[rnovak]

Interesting, exercise has been the biggest factor for me, and it's actually kind of two fold. 1: it burns calories, 2: because I dislike working out, it makes me not want to waste it by eating shit food.

A lot of people I think take the approach of "well, I exercised, so I can afford to eat this cheesecake", or something like that.

I took it as: "ugh, I hated that workout, so I had better not eat this cheesecake"

I think the biggest battle is mental, and not so much physical.

[peteretep]

    > A lot of people I think take the approach of "well, I
    > exercised, so I can afford to eat this cheesecake"

Perhaps, but for me it definitely increases the degree to which I'm hungry and the degree to which I enjoy my food afterwards

    > I think the biggest battle is mental, and not so much
    > physical

Can certainly agree with that. I've found the principles of "Mindful Eating" to be pretty helpful, specifically having read this:

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Chocolate-Yo-yo-Dieting-Weight...

[Scarblac]

Hating the exercise you do doesn't sound like the most effective way to go in the long term, it's going to take will power every time.

Couldn't you do some alternative kind of exercise that you find more enjoyable?

[tzs]

It might be useful to distinguish between intentional exercise and incidental exercise.

By intentional exercise I mean exercise that you consciously set out to do in order to help lose weight or improve your fitness.

By incidental exercise I mean exercise that happens incidentally to doing other things.

I've lost a fair amount of weight over the last 10 months (110 pounds, or 50 kg). I haven't really done much intentional exercise but because as I've lost weight my energy level and stamina have improved, I've ended up doing more things that provide incidental exercise.

For instance, I used to put off mowing the lawn because it was physically taxing. Now it is no big deal and so I mow about 4 times as often, and I mow places that previously I was content to leave overgrown. So I now get a lot of incidental exercise from mowing the lawn. I've also done a bunch of other garden work that I would not have done 110 pounds earlier, and have plans for a bunch more.

I used to prefer to shop at a smaller supermarket, because I got tired walking around a big store. Now I regularly shop at a large market that has lots of locally grown food, and also at a Walmart superstore. So now I get a lot of exercise incidental to shopping.

I'll probably be doing a few more home projects if it ever decides to actually start being summer here (Pacific Northwest), which will give me more incidental exercise both from doing the actual work and from shopping trips to Home Depot.

I used to enjoy bicycling, not specifically to exercise but just as an enjoyable form of transport. I was a regular bike commuter when I lived in Cupertino in the early 1990s, but when I moved to Seattle in 1992 that stopped. I took one ride around the block my first day in Seattle, and learned that fat cyclists and hills do not get along, and have not been on my bike since. But I still have my bike (1990 Miyata Triple Cross). I just pulled it out of its corner in the garage, and checked it out. Most things still work on it (although it needs a good cleaning and lubrication, a new front tire, some adjustments on the brakes and front derailleur, and maybe some new cables). A year ago, fixing it up would be too much work, but now it will be no problem, and once I do that I might take up bike commuting again. (I'm still in the Puget Sound area, but in an area that is much less hilly than Seattle). So that will be a bunch more incidental exercise.

I did try some intentional exercise, such as using a treadmill, but I found it kind of depressing. I'd finish a session and feel like I'd had a good workout, and then look at the estimate of calories burned and see that I'd burned off the equivalent of a few Tic Tacs.

[eru]

Exercise also decreases appetite for some people. At least acutely.

(I think it's because of the adrenaline, but not sure. Stimulants like adrenaline, caffeine and nicotine suppress appetite.)

[thisone]

wish I had that problem. After a good run, I'm craving food.

[eru]

I'm also happy to eat directly after working out. But some of my friends have the opposite problem.