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by logfromblammo 3792 days ago
It isn't bullshit, but it isn't helpful information to someone trying to lose adipose mass.

Repeating it to a fatty as fat-loss advice is a lot like trying to teach someone to swim by continually telling them that water is wet. Absolutely true, but completely unhelpful.

The broken element in a fatty is a complex biochemical feedback system that ultimately does not send "start eating" and "stop eating" signals at appropriate times. The frontal cortex can consciously override it to some extent, by refusing to eat when the "start eating" signal is sent, but this is psychologically very stressful.

One of the great things about low-carb and keto diets is that the body's backup ketone-burning power system is usually not affected by the buggy firmware updates that have been applied to the carb-burning system over the years. Once you are adapted to it, you can consciously control your caloric intake as appropriate for your body-reform plan without getting bombarded by unsatiated appetite signals every waking moment of your day. You can eat a 1200 kcal diet without biting through the padlock on the fridge and gorging yourself on whatever is in there.

A fatty usually isn't fat because they want to be, or because they don't understand thermodynamic balance. They're fat because they have a little shoulder devil constantly whispering in their ear, that just won't shut up, ever.

  DEVIL:  Hey.  I want a doughnut.  I want a dozen doughnuts.
  FATTY:  No.
  DEVIL:  Get me a doughnut.  Do it.  Do it now.  Gooey jelly doughnut.
  FATTY:  Those are like 300 Calories.  Each.  So, no.
  DEVIL:  Don't care.  Ok, compromise.  3 beignets.  C'est si bon.
  FATTY:  No!
  DEVIL:  Fine.  Churros, por favor.  Me gusta.
  FATTY:  No.  No fried sugar-dough of any kind.  Will french fries work?
  DEVIL:  Super size!  Extra ketchup!  Fountain drink!
  FATTY:  [om nom nom]
  DEVIL:  Now I want chocolate.
As you can see from the example conversation, the fatty already knows that a doughnut has too many calories in it. That knowledge simply does not help to silence the imaginary anthropomorphization of appetite.
1 comments

I love the dialogue there! When I'm up in the middle of the night (certain periods when my sleep schedule is off) I have this exact voice in my head, planning to go get a donut from my favorite shop when it opens. Luckily my desire to get in better shape has been keeping this urge under control, but it's amazing how persistent it is at convincing me otherwise.