Health Hacking: Anniversary (Premium)

I will soon write about the science behind working past a weight loss plateau. But first, I wanted to provide a few more notes about my diet, plus a quick check-in on my weight loss.

When I wrote Health Hacking: Diet and Nutrition (Premium), I did so with great hesitation and fear: While the science is very clear, I am a layman, as many pointed out. So you have no reason to believe or trust me on this topic beyond the fact that I am, arguably, an expert in weight gain and thus have a real impetus to solve this problem. As I wrote before, it is very important that you do two things yourself: Read up on the science. And find a doctor who stays up on the science, not one that went to medical school years ago and stopped learning. This is on you.

This topic is, of course, controversial. But that's only true because food lobbyists have destroyed our understanding of what is truly healthy and what isn't. Foods that people think are healthy are not, and vice versa. And many just have a mental block when it comes to this stuff. Even some people who have lost weight on whatever diet plan often misunderstand why they lost weight. We are swimming in misinformation. That's always bad. But when it comes to our health, it can literally be life or death. So this stuff is important. Too important to be ignorant about it. Too important for me to ignore.

Thinking further about the layman bit, I will at least explain that I have over two decades of experience researching and explaining technology, and in interviewing experts. And that the instances in which someone finds out something important from an actual expert are rare: For many, my write-up was the first time they were confronted by this topic, and with the names of true experts like Gary Taubes. This is a role I am comfortable with. And I implore you to study more. Again, read the science.

The diet I described previously is an extreme one, even in the context of a healthy, low-carb lifestyle. And the truth is, many people won't need to be this extreme when it comes to dieting. A keto-style diet, which is basically a very low-carb diet, is one in which you eat fewer than 50 net grams of carbs per day. But I generally try to restrict myself to less than 20 net grams of carbs per day, and if your goal is to lose weight---and not just to be generally healthier---and you are like me---e.g. you sit on your ass every day---that's the way to get things jumpstarted.

But the truth is, I rarely hit just 20 net grams of carbs per day: I'm closer to 30 these days. And anywhere in the 20 to 50 net grams range is healthy. The point is to remove added sugars, refined carbohydrates, and processed foods from your diet. Beyond that, "whole" carbohydrates (from certain foods, but never potatoes or other starches) can be healthy and add variety. I don't do that personally, but that's part of the point: You need to know your own body, and how it reacts to different foods. I have 20+ years of failures under ...