The official diet and nutrition thread

[Donuthole]

You should read the book, DH. Unlike a lot of you (but similar to a few of you), to get to my healthy weight, I’ll have to lose triple digits (which I accomplished late last year, but I gained weight over the holidays) from my starting weight. Plateau’ing at a weight that is at least 65 pounds from a healthy weight is a recurring issue for me, including now.

in addition to burning more energy than you take in, keeping insulin levels low is key. And he spends a couple of hundred pages explaining why.

Dr Fung is complimentary of the Mediterranean diet, although a little critical of its founder for his take on saturated fats and heart disease. I think the Mediterranean diet also is a good example of how complex carbs plus fiber and moderate protein can keep insulin levels low (I.e. the quality of the carbs, proteins and fats matters as much as the metric).

I was legitimately considering reading it 8 years ago when JL was first pimping it. But I bailed when JL told us about the Fung guy cashing in. FWIW, I do use a modified IF approach. I'm not super strict about it, but I don't generally eat before 1pm or after 9pm. That alone has helped me maintain, for the most part. But I can still gain weight if I eat recklessly during that window. Hence my CICO-rooted perceptions.

[Green Monstah]

You should read the book, DH. Unlike a lot of you (but similar to a few of you), to get to my healthy weight, I’ll have to lose triple digits (which I accomplished late last year, but I gained weight over the holidays) from my starting weight. Plateau’ing at a weight that is at least 65 pounds from a healthy weight is a recurring issue for me, including now.

in addition to burning more energy than you take in, keeping insulin levels low is key. And he spends a couple of hundred pages explaining why.

Dr Fung is complimentary of the Mediterranean diet, although a little critical of its founder for his take on saturated fats and heart disease. I think the Mediterranean diet also is a good example of how complex carbs plus fiber and moderate protein can keep insulin levels low (I.e. the quality of the carbs, proteins and fats matters as much as the metric).

[Jeff Lebowski]

They always do. The evidence ultimately ends up backing up the fact that burning more calories than you eat is a guaranteed method for losing weight.

Haha. Yes.

[Donuthole]

Bingo.

But the med diet is more than just calorie reduction. And it has a ton of evidence to back it up.

They always do. The evidence ultimately ends up backing up the fact that burning more calories than you eat is a guaranteed method for losing weight.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Try to keep up, GM. It's all about the Mediterranean diet these days!

Weight Watchers
Jenny Craig
Atkins
South Beach
Raw Foods
Carnivore
Mediterranean <-----------------We are here


In all seriousness, every single one of these diets works for weight loss if you eat less calories than you burn. It's a matter of finding a way that works for you without damaging other organs along the way.

Bingo.

But the med diet is more than just calorie reduction. And it has a ton of evidence to back it up.

[Donuthole]

Listening to The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. If you struggle with weight, I highly recommend.

Aspects of the book that have been helpful to me:
1. Weight loss is a hormonal imbalance (too much insulin (and to a lesser extent) cortisol).
2. He explains why calorie reduction alone is not a long-term solution to obesity.
3. There is a strong genetic component to obesity.
4. Obesity is not a moral failing.

The info has helped me recognize the benefit of fasting, and I've done will with a 16/8 intermittent fast. I don't eat until noon, and I stop eating at 8pm. This may be a little later than is optimal, but it works for me. Breakfast has always been easy for me to skip. 8pm may be a little late, but it works for me (and honestly, I'm usually done eating by 7).

Try to keep up, GM. It's all about the Mediterranean diet these days!

Weight Watchers
Jenny Craig
Atkins
South Beach
Raw Foods
Carnivore
Mediterranean <-----------------We are here


In all seriousness, every single one of these diets works for weight loss if you eat fewer calories than you burn. It's a matter of finding a way that works for you without damaging other organs along the way.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Listening to The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. If you struggle with weight, I highly recommend.

Aspects of the book that have been helpful to me:
1. Weight loss is a hormonal imbalance (too much insulin (and to a lesser extent) cortisol).
2. He explains why calorie reduction alone is not a long-term solution to obesity.
3. There is a strong genetic component to obesity.
4. Obesity is not a moral failing.

