<story><title>Thoughts On a Year of Exercise</title><url>https://whatever.scalzi.com/2019/12/26/thoughts-on-a-year-of-exercise/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>tootie</author><text>I tried this for a while. I was hitting the gym for HIIT and weights and counting calories with MyFitnessPal. I estimated a pretty huge calorie deficit and it felt like it (felt woozy more than once). Lost zero pounds. After that I stopped being so careful with counting and just tried to eat right and keep exercising. Lost zero pounds. I wanted to get some hormone levels tested but my doctor said not too.</text></item><item><author>groby_b</author><text>After doing it for a while, you get a rough feeling for the calories involved - you can tell just by looking at your dish if it&amp;#x27;s 500 or 1,000 calories.&lt;p&gt;That means you don&amp;#x27;t get high precision data, and the nutrients may be off, but it&amp;#x27;s more than enough to keep yourself in a caloric deficit&amp;#x2F;surplus as you choose.&lt;p&gt;(Also, don&amp;#x27;t eat lunch at work if you can avoid it. It&amp;#x27;s greasy, over-salted, and not the best food for you. No matter what corporate propaganda tells you)</text></item><item><author>flexd</author><text>I find that the hardest thing about logging what I eat is knowing what I eat, and what calories those things contain. Often I eat lunch at work where they serve a ton of different dishes, and I dont have the opportunity to weigh what I eat, and I have no idea what exactly they put in that said that day. If I try to err on the side of caution, I&amp;#x27;ll be super hungry because the number of calories I ate does not add up to the number logged. Unless I have the time to make all my food and measure it or only eat processed&amp;#x2F;pre-made food that is labeled it&amp;#x27;s hard to keep accurate track.&lt;p&gt;Do any of you feel the same way? I have used Myfitnesspal and similar before, but have never stuck with it. Before I have stayed reasonably fit because I usually ride mountain bikes a lot,but the past few years there has been less riding and I&amp;#x27;m now +10kg my normal weight at least.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>brogrammernot</author><text>See a new doctor. Getting blood work is super important and can help pinpoint if you’ve got something else going on. When dieting it’s also important to weigh yourself once a week, ideally in the morning about 20-30 minutes after you wake up. You may not lose weight your first 2-3 weeks on a caloric deficit as your body adjusts.&lt;p&gt;Coming back to the bloodwork, you should get a full panel at least 1x&amp;#x2F;year if not twice a year. I realize not everyone is fortunate enough to do so, but most of the time insurances cover a large portion of it as preventative care. Blood work can show if you’re out of range on items like your test&amp;#x2F;estrogen levels, thyroid function &amp;amp; many more areas.&lt;p&gt;If your current doctor doesn’t support that, I’m sorry but that’s not a great doctor. Blood work is important.</text></comment>
<story><title>Thoughts On a Year of Exercise</title><url>https://whatever.scalzi.com/2019/12/26/thoughts-on-a-year-of-exercise/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>tootie</author><text>I tried this for a while. I was hitting the gym for HIIT and weights and counting calories with MyFitnessPal. I estimated a pretty huge calorie deficit and it felt like it (felt woozy more than once). Lost zero pounds. After that I stopped being so careful with counting and just tried to eat right and keep exercising. Lost zero pounds. I wanted to get some hormone levels tested but my doctor said not too.</text></item><item><author>groby_b</author><text>After doing it for a while, you get a rough feeling for the calories involved - you can tell just by looking at your dish if it&amp;#x27;s 500 or 1,000 calories.&lt;p&gt;That means you don&amp;#x27;t get high precision data, and the nutrients may be off, but it&amp;#x27;s more than enough to keep yourself in a caloric deficit&amp;#x2F;surplus as you choose.&lt;p&gt;(Also, don&amp;#x27;t eat lunch at work if you can avoid it. It&amp;#x27;s greasy, over-salted, and not the best food for you. No matter what corporate propaganda tells you)</text></item><item><author>flexd</author><text>I find that the hardest thing about logging what I eat is knowing what I eat, and what calories those things contain. Often I eat lunch at work where they serve a ton of different dishes, and I dont have the opportunity to weigh what I eat, and I have no idea what exactly they put in that said that day. If I try to err on the side of caution, I&amp;#x27;ll be super hungry because the number of calories I ate does not add up to the number logged. Unless I have the time to make all my food and measure it or only eat processed&amp;#x2F;pre-made food that is labeled it&amp;#x27;s hard to keep accurate track.&lt;p&gt;Do any of you feel the same way? I have used Myfitnesspal and similar before, but have never stuck with it. Before I have stayed reasonably fit because I usually ride mountain bikes a lot,but the past few years there has been less riding and I&amp;#x27;m now +10kg my normal weight at least.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>shantly</author><text>Weight lifting&amp;#x27;s more effective for me at controlling fat than it &amp;quot;should&amp;quot; be according to charts and calculators and such, cardio and calorie deficits, even largish ones (1400 calories&amp;#x2F;day was one I kept up for 60ish days straight, once, and no, I didn&amp;#x27;t once cheat, so yeah, I&amp;#x27;ve actually tried) OTOH are way &lt;i&gt;less&lt;/i&gt; effective than they &amp;quot;should&amp;quot; be. Flat-out not eating for a day or two at a time does work, though. IDK why, that&amp;#x27;s just how my body works. Sucks, because dieting&amp;#x27;s easy for me and saves time &amp;amp; money, versus lifting weights, which uses up time (and space, if you do it at home, and sometimes money). At least straight-up fasts work.</text></comment>