[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

But Obesity isn't very much about personal choice, as evidenced by most people being able to keep a reasonable weight without counting calories or putting in any effort whatsoever, while people like me have to obsess over everything because if we ate the way we "naturally" feel like we should then we'd be blimps.

Or rather, it is about choice, but the choice for some is "obsess over it and suffer a lot more than the people around you for the rest of your life", not to mention generally being treated like not being able to fight your body's compulsions is a personal failing by people who don't have to fucking do that.

P.S.: And before you go shoving your fad bullshit advice of the week at me, it should be noted that at one point I had lost half my body weight and am still over 100lbs down. I have been doing this for over a decade, I have tried every trick anyone has yet devised to make this easier and none of the work for this kind of weight.

Any diet will work for 10-15lbs. Like, literally any diet. This has been shown multiple times. Losing real, serious, obesity-level weight takes significant effort and suffering continuously and anyone who says differently is full of shit.

...unless there's a drug involved. Amphetamines and the new class of diabetes drugs seem to actually work wonders. The former is obviously problematic and ill-advised.

[curioussavage]

I’ve seen some published studies recently about altered gut bacteria in people whose mothers experienced trauma, altered insulin sensitivity. It’s definitely getting clearer scientifically why weight is so much harder for some

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

Yeah, there does seem to be a lot of data to support the idea that gut microbiome is a lot more significant to our brain function that we would have assumed, but until there's a reliable treatment I can get or self administer it is pretty much irrelevant to me.

[elric]

I think the folks on HN are generally aware that weight loss is incredibly hard, I'd be surprised to see anyone here trying to shove fad advice down your gullet.

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

It happens almost every time. People show up when weight loss is discussed and talk all the pseudoscience behind intermittent fasting[0], Paleo, carnivore, anti-FODMAP, etc. and how that's the key and it changed their life because they are never hungry and blah blah blah.

[0] which I find hilarious because their definition is skipping one meal a day, not skipping entire days at a time the way I did when I was trying it. Skipping a single meal is not, nor will it ever be, "fasting" as far as I'm concerned.