capri sun. I’m constantly intercepting “snacks” made mostly out of corn sugar. Why would they even need to eat that shit?

 

our kids are great sleepers, and I think we’ve done a good job with sleep training and schedules and routines and whatever but I also think what a lot of parents are doing to fuck themselves up is stringing their kids out on sugar water and fruit snack candy all day long and then expecting their kids to go down.

Just getting them prepped for their Ritalin regimen. 

Posted
9 minutes ago, Deej said:

They don't make the designer clothing in double extra fat. 

For women, they do.  They call them caftans instead of muumuus. 

Posted
1 hour ago, Frank Drebin said:

it is easier for people with money largely because healthy habits are both modeled by their parents and are passed down.  So in a sense you are right, it is much easier for privileged and wealthy people.  Because they have proper examples.

If you want to go back to psych 101 and Maslow's hierarchy of needs - I think those more well off have the time and resources to be choosy with what they eat.  They have the resources and the time to investigate what they chose to consume.  I know that sounds a little patronizing, as anyone with a phone can research food and ingredients, but often it comes at a much lower priority.  

Posted
58 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Plenty of healthy or healthier meals you can make much cheaper than processed junk.  Beans, rice, frozen veggies, chicken, ground beef, etc.  There are entire subreddits dedicated to eating cheap and healthy and those meals cost a lot less than processed shit.  My family was in the grocery business.  You cannot imagine how much SNAP was spent on shit that provided no nutritional value and does not fill you up by poor people.  Sugary drinks alone account for about 10% of all SNAP spending.

I can afford to buy what I want.  I can tell you I spend way, way less on food now that I eat healthier and cut out all drinks with any calories.

Yes, if you want 100 percent organic with proteins from Central Market, it can be expensive.  But some rice, chicken thighs, and frozen veggies you can buy at any store in the country will be a hell of a lot healthier and cheaper than processed bullshit. And water is free whereas your Mountain Dew costs about a buck a serving off the shelf.

You skipped over WHY there are whole subreddits dedicated to that.....because people without that info DON'T KNOW.  In fact, like most cases of basic ignorance, they don't even know what they don't know.  I've perused some of those subreddits, and find it objectively fascinating; someone is genuinely learning and having their eyes opened when people explain that if you buy whole chickens/chicken parts and roast them in the oven yourself, that both 1) saves money and 2) is much healthier than buying the frozen bag full of processed chicken.  But also realize that for every person who stumbles onto that subreddit and asks a question, there are 100 who don't.

Knowledge is a resource.  Time is a resource.  Money is a resource.  For those who don't have much of any of those, and have never been shown how to manage what they DO have of those resources....fuck, man.  They are in for a world of hurt.  When you realize that better than 90% of America has less knowledge and money than 99% of the posters on this board, it's humbling shit.  For a lot of America, "choose not to be fat" is as pointless a berating as "choose not to be poor."  They don't have the first fucking clue how to do anything BUT that.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted

There’s a chicken and egg debate regarding poors and delayed gratification. Some argue they’re poor because they make decisions that are fun in the short term but detrimental in the long run. Other people believe it is the circumstances of being poor that lead to short term decision making. Food is intertwined in this debate. 

I worked in schools in East Austin and west Austin. The mindset regarding food and exercise could not be more different. Derka hit on this earlier in the thread and I largely agree. The situation is crisis level bad in our low income communities. 

I don’t really have an answer for it but I have tried some school programs to promote healthy eating and at least being exposed to new foods at a young age. Chicken nuggets won that battle.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
55 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

I don’t have the studies handy but everything I’ve read supports this summary. However, they suggest a moderate deficit in order to retain muscle mass. Your body will want to burn fat before muscle but an extreme deficit will burn both. High protein also helps preserve muscle during weight loss.

That's essentially how the high protein diet work.  You are getting elevated levels of protein from your meals and little else.  Lots of people do well on a diet like this, but it takes a level of discipline and resources many don't have or care to have.  But it's a misnomer than you can burn fat and grow muscle at the same time.  You can't be anabolic and catabolic at the same time, but you will burn reserves when working out that are not replaced with more carbs.  There's also a level of satiety with meat you don't get with carbs, so you feel full and stop eating.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
7 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

There’s a chicken and egg debate regarding poors and delayed gratification. Some argue they’re poor because they make decisions that are fun in the short term but detrimental in the long run. Other people believe it is the circumstances of being poor that lead to short term decision making. Food is intertwined in this debate. 