The info has helped me recognize the benefit of fasting, and I've done will with a 16/8 intermittent fast. I don't eat until noon, and I stop eating at 8pm. This may be a little later than is optimal, but it works for me. Breakfast has always been easy for me to skip. 8pm may be a little late, but it works for me (and honestly, I'm usually done eating by 7).

You are late to the party. We discussed this book at length a few years back.

I really liked this book and felt like it made a ton of sense. There is a BYU prof that preaches the same gospel. Pretty active on X:

https://x.com/BenBikmanPhD

This book got me into intermittent fasting for a while. While the book got a lot of hype and support, it was not without some naysayers. I started to notice that quite a few high-profile doctors and nutritionists claimed that Fung was overstating his case and that while insulin resistance is definitely a thing, Fung's downplaying of calorie reduction and elevation of insulin resistance was not supported by evidence. Lots of subsequent studies (including meta analyses) showed that intermittent fasting only works if it causes a calorie reduction and it is not much better than a traditional diet. In other words, he is grossly overstating the role of insulin resistance.

Another thing I noticed when I read the book is that Fung really struggled to explain how the Japanese stay so skinny when they eat white rice literally every meal (insulin spike!). He came up with some super lame theory that they consume a lot of vinegar and maybe that is what is going on. This part made me wonder if this hypothesis is BS.

By the way, I used to follow Fung on social media. One day he was pimping a new book with recipes based on his diet/regimen. I jokingly replied, "Well, there it is. The racket phase." He immediately blocked me. First and only block I have received on X.

[Green Monstah]

Listening to The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. If you struggle with weight, I highly recommend.

Aspects of the book that have been helpful to me:
1. Weight loss is a hormonal imbalance (too much insulin (and to a lesser extent) cortisol).
2. He explains why calorie reduction alone is not a long-term solution to obesity.
3. There is a strong genetic component to obesity.
4. Obesity is not a moral failing.

The info has helped me recognize the benefit of fasting, and I've done will with a 16/8 intermittent fast. I don't eat until noon, and I stop eating at 8pm. This may be a little later than is optimal, but it works for me. Breakfast has always been easy for me to skip. 8pm may be a little late, but it works for me (and honestly, I'm usually done eating by 7).

[Shaka]

I started doing this last month. So far, same results as the prescription. I also started reconstituting my own peptide (BPC-157) for my knee pain. So far, I am enjoying the results of both.

[BigPiney]

I started doing this last month. So far, same results as the prescription. I also started reconstituting my own peptide (BPC-157) for my knee pain. So far, I am enjoying the results of both.

[Green Monstah]

Sounds a bit sketchy to be injecting yourself with stuff you mix at home.

I started doing this last month. So far, same results as the prescription. I also started reconstituting my own peptide (BPC-157) for my knee pain. So far, I am enjoying the results of both.

[Shaka]

Sounds a bit sketchy to be injecting yourself with stuff you mix at home.

You have to make sure of the ratios so you get the right dosage. If you do it right it's the same stuff you get in the pharmacy.

[BigPiney]

I found out that some people I know are buying semaglutide and tirzepitide in its raw form from peptide shops and then using bacteriostatic water to reconstitute it into a vial of the stuff. It costs about ten times less than their prescription. Kind of cool to be your own compounding pharmacy.

Sounds a bit sketchy to be injecting yourself with stuff you mix at home.

[Shaka]

I found out that some people I know are buying semaglutide and tirzepitide in its raw form from peptide shops and then using bacteriostatic water to reconstitute it into a vial of the stuff. It costs about ten times less than their prescription. Kind of cool to be your own compounding pharmacy.

[Green Monstah]

My weight loss has slowed to a crawl. But I’m doing resistance training 3-5 x per week, and my clothes are getting looser and looser, so I’m counting it as a win.

I bought a product called the Hume body pod, which is supposed to be a scale that breaks down fat mass, lean mass, and water weight and uploads it to an app. I’ll let you know if/how it works.