# Critique my weight loss formulas? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 30, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465 "2013-12-30T07:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/61 "2014-01-02T00:19:43Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Modest weight loss (generally defined as 5% of body weight, in your case therefore as little as 10 pounds) maintained long term with healthy habits, gains the bulk of the health benefits and is more likely to be achieved and maintained long term than is significantly larger loss. Nothing wrong with losing more weight … losing 35 over a longer term, gradually? Nothing wrong with that. But for health considerations achieving _and maintaining_ a more modest loss with continued healthy food choices and exercise is all that is required. The rest is gravy. . You have cited this “effect of small weight loss not much different than effect of larger weight loss maintained over time” in several threads and the clinical research supporting this. If we take these citations as valid studies I am somewhat puzzled how it can be true. As a hypothetical if according to height-weight-build tables my target weight should be around 220 lbs and say I weigh 340 lbs and lose 50 lbs so I’m now carrying around 290 lbs, is it correct to say this research says I will not gain much in the way of real health risk reduction / health benefit by going to 220 lbs? I question the validity this position because at this 290 lb weight I am still on the border of being morbidly obese and all the diabetic, cardiovascular risk, cancer risk , and joint related issues that attend to that. I don’t see how losing just a relatively small amount of weight can be almost the same as getting closer to a normal weight. I accept that there is research that supports this position but it really does not (IMO) make logical sense. How can weighing 290 lbs not be far more of a risk to your health on multiple levels than weighing 220 lbs? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/62 "2014-01-02T01:02:32Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I completely understand the desire to avoid a complete hijack into another one of the calories-don’t-matter against it’s-all-the-calorie-count crowds. And of course, whether you count them or not, calories matter. Thanks for understanding, **DSeid**. I’m just trying to keep to the oldest, simplest diet ever: eat less and exercise. If you do those in things in sufficient quantities, the rest follows. The hard part is determining what is “sufficient”. > [@](#): > > It is reasonable though to point out that the composition of the calories matters too. Of course. I’m just trying to not dive into the minutiae of fad diet notions. I’m extremely skeptical of this stuff, and would rather not discuss it. See rule 1: eat less, and exercise. Setting that aside, yes, obviously some things are better to eat then others, either when dieting or in general. > [@](#): > > **Green Rosetta** ’s points also are cogent: aiming for some portion of your exercise in the higher intensity range Yup, noted. I’m just starting to branch out from the notion of “ride the bike as much as possible, every day” into more varied exercise, and will keep that in mind. > [@](#): > > appreciating the fact that the lifestyle habits of healthier food choices and regular exercise are to small degree as much of the goal as weight loss is. Modest weight loss (generally defined as 5% of body weight, in your case therefore as little as 10 pounds) maintained long term with healthy habits, gains the bulk of the health benefits and is more likely to be achieved and maintained long term than is significantly larger loss. Nothing wrong with losing more weight … losing 35 over a longer term, gradually? Nothing wrong with that. But for health considerations achieving _and maintaining_ a more modest loss with continued healthy food choices and exercise is all that is required. The rest is gravy. (Low fat lean gravy? Yuck.) The problem with diets is that many consider them as something that is done and then stopped once the goal is achieved and never deal with the real issue of creating a long term lifestyle that is healthy and that they can keep up with, they encourage attention to the scale as the exclusive goal rather than the scale as a secondary goal that results in response to achieving the more important lifestyle modification ones. I can’t disagree with any of that. And I do see this as a long term process, not just a few weeks of agony followed by Krispy Kremes and sofa piloting ever after. I agree, that won’t and can’t work. I have done this before: lost 20-30 pounds over several months, but each time I managed to keep it off for years because I had developed better habits and kept to them for quite some time. So I do see the shape of these things over the long term. I’m just trying to reset myself once again to that better place and try to stay there once I eventually, over probably a long time this time, arrive at a better, more healthy body. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/63 "2014-01-02T04:26:34Z")
> [@astro](#): > > You have cited this “effect of small weight loss not much different than effect of larger weight loss maintained over time” in several threads and the clinical research supporting this. If we take these citations as valid studies I am somewhat puzzled how it can be true. As a hypothetical if according to height-weight-build tables my target weight should be around 220 lbs and say I weigh 340 lbs and lose 50 lbs so I’m now carrying around 290 lbs, is it correct to say this research says I will not gain much in the way of real health risk reduction / health benefit by going to 220 lbs? I question the validity this position because at this 290 lb weight I am still on the border of being morbidly obese and all the diabetic, cardiovascular risk, cancer risk , and joint related issues that attend to that. I don’t see how losing just a relatively small amount of weight can be almost the same as getting closer to a normal weight. > > I accept that there is research that supports this position but it really does not (IMO) make logical sense. How can weighing 290 lbs not be far more of a risk to your health on multiple levels than weighing 220 lbs? The speculations are based on where fat preferentially first comes off, which is from visceral fat stores (the fat most associated with adverse health risks) and on the independent critical importance of the sustained nutrition and exercise habits. The first 5 to 10% weight loss results in something like a 30% reduction in visceral fat. After that less fat loss comes from visceral stores. Note: the research does not say that being lower would not be better - just that there are substantially diminishing returns. Most (not all) of the benefit is gained with modest loss and sustained good lifestyle habits. More sustained weight lost would potentially gain additional health benefits but the costs to achieve that are greater (frankly achievable only by a very few) and the health benefit per additional pound lost much less. Once that relatively modest lost is achieved the sustained changed habits matter much more. ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/64 "2014-01-02T04:30:00Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I accept that there is research that supports this position but it really does not (IMO) make logical sense. How can weighing 290 lbs not be far more of a risk to your health on multiple levels than weighing 220 lbs? You are using an extreme example, that does not fall under the category of “moderate” (less than 5%) weight loss addressed by the research. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/65 "2014-04-08T21:44:54Z")
OP here. I just weighed at 155 pounds today, woot!! Math, bitches! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/66 "2014-04-09T01:45:12Z")
Kudos! What are you transition into maintenance plans? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/67 "2014-04-09T03:42:02Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Kudos! Thanks! > [@](#): > > What are you transition into maintenance plans? That’s a damn good question. Since I’ve stopped drinking alcohol and am enjoying low fat food, I feel like I’m already stuffing myself _and_ I’m still losing weight. So I guess I have to figure out how to stop that and maintain weight sensibly. Starting to drink and eating fatty foods doesn’t sound like a good way to do that, so… not sure. But it’s a great problem to have! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/68 "2014-04-09T03:58:56Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > OP here. I just weighed at 155 pounds today, woot!! > > Math, bitches! > :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D Math, indeed:D Congrats on the willpower and your accomplishment! ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/69 "2014-04-09T05:00:29Z")
> [@keturah](#): > > Math, indeed:D Congrats on the willpower and your accomplishment! Thanks, **keturah**! Very much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/70 "2014-04-09T05:05:04Z")
Also, and I don’t want to scare anybody, but I may keep going a little. I still have some nagging belly fat that hasn’t melted away yet. I’m still in a good range for my height at 10 pounds lighter than 155, so I’m considering a (far less aggressive) continuation that direction, to maybe 150 or slightly under. Or not - I feel like the pressure is off now and I can take stock and decide what my body should look like going forward. I’m going to have my first steak since sometime last fall, then go back to healthy eating and see where that takes me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/71 "2014-04-09T07:06:06Z")
When I was young I remember hearing, “Eat low to the food chain.” Seems to have worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/72 "2014-04-10T04:28:55Z")
Man it’s amazing how your outlook on food changes after a structured diet. I went to buy that celebratory steak I mentioned above, and my reaction to the cuts on display was, “damn, that’s way too much food!” Eating single (I’m separated just this week) there’s no way in heck I’d cook a regular steak if I don’t want leftovers, and I really don’t want leftovers. Beef is a maybe-every-several-months treat for me, so why waste some? My son is with me next week, so I’ll try to get a cut(s) we can share; since he eats nearly double what I do, that should work perfect. Damn, I’d really like to cook a corned beef, but after one serving I’d be done and what would I do with the rest? I need to gather some friends for a corned beef party or something. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/73 "2014-04-10T05:26:12Z")
Focus on the calorie intake first. Exercise is great and vital. It will make you healthier, stronger and feeling better. No doubt. But if you are serious about weight loss, calorie restriction is the only rational way to go. Keep up the exercise, by all means. But remember - it’s a damn fool’s errand to try to get there by exercise alone. A 250 lb. man, jogging at 5 mph (pretty leisurely), for 20 minutes. That burns about the equivalent of a McDonald’s cheeseburger. Not a quarter-pounder, not a Big Mac - a cheeseburger. One of those tiny cheeseburgers. Much easier not to eat that (little) much in the first place rather than trying to burn it off. Exercise is great and you should do it, but exercise for health and well-being. For weight loss reduce intake, perioid. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465/74 "2015-06-23T00:15:57Z")
OP here again. FYI, over 1 year later, I’ve gained back maybe five pounds. I’m so glad I did this. Math, bitches! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-weight-loss-formulas/677465.md?page=3)