I worked in schools in East Austin and west Austin. The mindset regarding food and exercise could not be more different. Derka hit on this earlier in the thread and I largely agree. The situation is crisis level bad in our low income communities. 

I don’t really have an answer for it but I have tried some school programs to promote healthy eating and at least being exposed to new foods at a young age. Chicken nuggets won that battle.

Not just poor.  Wife's family from E.Texas eat like it's their damn job.  Holidays, get togethers, etc. it's a GD feast of carbs and shit.  Gravy, potatoes, pasta, dressing, rolls, etc.  Took me  awhile to "learn" how to eat around them, what to eat, and when to eat before so I'm not starving when I get there.  And some asshole always brings a tray of Chick-filet nugs that are impossible to ignore.  So before and after I have to behave myself to make up for all the shit I eat when I'm there.  

Posted
8 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

There’s a chicken and egg debate regarding poors and delayed gratification. Some argue they’re poor because they make decisions that are fun in the short term but detrimental in the long run. Other people believe it is the circumstances of being poor that lead to short term decision making. Food is intertwined in this debate. 

I worked in schools in East Austin and west Austin. The mindset regarding food and exercise could not be more different. Derka hit on this earlier in the thread and I largely agree. The situation is crisis level bad in our low income communities. 

I don’t really have an answer for it but I have tried some school programs to promote healthy eating and at least being exposed to new foods at a young age. Chicken nuggets won that battle.

People were thinner when they had less money to spend or at least chose not to eat out like people do now.  It is much easier to eat healthy when you cook your own meals and portion your own plates.  
 

Step one for poor people would be to stop drinking calories.  Just doing that will cut a ton of calories.  And save them money.  Guarantee you poor people consume more sugary drinks than people with money.  

  • Fuck You 1
Posted
2 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Not just poor.  Wife's family from E.Texas eat like it's their damn job.  Holidays, get togethers, etc. it's a GD feast of carbs and shit.  Gravy, potatoes, pasta, dressing, rolls, etc.  Took me  awhile to "learn" how to eat around them, what to eat, and when to eat before so I'm not starving when I get there.  And some asshole always brings a tray of Chick-filet nugs that are impossible to ignore.  So before and after I have to behave myself to make up for all the shit I eat when I'm there.  

I live in Texas but my work territory is the Deep South. It’s a spectacle.

Posted
1 minute ago, Larry T. Spider said:

I live in Texas but my work territory is the Deep South. It’s a spectacle.

I mean, I think of how heavy Tex Mex is. And then I went to Santa Fe. Damn that food was heavy. But everyone was out biking or walking or hiking 

Posted
5 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

That's essentially how the high protein diet work.  You are getting elevated levels of protein from your meals and little else.  Lots of people do well on a diet like this, but it takes a level of discipline and resources many don't have or care to have.  But it's a misnomer than you can burn fat and grow muscle at the same time.  You can't be anabolic and catabolic at the same time, but you will burn reserves when working out that are not replaced with more carbs.  There's also a level of satiety with meat you don't get with carbs, so you feel full and stop eating.  

Yep.  When I ate in a deficit to lose weight I wasn’t hungry.  Because I ate nothing but protein and veggies. Literally that was it.  Chicken.  Eggs.  Elk.  Bison.  Venison.  Protein shakes.  And all the green veggies I could handle eating.   Nothing else for three months other than one slice of pizza when I was in Aspen for my birthday.  


Weight just fell off.  Why?  Because protein fills you up. 200 calories of chicken or elk is a lot more filling than 200 calories of Mountain Dew or Oreos.  I wasn’t ever hungry and I was in Montana for most of those three months hiking up the top of a mountain first thing every day and doing all sorts of active shit — walking, hiking, biking, jogging, swimming, slalom skiing, fishing, etc.  

You want to lose weight?  Cut out everything but lean proteins and veggies. Almost impossible to bust your calorie budget doing that.  Was for me at least.  Pretty sure I was in ketosis for months.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
1 minute ago, Js1 said:

I mean, I think of how heavy Tex Mex is. And then I went to Santa Fe. Damn that food was heavy. But everyone was out biking or walking or hiking 

Building in a cushion of 300-500 calories a day  through movement helps a lot. A lot of the weight in trying to lose was from when I went from being a school administrator walking all over the building to a desk job. Didnt change my diet at all during that switch but it probably added a pound every few weeks.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
2 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

Building in a cushion of 300-500 calories a day  through movement helps a lot. A lot of the weight in trying to lose was from when I went from being a school administrator walking all over the building to a desk job. Didnt change my diet at all during that switch but it probably added a pound every few weeks.

