> Why do we find it acceptable to help people who struggle with alcohol abuse, or nicotine addiction, or opioid addiction, but not to help people who struggle with food abuse?

"Getting fit and staying fit" is a form of social capital, because it's extremely hard and only within reach of a small portion of the population. "Being fit" is strongly aligned with "being attractive" which confers all sorts of cross-cutting social benefits.

Some people feel cheated when medication allows others to "effortlessly" join this social club, and then become vile and hateful in response.

"Why do we find it acceptable to help people who struggle with alcohol abuse, or nicotine addiction, or opioid addiction, but not to help people who struggle with food abuse?"

I think it is because if 90% of the population did half of what you do (and kudos for you for doing it), they wouldn't have a problem with weight, you just happen to be one of the unlucky few where it doesn't work and these drugs are useful.

Why do we find it acceptable to help...

I think if the widely available help for alcoholics, smokers, or opioid addicts mainly mitigated the negative consequences - enabling them to drink, smoke, or dope more - it wouldn't be nearly as acceptable.

I personally expect weight loss medication that simply makes people want to eat less will reach cultural acceptance.

Case in point, cigarettes have been known to suppress appetite for ages, and people have elected to smoke to help stay thin for decades. There was never any crushing social stigma attached to doing this as a weight loss strategy (that I know of).

> And you know what it is? It's volume. I eat too much.

100% this.

I lived in Asia for a few years and obesity is rare (though increasing for youth). It's not like they get more exercise (most people don't) or eat healthy (it's mostly carbs), but 100% portion sizes.

I see people who work manual labor jobs eat lunch that is a bowl of noddles, a few thin slices of chicken or pork, and a few veggies. I highly doubt it exceeds 500 kcalories. It's probably half the portion size you'd get in the US.

Mystery solved. If you're only eating 1500 to 1800 kcal per day as an adult male doing manual labor, it's pretty obvious why you're at 10% body fat.

> And still weight kept on coming on. Worse yet, I am on ADHD medication, which are amphetamines and actually make you lose weight. Yet... the number on the scale kept on creeping up.

The therapeutic amphetamines dosages for ADHD is below the threshold required for produce meaningful weight loss. It's not surprising that it didn't help you lose weight.

I think there's a few factors at play:

1. People might want to help, but they don't think taking a pill every day for the rest of your life is a proper solution. I'm not aware of any such things for other addictions you mention,

2. People don't want other people to have it easier than they did. "I had to diet and exercise etc, you should too",

3. People don't want to help. They want other people to be fat because it makes them relatively more attractive.

> Why do we find it acceptable to help people who struggle with alcohol abuse, or nicotine addiction, or opioid addiction, but not to help people who struggle with food abuse?

For the same reason why skinny person taking steroids is frowned upon - it is perceived as a shortcut.

Would you mind sharing what your diet was like as a child?

I wonder if there's a connection between diet during development and adult processing of and cravings for food. Maybe eating candy for breakfast (cookiecrisp!) every day in elementary school messed a bunch of us up.

I think a lot of it is dealing with hunger. If you can't stand being a little hungry, never mind very hungry, no diet will really help. I used to love being very hungry, not sure how I got there, but I wish I can go back there again. Having very little carbs and temptations in the house helps. Unfortunately it's not up to only me.

Perhaps the first person on HN who actively and without shame pays attention to the fact that Adderall is a very nice amphet cocktail. Surprising though you don't loose wait with it, sad also given the circumstances. But I envy you a little cause such ADHD boost is only illegal in EU.

Sometimes I wonder if it was a some neat trick by US gov to diagnose and put 1/5 of the population on amphetamines (2024 data +60mil prescriptions of Adderall), so that most everyone who is actually like smart or sensitive or anything of value to the industry, can (almost) freely microdose on it and as a result increase productivity.

Which... means 1/5 of the population suddenly increases output. Perhaps we all'd be on Aderall at some point, dunno bout the Ozempics...

Seconding Zepbound, it has been absolutely life changing for me, and not only in terms of weight loss. It's expensive, but I am blessed with a tech salary that can afford it.

Anyone can list 50 no-no things they don't eat and omit the 5 types of foods they do choose that causes the most damage. Volume & variety are not to blame given most sauces are calorie dense. The issue generally is the person eating for pleasure conflicting with their stated aim to eat for weight maintenance.

If it tastes good spit it out. Countless people ready to tell you no sacrifice is needed in that domain but they have something to sell or trade.

> And you know what it is? It's volume. I eat too much.

Have you considered eating less?

> It's volume. I eat too much.

Bingo. I've had this conversation with my girlfriend. She's not overweight by any means (160 cm ~55 kg) but I am quite underweight (182 cm, 65 kg, < 10% body fat) and the conclusion I've arrived at regarding our differences in body composition is because she routinely eats 1.3x to 1.5x the amount I eat. We both exercise and eat little junk food.

I'm convinced it has to do with upbringing. My family never ate a lot and the portions I was served as a kid weren't big. Nobody in my family is anything more than skinny. Her family however, they eat a lot (and healthy too, mind you). This is all influenced by other factors, her parents and grandparents grew up with not a lot to their names and with food scarcity, so when they reached a position in life where they could comfortably afford to eat they gained the habit of having big meals. My family was mostly more privileged in that regard so maybe they never felt the need to focus on food as much.

Have you every using a calorie/macro tracking app like My Fitness Pal or Cronometer? I was never successful losing weight until I scanned, weighed, and measured every single thing I put into my body and stuck to the target calories and macros entered into the app. Just being aware of exactly how much I was eating was often enough to find the motivation to control volume.

Try a very low carb diet. Only eat until 80% full at mealtime. Get down to two meals a day, with a goal of only one. Fast the other times. This sounds hard but once you get to ketosis it is not that hard at all. Not hungry naturally, like the drug response.

Truth is, we really don't need more than one meal a day (maybe a snack) when we get older and our metabolism slows.

> We never eat food made in a factory. We buy raw products and spend a good amount of time every day cooking them.

> ...

> Yet... the number on the scale kept on creeping up.

That is absolutely terrifying. What oils did you use for cooking?

You mention types of food but not quantities. A boat load of healthy food is still going to have an effect. Also, I for one don't consider walking to be exercise. It's fake exercise for people who don't like exercise to claim they exercise. My reason is that I cycle for eight months of the year then walk during the rainy months. By the end of the rainy months I get back on the bike and my fitness level is catastrophic - nothing. I've done this for five years, and have to say walking is just not good enough for exercise, not even close.

What kind of food do you and your wife cook? How much meat? How much gluten? Real butter or canola oil infused “spreads”? What oil do you cook with? Vegetable? Sunflower?

If you’re eating the right thing for your body, you’ll be satiated when you eat your full.

[flagged]