The Hacker's Diet

[Cron]

After building Autodesk into a Fortune 1000 company hacker John Walker decided to do something about his life long weight problem. Looking at fat loss as an engineering problem Walker went from 215 to 145 pounds within a year and he has kept all of the excess weight off since then. He has published his techniques in the free online book "The Hacker's Diet". He also has free tools based on his ideas rendered in microsoft Excel and in PalmOS programs at his site.

An interesting overview of The Hacker's Diet on wikipedia:
The Hacker's Diet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hacker's Diet web site:
The Hacker's Diet

If you are on linux and can't get the spreadsheets from The Hacker's Diet to work in Open Office you can use this free ( as in LOW CALORIE beer ) online tool based on The Hacker's Diet( same thing ):
Physics Diet

The site above also has a support forum.

Other, related sites that you might find useful:

Digg - Jeremy Zawodny Loses 50 lbs Using Hackers Diet

Digg - The Hacker's Diet

[C33]

This Hacker s diet is great info! It makes perfect sense.

You need to be in love with numbers, which I am not, but it was interesting to push my boundaries forward and be curious about the mathematical aspect of the process.

Cron, have you done the physical exercises? I am just curious to see if they make a big difference. I really don t like exercise at all, and have the body to prove it , yet 15 minutes a day is something I could definitely live with.

[Cron]

I've been doing my own exercise routine.
I only learned about The Hacker's Diet a few weeks ago ( here ).

Don't let the math drive you away. The spreadsheets do all the work.

Now that I have read and understood the book I only spend about 5 minutes a day recording my weight and calories.

[Lauxa]

True hacker diet stories:

There was this one guy at the software development company where I worked that was as big as a house. Then I didn't see him for a few months and the next time I did he was thin and trim. Turned out he just fasted until he lost all the weight. He was still thin a year later when I left the company, too.

My (hacker) cousin lost all his excess weight that he'd had since childhood by just eating once a day for several months. He was living with me at the time and it was amazing to see the transformation. He's kept that weight off for about 5 years now.

[Cron]

Those stories are rare. Most people who starve the weight off of them with very low calorie diets usually gain it and more back. Good for them.

OTOH, people who lose only about 1 lb a week ( or 2 for large people ) tend to keep it off longer and tend to keep more of their muscle mass as they lose weight. In other words they have better metabolisms, stronger bodies, less flabby bodies, and are shaplier when they arrive at their target weight.

Your acquaintances are uncommon people.

I googled around on "the hackers diet" to find a linux substitute for the spread sheets.

I was amazed at how many hardcore geeks have used this book.

I think armed with this knowledge being a computer buff might actually help with weight control as that kind of work can keep you distracted for long stretches of time. A lot of people are fat because they eat when they are bored, not because they are hungry.

[Donkey]

After reading, I cut my calories way down. I did drop the weight but the weight loss stalled out. I think me metabolism slowed down. The benefit of eating several small meals is that it keep your metabolism going.

[escapee]

For those who are struggling with weight control, try the low grain/sugar diet + that hacker diet tool

[Cron]

Originally Posted by escapee

For those who are struggling with weight control, try the low grain/sugar diet + that hacker diet tool

I wouldn't. Yes, go ahead reduce sugar, other sweeters and sweets. They are just concentrated empty calories.

However, everything science knows about nutrition says that whole grains are good for you and actually aide in weight control.

That is what I like about The Hackers Diet.....it is low BS. It is just good old fashioned calorie counting with much MUCH better tools.

It seems like there is always a popular diet that is full of it. No basis in science and always some magic trick. "Just avoid this food and eat whatever you want".

Carbohydrates: Nutrition Source, Harvard School of Public Health

[escapee]

You wouldnt believe how effective is low grain/sugar on weight control until you try it yourself . There are many versions of low grain/carbohydrate diet but the one that i truly recommend is Mercola's recommendation of having high quality complex carbohydrate (generous amount of vegetables + low glycemix fruits) + organic animal products . BTW, Low grain/sugar diet is also an effective way to reduce Triglycerides, another important factor for CVD.

This belief turned out not to be true. According to the recent evidence, the most important dietary predictor of triglycerides appears to be carbohydrates, namely,

sugars
starches and
refined (processed) grains.

In other words, what leads to increase in blood triglycerides are mainly diets high in carbohydrates, especially sugar (American Association for Clinical Chemistry).

Plz be noted that Mercola low grain plan is not equal to Atkin low carb diet.

Mercola's criticism on Atkin diet/ south beach

[escapee]

I believe the intake of refined sugar should be limited or eliminated regardless of what diet you are on .

Sugar is not just empty calories !

Danger Sugar Poisonous Warning -Yoga online nutrition section

Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.1,2

Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium. 3,4,5,6

Sugar can cause can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.7,8

Sugar can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.9,10,11,12

Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.13

Sugar feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.14,15,16,17,18,19,20

Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose and can cause reactive hypoglycemia.21,22

Sugar can weaken eyesight.23

Sugar can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption in patients with functional bowel disease, increased risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.24,25,26,27,28

Sugar can cause premature aging.29

Sugar can lead to alcoholism.30

Sugar can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay, and periodontal disease.31,32,33

Sugar contributes to obesity.34

Sugar can cause autoimmune diseases such as: arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis.35,36,37

Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)38

Sugar can cause gallstones.39

Sugar can cause appendicitis.40

Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.41

Sugar can cause varicose veins.42

Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.43

and more ..

[Cron]

Ya sugar sucks. A little will not hurt you, but most people eat tons of sugar or some other sweetener. Mercola is a quack.

[escapee]

but most people eat tons of sugar or some other sweetener.

Yea, This is a worldwide problem, I had been dumping sugar / sugary product into my body for like 28+ years without knowing that it's one of major contributing factors to my gum and weight problem (slightly overweight). As soon as i verified how bad sugar is, i knew i had another powerful arsenal to kill the problems.

Mercola is a quack.

If i'm the major share holders/directors/workers of sugar & artificial sweetener/ soda / snack /dougnuts/refined grain/big pharma firms. You know what i would call him by picking the problem on his e-shop ?

[Cron]

Escapee. If George Bush says the sky is blue and I agree with him, that doesn't make me a republican.

The food industry is not worried about self proclaimed web mavens and quacks like Mercola. They are woried about nutrition information coming out from the scientific establishment.

[escapee]

Whether he is regarded as quack or not, his insight on nutrition would continue to benefit many.

The food industry is not worried about self proclaimed web mavens and quacks like Mercola.

They better be, never understimate the power of internet.

[StarFish]

What about natural sugers that are found in fruits and veggies?

[escapee]

Free McDougall Program: Fruits and vegetables

Even a vegetarian expert such as Dr Mcdougall does not encourage the unlimited consumption of fruits ( especially carrots and watermelon ).

Green and yellow vegetables are too low in calories to serve as the center of your meals, but can be added without restriction to your meals, particularly if you wish to lose more weight, faster. In general fruits should be limited to 3 servings a day. They are tasty, high in simple sugars and easy to over consume. The sugar in fruit is fructose, which causes triglycerides and cholesterol to rise too high in sensitive people. People with these concerns should limit fruits even more.

I suppose "sensitive people" refers to those who are diabetic or pre-diabetic