Exercise helps.  Especially weights or resistance training.  But it’s 90 percent diet for most of us.  

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
1 hour ago, SydneyCarton said:

I think you're drawing the conclusion you want to draw. It's easier for wealthy and privileged to lose weight because healthy food is more expensive than cheap AF processed food with fillers and additives. And it goes bad over a longer timeline. And lots of poor or underprivileged areas don't have as much of a stock of healthy food because it won't sell or goes bad. And you talk about people passing down good habits and behaviors to their kids, well, guess what. People from poor backgrounds with lagging education don't know what good habits they're supposed to pass down. Because THEIR parents weren't privileged. Poor people aren't fatter or more overweight because they said "I want to be fat and have shitty habits." 

I can only speak from my personal experience. I was tracking the same routine, the same food, same myFitnessPal, same diet. I elevated my caloric intake by 230 and the pounds started rolling off after a month of jack shit. 

Systematic Obesity.

Posted
1 minute ago, Frank Drebin said:

Exercise helps.  Especially weights or resistance training.  But it’s 90 percent diet for most of us.  

I like to do a 500 deficit then add 300-500 additional calories burned from movement. Not to lose weight faster, just to account for how bad most people are at counting calories accurately. Also helps me keep a positive mindset when I get off track because of a holiday or vacation or whatever.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
31 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

You skipped over WHY there are whole subreddits dedicated to that.....because people without that info DON'T KNOW.  In fact, like most cases of basic ignorance, they don't even know what they don't know.  I've perused some of those subreddits, and find it objectively fascinating; someone is genuinely learning and having their eyes opened when people explain that if you buy whole chickens/chicken parts and roast them in the oven yourself, that both 1) saves money and 2) is much healthier than buying the frozen bag full of processed chicken.  But also realize that for every person who stumbles onto that subreddit and asks a question, there are 100 who don't.

Knowledge is a resource.  Time is a resource.  Money is a resource.  For those who don't have much of any of those, and have never been shown how to manage what they DO have of those resources....fuck, man.  They are in for a world of hurt.  When you realize that better than 90% of America has less knowledge and money than 99% of the posters on this board, it's humbling shit.  For a lot of America, "choose not to be fat" is as pointless a berating as "choose not to be poor."  They don't have the first fucking clue how to do anything BUT that.

Access to information is so much better now.  Just about everyone has a powerful computer in their pocket that allows access to all the information you need at no cost.  You can easily track what you need with free apps.  Some will do a pretty decent estimate with a photo of your food.  
 

You don’t have to listen to bad government food pyramids that are carb heavy.  Many places list calories on menus.  That didn’t exist until pretty recently.  Yet people keep getting fatter and fatter.  Not just here but all over the world.  

People need to take responsibility for their own health.  The teens I sponsor down in Haiti are broke as shit.  They eat mostly rice and beans.  They walk a lot.  They have to just to get water for the house, making multiple trips to the well with their 5 gallon buckets for household needs.  
 

They don’t have access to the information the average poor American does.  Yet they are fit and could walk from one place be it the island to the other.  Amazingly, they somehow manage to not look like slobs when they dress despite not having a washing machine or dryer.  Because they take pride in their appearance.  

Posted

If you're a decent person and you've ever spent any time around families without.... a generational structure of wisdom, it's easy to be compassionate towards people who grow up that way and for whom making what seem like obvious good choices to folks like most of us is much much less obvious and much more difficult. And just a rudimentary understanding of the world and numbers and statistics can inform you how you should understand things in the aggregate while also recognizing that people aren't limited to whatever "their" average is and have the ability to make choices to change their lives. Poor people (in the aggregate) eat like shit because it's generally cheaper and easier and the wisdom of making different choices has been spoonfed to them less and their lives are fucking hard. I feel a lot of compassion for those folks, and also I posted in the thanksgiving thread about the wife's little 1 year old second cousin from Louisiana walking around with coke in a baby bottle, holy fuck wow. Maybe it was a cherry coke, had a little vodka.  I dunno. That little baby is probably going to be feeding her own little baby cheetos in 16 years. Or maybe not.

