If I can get an accurate bf and muscle mass then I can tailor my diet and exercise for what I need. I think people would be really shocked by what their actual bf % is compared to what they think it is. Even people that are “in shape”. It’s a motivator.
Ozempic, GLP-1 and other modern diabetes / weight loss medications
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If I can get an accurate bf and muscle mass then I can tailor my diet and exercise for what I need. I think people would be really shocked by what their actual bf % is compared to what they think it is. Even people that are “in shape”. It’s a motivator.
I have been making a point to minimize the processed foods, especially with the main meals.
What people don’t realize is that there are plenty of healthier snacks that are just as good once you make it a habit.
Carrots & sugar snap peas with hummus, thawing out frozen fruit are personal favorites. And cottage cheese to placate my cheese addiction
You really can’t tailor it any more than you normally could without that information though, that’s my point.
Body fat% is no more of a motivator then a number on a scale, or BP, or cholesterol. If it was then the population would be far more “motivated”
I have been making a point to minimize the processed foods, especially with the main meals.
What people don’t realize is that there are plenty of healthier snacks that are just as good once you make it a habit.
Carrots & sugar snap peas with hummus, thawing out frozen fruit are personal favorites. And cottage cheese to placate my cheese addiction
Will also add that I’ve had an apple as my after dinner “dessert” pretty much every day since I left college. Cosmic crisp & Honeycrisp ftw.
If I’m not burning enough calories to be at my desired bf% then I want to know that. If I’m not getting what I want out of my cardio regimen then I need to change it up.
If I’m not building muscle optimally I need to tweak my macros and my lifting regimen. Us “normals” just go out and keep doing the same things forever because we don’t have an easy way to get a benchmark and then retest incrementally. I don’t have time to be “all in” like the true fitness lifestyle people do, but I could really use those benchmarks.
Except a Dexa scan doesn’t do any of those things. You need advanced blood work, metabolic panels, etc. Knowing the body composition doesn’t get you anywhere towards that goal. Also as your body composition changes and your workout changes adjust all those panels will change.
The numbers for body composition just honestly don’t matter unless you have advanced medical conditions.
One person's (mine) first hand account of two months on Tirzepatide:
- The food noise disappeared immediately. I cannot overstate how big of a deal this is. Most people have NO IDEA what this is, but it sabotages nearly every effort to eat better and lose weight permanently and more often leads to weight gain.
- I can now make rational, logical decisions regarding my meals. This is a new experience for me.
- In the first month, my cholesterol dropped from borderline high (even while taking Atorvastatin) to right in the middle of the acceptable range.
- weight loss
- My mind seems clearer most of the time...no fog...and greater focus
- Side effects have been limited to mild constipation and occasional excessive burping.
- Inflammation seems to have been reduced (less back and joint pain, mostly).
- My general mood has improved. This is probably an indirect effect from experiencing all of the positive effects listed above.
One of the strangest things I didn't expect was the need to count calories. It is something I have tried in the past to lose weight, but it was always a major psychological problem for me. It always led to even more fixation on food than I already have. No...I've had to count calories some days to make sure that I am getting ENOUGH nutrition so that I'm not starving myself. I have never in my life had perfectly normal days where food never crosses my mind and I don't feel hungry. This is now a common experience for me and has taken some real adjusting to.
I hesitate to say it's a miracle drug, but it has been a game changer for me and many people.
- The food noise disappeared immediately. I cannot overstate how big of a deal this is. Most people have NO IDEA what this is, but it sabotages nearly every effort to eat better and lose weight permanently and more often leads to weight gain.
- I can now make rational, logical decisions regarding my meals. This is a new experience for me.
- In the first month, my cholesterol dropped from borderline high (even while taking Atorvastatin) to right in the middle of the acceptable range.
- weight loss
- My mind seems clearer most of the time...no fog...and greater focus
- Side effects have been limited to mild constipation and occasional excessive burping.
- Inflammation seems to have been reduced (less back and joint pain, mostly).
- My general mood has improved. This is probably an indirect effect from experiencing all of the positive effects listed above.
One of the strangest things I didn't expect was the need to count calories. It is something I have tried in the past to lose weight, but it was always a major psychological problem for me. It always led to even more fixation on food than I already have. No...I've had to count calories some days to make sure that I am getting ENOUGH nutrition so that I'm not starving myself. I have never in my life had perfectly normal days where food never crosses my mind and I don't feel hungry. This is now a common experience for me and has taken some real adjusting to.
I hesitate to say it's a miracle drug, but it has been a game changer for me and many people.
Right. That’s why I was talking about a highly accurate and tailored wearable. Sorry, that was confusing.
Got ya, I’m gonna be totally honest and say that while im sure it might help for some people (there are hundreds of millions in the us after all) I really don’t think that would make any impact.
