I’m interested in knowing what the general community here thinks of The Hackers Diet. Good, bad? Is there any non-anecdotal evidence out there on it’s success?
Link?
Google says this.
I dimly recall reading that late last year, seemed to be a fairly sensible non-faddy approach. Although I can’t recall exactly. Quoting from one of the summary pages:
Which is true from what I know, so it seems reasonable.
This may not be the same thing that muttrox is talking about.
My impression is also that it’s reasonable, after reading the first 35 pages. On the other hand, most diets sound reasonable at first, so I was hoping those who know more about this field could weigh in. The only thing I notice so far is no mention of altering metabolism rate, seems to be straight up and down caloric arithmetic. Maybe page 36 will reveal more!
Wow. I thought I was just weird for thinking that way about dieting. I cam up with that on my own, never heard of it before. I also consider myself to be something of a hacker (in the classical sense). Ergo, I invented it. Maybe.
Anyways, I’m down 60 pounds from my weight last year at this time. Nuf’ said.
If it’s just calorie arithmetic how is this remotely new? Weight Watchers has been doing this for decades. As to whether you will lose weight if you stick to it: Of course! Most diets will “work” if you stick to them, the only issue is how healthy you will be as a result and whether or not you can comply with the rules. I consider calorie counting to be one of the worst eating plans around.
Nothing to add but I first thought that this was concerning the diet that (computer) Hackers would have. :smack: I.E. Doritos, Moutain Dew, Twinkies…
I really thought this referred to subsisting on food from vending machines. I went to the link, but I’m not up to wading through pages of PDF. Is the synopsis that it’s just calorie counting? If so, what’s new?
Eat less, exercise more, drink water instead of soda pop. There’s your diet.
I actually started this diet in the begining of January. To date I have lost almost 20 lbs. I haven’t started the exercise regimine laid out in the diet yet, but I will be starting that this weekend. The man who wrote the Hacker Diet is John Walker who also helped write code for AutoCAD and helped found AutoDesk. Since I use AutoCAD daily, and because it was free to download off the 'net I figured I’d give it a try. I especially like that they have a number of spreadsheets to help track your progress, and even a program you can download to a Palm, and well let’s just say that appealed to my geek sensibilities. Like some others have said it isn’t that new of a concept; eat less + exercice = weight loss, but I like the approach & the tools used to help show progress and setting goals. If you want to know more, ask away. Email is in my profile.
The Hacker’s Diet is only slightly more than “eat fewer calories.” You can download an Excel spreadsheet to track your weight to help with your motivation. It has a trendline with exponential smoothing to show how, even if your weight is fluctuating, it’s still trending downward (or not, and you need to reduce your calorie intake further.) There’s also a kind of weird calisthenics program which isn’t exactly part of the diet, but which he includes because everyone should be doing aerobic exercise.
When it comes down to it, every diet ever invented boils down to: eat fewer calories than your body needs. Everything else is just a matter of motivation. There are are lots of different types of people trying to lose weight, and what motivates them is different. The Hacker’s Diet is a very nuts and bolts, analytical approach to dieting. The author says that he’s just applying the same management principles that he uses in his technology business to the problem of losing weight. With the caveat that those with high blood pressure and other health problems should be careful about sodium, he recommends frozen dinners and other somewhat-healthy prepackaged foods, because they fit into the bachelor workaholic hacker lifestyle, plus, you know exactly how many calories are in them. The exercise program is designed for busy people who aren’t going to get into the habit of going to the gym, or whatever, so you can do it as you have time, anywhere: home, office, hotel room, etc.
Like any diet, it’ll work for a certain sort of person.
I considered the hacker’s diet and decided it didn’t suit my personality or lifestyle, but it was a pretty direct inspiration for the diet I made up to lose weight. It’s called the “Stop Eating Crap that’s Bad for You Diet.” The premise: You, as an adult, know what’s bad for you. Stop eating that. Also, excercise, not because you want to lose weight, but because you really need cardiovascular to exercise to be healthy, whatever your weight. I dropped 15 pounds, fell off the wagon, gained 5 back, started again and lost those 5, and am now working on the next 5 to reach my goal. I don’t track calories, but the Hacker’s Diet finally drove home the point to me that there’s no magic to dieting . Changing your metabolism, super fat-burning foods, blah blah blah . . . This stuff is not well-supported by clinical trials. If you feel like you have the magic ticket, that helps motivate you to stay on the diet, but if you’re losing weight it’s because you’re eating fewer calories than your body burns, period. And all the motivational crap that so many diets come packaged in always has the opposite effect on me because it’s so transparent. I realized that I’m better off without attempts at motivation, and just focusing on the bare-bones analytical fact that I gotta turn down the crap and eat food that is healthy for me.
So while I didn’t do the Hacker’s Diet, it is a sound approach to losing weight, and it was helpful to me. If you find it appealing, then it might work for you.
If you look at the diets that are popular right now–Atkins, the Zone, Weight Watchers, the Ornish diet–they’re all pretty similar to a large degree. The basic principle behind each of them is “Don’t eat a lot, and don’t eat junk food.” That’s what the hacker’s diet seems to be based on, so it’ll probably work well if you stick with it.
You too? I started it around January 12th, and have lost 8.5 pounds (via trend, not the scale) already. No exercise, just some off-the-cuff meal planning and nightly weighings.
I like the straightforward logical approach of the diet. No special meals, no lofty promises, just regular biology and a little mathematics. I can still eat all the foods I crave, I just have to watch the portions a little.
After getting into the groove of the diet, I find it very effortless to stay on course. I fully expect to drop 50 lbs. by July, and highly recommend it.
Two points from the Hacker’s Diet:
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Exercise is nice, but not necessary for the diet. It won’t make a significant difference anyway.
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Diet soda pop beats water, because the caffeine is an appetite suppressant.