Goddamn.

Anyways, it's structurally more difficult for poor folk in the aggregate to be thin for a multitude of reasons. Most not all of them could make different choices and not be fat, but it's not easy to make those choices and I'm not sure anyone here is arguing that it is.

 

3 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

I, for one, completely agree with you regarding the calories in/calories out stuff.  That myth has become so ingrained over the years that some people evangelize it as if it's gospel, despite most of the science pointing to the contrary.  At the very least, it's massively reductive and not helpful for most folks struggling with obesity.   Here's just one article from Harvard Medical School supporting what you've been saying:  https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/stop-counting-calories  

even this is really saying the same thing that people who swear by calories in/calories out are. those folks recognize that you can plateau, your body can slow down if it thinks it is starving, its harder to keep a deficit if you're eating shitty calories, not everyones body burns calories the same way all things equal. But there's no such thing as magic.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
for awhile now i’ve had a great idea for a reality tv show: i take a bunch of healthy, cocky people, force them to live through to closest approximation of my sleep schedule and sleep disorders (have fun spending 6 nights a week enjoying 4-5 hours of mini seizures, followed by a 30 hour day, followed by a 6 hour day, while never waking up or going to sleep at the same time), sprinkle in some sleep paralysis plus whatever we can to simulate the effects of my daily cocktail of benzos, and then have them compete in physical and memory related competitions, have them get jobs working 8-10 hours a day at a local restaurant, and only give them access to food from the local walmart on a limited budget. also, they’ll have a fake family to take care of and feed and cook for. just a very busy life with very little time to focus solely on your health.
watching these formerly healthy people completely break down mentally and physically would be something that i think most of america would love to watch. i’ll make sure that the experts in this thread get first dibs on being cast. can’t wait to watch you guys suddenly “choose” to be fatter and less healthy.

Mini seizures huh? You ever go to a neurologist? What were you diagnosed with? It’s none of my business and really doesn’t have much to do with the thread, but you can DM me if you want to answer without a thread jack.
Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

Mini seizures huh? You ever go to a neurologist? What were you diagnosed with?

myoclonic epilepsy. it’s a sleep disorder where i have violent, painful muscle spasms as im trying to fall asleep. sometimes it’s one muscle or one muscle group, other times my entire body jolts and i become the human asterisk. sometimes i have one really bad episode and then i fall asleep, other times im up for hours/never fall asleep without getting up and having another “day” first.

the cruelest part is that im so sleep deprived and dead-ass tired/half asleep that i’m essentially never able to just get out of bed and move around so that it will stop. it happens, i feel the pain, i groan, and the next thing i know its already happening again because i immediately started dozing off again after the previous “jerk” as they’re called. in fact myoclonic jerks is the term that i use when i tell people what i have, so that they don’t get confused and think i have epilepsy. 

Edited by Derka
Posted (edited)

oh yeah, i meant to add that i’ve been seeing neurologists since i was in middle school. i’ve had (at least) four eeg’s done, and they’ve all been inconclusive. i was told that the eeg’s detected “seizure activity”, but seeing as ive never had an epileptic seizure i was never diagnosed with anything until the myoclonic epilepsy diagnosis in 2010. at the time i had a m-f job and a personal trainer at gold’s gym, and i was 1 year out of rehab/off all drugs. after the myoclonic epilepsy got so bad that my trainer dumped me and i got fired from my job (i had jerks every night of the week for hours on end until i eventually hallucinated that jesus christ, god, and my dead relatives all came and visited me) i got the diagnosis and was put back on clonazepam. i’ve never stopped taking it since then, and my list of rx drugs is now laughably long.

every day for me:

lithium

baclofen

nuedexta

clonazepam

lorqzepam

lunesta

 

sometimes: gabapentin

 

yeah. my body has been ravaged. and it’s not because im lazy. it’s not by choice. i chose to keep taking risperidsl at 15-16 despite the insane weight gain because prior to taking that drug i was off the fucking chain, in and out of jail and mental hospitals, and headed for one short-ass, miserable life. that pill (and getting me off the other pills i was on) saved my life. these are my choices. and i am not alone.

rx drugs can ravage your body, can destroy your sleep cycle, and can even make you binge eat while you’re still sleeping. and today in 2025, everyone is on rx drugs. which just reason no.1 billion why the, “yeah but it’s seriously your choice to be fat” rhetoric is so mind numbingly grating to hear repeated over and over and over again. 

