I would say for me it was back in college, mainly in textbooks for mainstream physics and chemistry, especially the ones about thermodynamics.
I already was pretty familiar with equations beforehand, and these equations do not lie. I was studying hard.
When you do the math, it just plain takes more work and burns more resources, and always takes more concerted effort to keep your weight up than it does to let it slip.
I was putting relatively more effort into academics instead.
Plus this was way before the internet. Laptops, or even PC's didn't exist yet. These books weighed kilos and I was lugging them miles to classes on my solid steel bicycle and up & down numerous staircases within non-air-conditioned classrooms and dwellings all day. Except when there was no class it was worth a trip to the main library where they had A/C.
I can't recommend any true weight-loss classics since that's not what I was pursuing back then, but I sure ended up thinner and in better shape than when I started, after only a few short years, and for me it was the textbooks alone.
In my case I'll probably never know whether it was the subject matter or merely the weight of the books that made most of the difference ;)
It all just seemed to come together at the time, and the outcome was obvious.
With 20/20 hindsight of course, once I had experienced the weight loss, I went back over the equations and I should have known it would happen to begin with.
If you can't afford it, I'd be happy to give you the PDF for free.
That being said, the key to all of this is discipline and consistency.
So, for a book, pick one that you find plausible, entertaining (in terms of reading and in terms of trying the recipes and protocols), and that aligns with your lifestyle or the rate of change you’re willing to accept.
For me, I started with 4 Hour Body. This might not not perfect from today’s knowledge but I liked the way, Tim is presenting the material, his way of thinking and the pragmatic approach. From there on, and after seeing significant and fast results, I went down the rabbit hole and tried almost every “biohack” routine i could find.
Try a couple of books, then pick the one that you enjoyed reading the most and then mercilessly stick to it to the letter. That should help. If it doesn’t, try the next one. Not a single human being in history lost weight from just reading. Take action!
How to lose those last 5-10 pounds (or 100+ pounds) with odd combinations of food and safe chemical cocktails
• How to prevent fat gain while bingeing over the weekend or the holidays
• How to sleep 2 hours per day and feel fully rested
• How to produce 15-minute female orgasms
• How to triple testosterone and double sperm count • How to go from running 5 kilometers to 50 kilometers in 12 weeks
• How to reverse “permanent” injuries
• How to pay for a beach vacation with one hospital visit
After reading this description I put this book in the BS category.
/j
I walk at least 2-3 miles everyday.
* Breakfast: 60g porridge oats - 240g with skimmed milk, cut up pear and honey, coffee * Mid morning: flavoured Greek yoghurt, coffee * Lunch: Wrap with cut up chicken breast, cottage cheese, celery, then roughly 100 calories of chocolate, coffee * Mid afternoon: egg, coffee * Dinner: Anything really. Just learn what average portions look like. Diluted juice, coffee * I don't eat after dinner until breakfast * I eat a lot of ice cream at the weekend
Not a traditional weight loss guide. But, learning about all the tricks they play made me so angry that I lost eighty pounds… worth a try
[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797397-salt-sugar-fat
As someone who went from 100kg to 85kg, I know how challenging it is to maintain a lower body weight because there isn't a day that my body doesn't fight me to try and get back to being overweight again.
The important thing is to build good eating habits, setup your environment properly, and ensure adequate physical activity. Some people might need drugs like Ozempic to make any progress, but it's a lifelong commitment.
Next thing is to start burning calories. I can safely say that gym is waste of time. Actually the biggest waste of time. Walking is not bad but running is the best.
One of the things they found that lines up with my experience is the fact that exercise doesn't necessarly burn calories - your body will end up adjusting to any exercise routine (up to a point, but you'd have to go pro athlete levels to really make a difference.) For instance, I walk around 10km daily for my job; when I switched from an office job to this one I started feeling hungrier and thus ate a bit more - I ended up putting on weight even though I was getting much more exercise!
MrCoffee7•4mo ago