by John Walker The Hacker’s Diet How to lose weight and hair through stress and poor nutrition JOHN WALKER Also by John Walker THE AUTODESK FILE c Copyright 1991–1993, John Walker All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. S ECOND (ELECTRONIC) EDITION This book was published in December of 1993. Typeset with L A T E X. Trademarks The following trademarks are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Autodesk, Inc.: Au- toCAD, Autodesk, AutoSketch, and AutoShade. The following are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc.: Autodesk Cyberspace and Cellular Automata Lab. The follow- ing are trademarks of John Walker: The Hacker’s Diet and Eat Watch. Third-Party Trademarks All brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective compa- nies. CONTENTS PREFACE 9 1 INTRODUCTION 11 About losing weight 11 About this book 12 About you 13 About me 14 About the computer tools 16 About pounds and inches 17 About time! 18 I Engineering 19 2 THE EAT WATCH 21 Food and feedback 23 Motivation and manipulation 24 Programmer, hack thyself 26 Problems: managing, fixing, and solving 28 What, me exercise? 32 2 CONTENTS 3 3 THE RUBBER BAG 34 What goes in 35 What you burn 36 What comes out 39 Inside the rubber bag 39 Seizing control 41 Input/Output 53 Food fads 56 Summary 60 4 FOOD AND FEEDBACK 62 Measure the quantity 62 Determine the goal 63 Apply negative feedback 65 Avoid positive feedback 69 Bang-bang vs. proportional control 73 Three possible outcomes 76 Three different people 76 Fun with feedback 87 5 SIGNAL AND NOISE 91 Wired science 92 Cause and effect 95 Dexter’s diet 96 Moving averages 103 The truth in the trend 114 Closing the circle 124 Exploring moving averages 126 6 WHAT, ME EXERCISE? 131 Living longer 132 Feeling better 134 The fitness ladder 135 Climbing the ladder 136 4 THE HACKER’S DIET Introductory ladder 137 Lifetime ladder 140 How much is enough? 145 Progress and motivation 146 Details 151 II Management 156 7 WEIGHT MONITORING 158 Getting started 158 Every day 161 Every month 165 Every year 174 8 PLANNING MEALS 176 Why plan meals? 177 Calorie targets 178 How many meals, and when? 179 A regular schedule 181 Choose the chow 182 Eat watch in action 192 Summary 204 9 LOSING WEIGHT 206 Closing the loop 206 Getting ready 212 The initial plunge 219 The long haul 228 Late night, hungry, and alone 239 Success and stability 249 CONTENTS 5 10 PERFECT WEIGHT FOREVER 256 Regaining: the problem and the cause 257 Causes for confidence 258 Feedback forever 260 Proportional feedbag 275 Evading evangelism 277 The dream 278 III Details 280 11 PENCIL AND PAPER 282 Calculating daily trend 282 Calculating weight loss rate 284 Calculating calorie deficit 285 Making weight charts 285 Forecasting weight loss 286 Forecasting life extension 287 Calculating feedback models 289 Calculating moving averages 290 12 UNITS AND CONVERSION FACTORS 296 Units of Volume (Fluid Measure) 296 Units of Energy (Food value) 297 Units of Length 298 Units of Weight (Avoirdupois) 298 Units of Dry Volume 298 Abbreviations 299 The Weight of Water 300 13 CALORIES IN VARIOUS FOODS 301 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 332 6 THE HACKER’S DIET INDEX 333 LIST OF TABLES Daily calorie requirements, men 36 Daily calorie requirements, women 37 Calories consumed by exercise 131 Exercise ladder, introductory 138 Exercise ladder, lifetime 141 Weight log sheet, blank 162 Weight goals, typical men 254 Weight goals, typical women 255 Units of fluid volume 296 Units of energy 297 Units of length 298 Units of weight 298 Units of dry volume 298 Abbreviations 299 Weight of water 300 Calorie content of foods 301 7 8 THE HACKER’S DIET [...]... computer-based tools to help me understand, monitor, and control the process Collecting the data, analysing it with a computer, then applying the insights I gained taught me more about losing and gaining weight, and how the body works in general than a lifetime of failed diets and a truckload of diet books This book not only explains what I’ve learned, it describes how to use the tools to understand how your... endeavour requires coming to terms with the true nature of the task at hand and, if the goal is worth the effort, getting on with it How can I lose weight? ” “Simple, eat less food than your body burns.” How can I learn to do that?” Read this book 11 12 THE HACKER’S DIET About this book This book is about How to It’s a how- to book, but not a cookbook Everybody’s different, and no one diet is right for... control involves the body at the simplest level; eat more and gain weight, eat less and lose it Yet the reasons we become overweight and the difficulties we have in losing weight often stem from the subtleties of psychology rather than the mechanics of mitochondria To control your weight, you need only eat the right amount To eat the right amount, not just this month or next month, but for the rest of your... of the problem, they couldn’t do it all Had they sought to eliminate operators entirely, they would never have found a workable system Instead, they automated what they could and relied on a wellmanaged organisation of human beings to handle the balance Indeed, the number of operators employed by the Bell System has grown steadily over the years, reach- 32 THE HACKER’S DIET ing 160,000 by 1970 But the. .. it harder—they have to rip it all out through stress Stress is an unavoidable consequence of living in our fast-paced, high-tech culture, yet few of us are willing to sacrifice its stimulation and excitement to recapture the placid and serene life of simpler times Stress is a primary cause of overeating and weight gain You’ll learn how to break the cycle of stress- induced eating and how to actually... need, the will to use them, and the experience to know they work The tools are now in your hands Live long and prosper John Walker Sausalito, California January, 1991 1 INTRODUCTION About losing weight There’s an old Wall Street tale: a tyro asks an oldtimer, How do you make money in the market.” The wise man answers, “Nothing could be simpler: buy low, sell high.” The beginner asks, How can I learn to. .. help you find a diet plan that works for you lose weight Lose weight rapidly, and keep it off permanently Losing weight isn’t pleasant, and it’s far better to get it over with quickly, and never have to do it again and hair Just kidding Actually, it seems to me the life of a middle aged male is a race between hair falling out of its own accord and getting ripped out over stress and irritation... each revealing another aspect of the problem that requires yet another fix Neither realises, in their absorption in doing what they love, that the problem is still there and continues to cause difficulties The development of the U.S telephone network in the twentieth century provides an excellent example of how management and engineering can, together, solve problems In the year 1900 there were about... works The tools are all spreadsheets based on Microsoft Excel Please refer to the README.DOC file which accompanies the tools for information about the hardware and software they require In addition to the spreadsheets that let you plan, track, and chart your weight loss, many of the tables in this book are also supplied as Excel files so you can experiment with them and incorporate them into other health... this is that the art of the manager is coming to terms with whatever situations develop in the course of running a business and choosing the course of action that makes the best of each THE EAT WATCH 29 The world of the manager is one of problems and opportunities Problems are to be managed; one must understand the nature of the problem, amass resources adequate to deal with it, and “work the problem” . by John Walker The Hacker’s Diet How to lose weight and hair through stress and poor nutrition JOHN WALKER Also by John Walker THE AUTODESK FILE c Copyright. learn how to break the cycle of stress- induced eating and how to actually turn stress into an ally in achieving your ideal weight. . and poor nutrition. 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