Edited by Derka
Posted
9 minutes ago, Deej said:

Get a sleep study.

i’ve had several. i’m on a cpap that’s covered by my medicaid. that’s the extent of what they can do. 

oh yeah, reminding you that i used to have my dream job at a place where i would have stayed for the rest of my working life- you wanna see what my monthly income is now?

Spoiler

IMG_0242.thumb.jpeg.e648207de4c0c1c18a1b8061175b4398.jpeg

and that’s the max that they give. go ahead and explain to me how i’m not supposed to subsist off of the cheapest, most overly processed bullshit available when i make less in a month than many of you do in a day. some choice.

Posted
7 minutes ago, Derka said:

oh yeah, i meant to add that i’ve been seeing neurologists since i was in middle school. i’ve had (at least) four eeg’s done, and they’ve all been inconclusive. i was told that the eeg’s detected “seizure activity”, but seeing as ive never had an epileptic seizure i was never diagnosed with anything until the myoclonic epilepsy diagnosis in 2010. at the time i had a m-f job and a personal trainer at gold’s gym, and i was 1 year out of rehab/off all drugs. after the myoclonic epilepsy got so bad that my trainer dumped me and i got fired from my job (i had jerks every night of the week for hours on end until i eventually hallucinated that jesus christ, god, and my dead relatives all came and visited me) i got the diagnosis and was put back on clonazepam. i’ve never stopped taking it since then, and my list of rx drugs is now laughably long.

every day for me:

lithium

baclofen

nuedexta

clonazepam

lorqzepam

lunesta

 

sometimes: gabapentin

 

yeah. my body has been ravaged. and it’s not because im lazy. it’s not by choice. i chose to keep taking dispersal at 15-16 despite the insane weight gain because prior to taking that drug i was off the fucking chain, in and out of jail and mental hospitals, and headed for one short-ass, miserable life. that pill (and getting me off the other pills i was on) saved my life. these are my choices. and i am not alone.

rx drugs can ravage your body, can destroy your sleep cycle, and can even make you binge eat while you’re still sleeping. and today in 2025, everyone is on rx drugs. which just reason no.1 billion why the, “yeah but it’s seriously your choice to be fat” rhetoric is so mind numbingly grating to hear repeated over and over and over again. 

This sounds like legit disabilities to me.  Don’t think that much of the advice here applies to you or that you choose to be disabled.  Sincerely wish you well.  

  • Like 2
Posted

either god hates me and i’m the unluckiest dude alive, or, there’s more people like me than some of y’all realize, and you’re painting with an overly broad brush without even realizing it. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Posted

I’ve always slept well.  About four summers ago I had a fistula on my ass.  Side effect was it was it was pressing on my prostate.  And I could legit not pee.  I was in so much pain I from my bladder being full I almost passed out.  It was middle of night. My wife couldn’t drive me because kids were too young to be home alone at night.  My parents were out of town.  So I drove to the Methodist urgent care nearby. I fainted and almost broke my arm from falling when I walked in door (my potassium level was like zero).
 

They put a catheter in me and the relief was like nothing I’ve ever felt.  I think I pissed out like three liters of urine.    I went home with the catheter in.  The problem was I couldn’t sleep.  It felt like I was constantly dribbling pee due to catheter so any time I was close to dozing off I’d wake.  I went four nights with no sleep.  I was literally going insane from sleep deprivation. The weirdest shit was going through my mind due to no sleep.  Like math equations I had no idea what they meant.  I’ve never do e hallucinogens but it must have been what it was like.
 

Im a great sleeper.  Can’t imagine what it would be like to have a sleep disorder.  But I had a small taste and wanted to die.  

Posted
5 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

I’ve always slept well.  About four summers ago I had a fistula on my ass.  Side effect was it was it was pressing on my prostate.  And I could legit not pee.  I was in so much pain I from my bladder being full I almost passed out.  It was middle of night. My wife couldn’t drive me because kids were too young to be home alone at night.  My parents were out of town.  So I drove to the Methodist urgent care nearby. I fainted and almost broke my arm from falling when I walked in door (my potassium level was like zero).
 

