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Wes_W comments on Group Rationality Diary, November 1-15 - Less Wrong Discussion

4 Post author: therufs 03 November 2014 03:58AM

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Comment author: Wes_W 14 November 2014 05:08:56PM *  2 points [-]

For a frame-of-reference adjustment consider reports that the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps consumed 8-10,000 calories per day while training. He didn't get fat :-)

Is that a result of his metabolism adjusting upward, as opposed to simply burning lots of energy on activity and maybe having an unusually high metabolism in general?

Given that you don't know the output side of the calorie balance, I am not a big fan of counting calories to start with. I would suggest setting a reasonable rate of weigh loss (say, 1-2 lbs/week -- if you can measure body fat % it would be even better) and eating at the level which sustains this weight loss regardless of how many calories it takes. If the weight loss stalls, eat a bit less. If it accelerates, eat a bit more.

I'm not sure how to actually apply this. Eating consistently at a certain level without somehow tracking calorie intake seems exceptionally tricky, unless I could standardize my meals to a degree that I don't think I can realistically do.

Comment author: Lumifer 14 November 2014 05:17:29PM 3 points [-]

Is that a result of his metabolism adjusting upward, as opposed to simply burning lots of energy on activity and probably having an unusually high metabolism in general?

With Michael Phelps it's tricky. There are actually three parts here. Part of his energy balance goes just to do the physical movements of swimming, part goes to increased heat production as he spends hours per day in a cold-water pool, and part is just high resting metabolism.

Eating consistently at a certain level without somehow tracking calorie intake seems exceptionally tricky

Depends on how your food is structured. But if you're counting calories already, you can just continue to do this, just don't have a fixed level in mind. E.g. last week you were eating, say, 1,700 cal/day and lost zero pounds, so this week reduce to 1,500. Don't pay attention to absolute numbers, all you need to know is whether to shift up or down.

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