But I do totally agree that it would be a cool device
There are lots of ways to track numbers if you want. Calorie tracker apps make it easier than ever. Weigh yourself every day, preferably at the same time when it is most consistent so you can see changes over long periods of time. Body measurements and body fat percentage can be monitored easily and accurately with measuring tape and a body fat caliper. Anyone on a strength training program should be keeping track of reps and weight over time. If you're a numbers geek who wants to take lots of measurements to track progress the tools are out there and easily available.
$10 caliper and good technique is a lot cheaper and more accessible for fat %.
Frankly, a tape measure around the navel is all you need to measure change good or bad. Maybe deciding what a good target number is for you as an individual is trickier, since people are 6'6", or 5'2", or even female.
Ok….adding portions to the talk.
My husband and I now share meals at a restaurant and we frequently take home leftovers! Now that we’ve changed how we eat, we are just shocked at the massive portions that are served.
My husband and I now share meals at a restaurant and we frequently take home leftovers! Now that we’ve changed how we eat, we are just shocked at the massive portions that are served.
Frozen peaches - as kids that was a sweet treat for us. Cut them up, sprinkle just a little sugar on them, let it thaw a bit and the sugar melts into the peach "sweat"... delicious.I have been making a point to minimize the processed foods, especially with the main meals.
What people don’t realize is that there are plenty of healthier snacks that are just as good once you make it a habit.
Carrots & sugar snap peas with hummus, thawing out frozen fruit are personal favorites. And cottage cheese to placate my cheese addiction
100% agree. Find your substitutes.
Endamame hits my chips/crunchy/salty craving pretty well.
Zero sugar greek yogurt with a few m&m's swirled in makes a good ice cream dessert after dinner.
I think all this is a good answer to why responses like "fix the food system first" or "just count calories" or any number of traditional dieting advice aren't all that helpful in this thread. Those pieces of advice, while no doubt well-meaning, discount that what we are fixing here is a real metabolic disorder that on we are really just now starting to understand the inner workings of and how to address them (which makes sense- its only within the last century that food scarcity wasn't the primary concern, not abundance).
Having lost a good amount of weight without any drugs and also having done it on tirzepatide, the difference in terms of mental load is crazy. Sure, losing weight was possible without the drugs, but it was a singular focus. All my mental energy went into sustaining the loss- which in turn made it more difficult to do those things if there were other life factors.
On the drug, that mental load is much reduced, in large part due to the food noise reduction you mention (also less draw towards alcohol which also helps). Having this reduced mental load also makes it easier to push myself out to get exercise. It should also, once i get there, be invaluable in the maintenance stage.
Repeating but iirc it was in the early 80s or earlier that somewhere in there cigarrette companies got involved in the food game for the cereal and junk food companies to tap into addictions.
On most charts I've seen the rate goes from a steady increase throughout the 50s and 70s to a much sharper trajectory starting in about 1980.
I've got a recent pledge to eat just a pile of pan fried frozen veggies for dinner 3-4 days/week.
It can be filling and I feel way better sleeping, etc.
I think for the majority of people losing weight is simple but also really hard. Lots of dedication and willpower, and it takes weeks/months/years. On top of that I don’t think knowledge about what makes up a healthy diet, how many calories a person needs to lose or maintain, macro/micro nutrient information is all that common in general.
Thats way before my time so no idea but fundamentally it format even have to be that sinister. Our bodies really haven’t changed that much in centuries from when food was scarce so we’re programmed to seek out the highest calorie (high fat high sugar) foods and to draw a strong and positive physiological response to them to help us remember.
Also many raft survived in certain parts of the world were the ones that stored fat most efficiently which is an added issue for some still in modern times.
Also there is the fact that even losing 5-15 lbs for a lot of people isn’t visibly noticeable or still doesn’t have them looking the way they feel they should with the effort they feel they are putting in.
If you’re losing 1lb a week rough math has you in a 500kcal deficit every day, even adjusting to hit that deficit as your metabolism changes. So even a dedicated person will drop 10 pounds in about 2.5 months and that’s without and slip ups from holidays/vacations/life that gets in the way. If those factors come out then you’re looking at a 10 pound loss in closer to 4+ months min.
For most people that little of an effect isn’t enough to keep them focused, you just have to hope that they feel so much better that they maintain, problem is the foods that will throw people the most off track are the ones that also make you feel amazing as well so it’s very easy to fall off.
The concept is pretty simple. Actually having the time, energy and resources to do it is very hard
Edit: I should add reasonable expectations too. Chris Evans as Captain America or Chris Hemsworth as Thor isn't an attainable or sustainable physique for people. And if people are getting into fitness and nutrition for solely that reason they will burn out