They put a catheter in me and the relief was like nothing I’ve ever felt.  I think I pissed out like three liters of urine.    I went home with the catheter in.  The problem was I couldn’t sleep.  It felt like I was constantly dribbling pee due to catheter so any time I was close to dozing off I’d wake.  I went four nights with no sleep.  I was literally going insane from sleep deprivation. The weirdest shit was going through my mind due to no sleep.  Like math equations I had no idea what they meant.  I’ve never do e hallucinogens but it must have been what it was like.
 

Im a great sleeper.  Can’t imagine what it would be like to have a sleep disorder.  But I had a small taste and wanted to die.  

I've been unable to urinate because of opiates after a surgery when I was younger, that shit was awful.

Sleep disorders are the worst, as a chronic [not quite] insomniac I pretty much have to heavily medicate myself to get a decent night's sleep. If I go somewhere and forget my gummies and/or other sleep aids I want to fucking kill myself.

  • Like 1
Posted
17 minutes ago, Derka said:

either god hates me and i’m the unluckiest dude alive, or, there’s more people like me than some of y’all realize, and you’re painting with an overly broad brush without even realizing it. 

What was your drug of choice when you were using?  

Posted
50 minutes ago, Kennythetiger said:

What was your drug of choice when you were using?  

i went to rehab to safely get off of my benzos and ambien. i didn’t drink until i was ~23 and even then hardly ever drank. i did ecstasy one time and didn’t like it. other than that weed has been my drug of choice, both recreationally and medicinally. there are days where i just could not get up and moving around with weed. i have fibromyalgia, and it’s frankly remarkable how effective weed is for muscle pain. 

  • Like 1
Posted
10 hours ago, Frank Drebin said:

In some ways, it is easier than ever -- and cheaper than ever -- to get fit.

I have been in a rut with weight lifting.  I had Grok design a new workout program for me to change things up and prevent boredom.  Cost me $0.

My gym membership costs $0.  I spent maybe $2k total on used weights, squat rack, pullup/dip bar, a used commercial treadmill, and a used concept two rowing machine.  People sell quality barely used workout equipment for next to nothing on the internet because they just want to get rid of it.  30 years ago it would be harder to find.

Walking is free.  So is jogging.  If you can't afford weights, do that plus body weight exercises.  Get a body weight fitness program for free online or a free app on your phone. Costs nothing.

Nutrition and fitness information is everywhere.  You can read it or listen to a podcast.  Lots of good stuff out there.

My breakfast every day is a protein shake that all in costs about $2.  Lunch is meal prepped.  Costs probably $3.  This is a hell of a lot cheaper than fast food or spending $13 on a sandwich and chips at the deli in my office building.

Again, it is simple and not complicated.  Just have to have the discipline.


I've found that riding my bike or walking is all it takes for me. I'm in my 60s and walked 10 miles in 142 minutes this morning.   I don't ride like I used to simply because Austin's become a bit dangerous for cyclists, but when I go to my studio in Bartlett I do a quick 21 mile ride and that's pretty much all it takes. You've just got to get out there and do it. Of course, "getting out there and doing it" has led to several skin cancers, so there's a price to be paid.  On the other hand, my fitbit tells me that my resting pulse is 54-56 beats per minute. My blood pressure is low. I had a CT scan about a month ago and had zero buildup in three of my arteries and minimal build up in the fourth.  I do the work so that I can drink beer without worrying that I'm going to get heavy. Some days I feel like I just can't eat enough. My weight last summer got so low that I got scared and started drinking monster smoothies with weight-gain powder.

Posted

Sub-60 HR for a (sorry for this) old man is phenomenal.  You gotta be top 5% there.

Healthy living and moving around keeps your brain young too.  Was in Puerto Rico last month and we hiked 45 min to a waterfall.  Mid-40’s sister (no pics) said half her coworkers are not in good enough shape to do it.  They’d literally hafta stay back at the pool.  All while we all hiked and then rode a rope swing out over the water.  First time in my life I did that.

Anyone mid-40’s who can’t make it up that hill woulda stayed back at the hotel, slopped in a chair and drank.  Stay on that viscous cycle.  Getting healthy is hard, very hard for some people.  But it really is simple.  And you aren’t competing against other people.  Your competition is the person you were yesterday.  Strive every day to be a little better than yesterday.  All you gotta do.

  • Hook 'Em 1

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...