The '5kg in 50 days' Diet!
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN cites it in arguments that exercise alone is an ineffective way to lose weight and that caloric deficit matters most.
What it is
Thunderf00t applies a simple energy mass balance to weight loss, showing how much exercise is needed to burn off extra calories compared with eating less. He concludes that cutting intake is the easier route and that hunger fades after the first week.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2021 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Cites airhead969 · 2021-03 · on “Drinking strong coffee before exercising increases fat-burning, new study finds”
Caffeine is performance-enhancing, raises metabolism (temporarily), and suppresses hunger. Unfortunately, it's readily-apparent that you can never outrun your fork, so forget about "burning calories" through cardio. The goal of fitness to lose weight ought to be weightlifting to gain as much muscle mass as possible to raise one's BMR. Passive metabolism is about the only way to do it without enrolling in BUD/S. In general, gymrattery and endless treadmill running are wasted effort. [this video]
Cites hi-v-rocknroll · 2024-04 · on “Exercise, metabolism, and weight: New research from The Biggest Loser (2022)”
Just don't try to lose weight primarily through increasing activity. Activity is great for other reasons, but the human body is just too damn efficient and it would consume too much time. Caloric deficit is the best primary way. The '5kg in 50 days' Diet! (2017) [this video]
Cites hi-v-rocknroll · 2024-08 · on “Peloton to charge $95 activation fee for used bikes”
Yep, it's basically a distributed gym membership without the gym except for a single expiring, proprietary widget that lives on your property. It's largely ineffective to lose weight by exercising, and so much easier to reduce caloric intake. [this video]
Cites burnt-resistor · 2025-05 · on “Why walking is the most underrated form of exercise (2017)”
Dangerous, inefficient, and time-consuming compared to moderate exercise and eating less. Caloric restriction is, by far, more effective than exercise for net deficit. Thunderf00t did a video on this. [this video]