TEDx Talks
6 HN recommenders · recommended in 7 months, 2017–2024
21:26 · 13M views · Oct 11, 2013
Ruben Meerman presents a TEDx talk on the stoichiometry of weight loss, showing with lab demonstrations where fat goes when it is lost. He argues that most of it is exhaled as carbon dioxide.
HN regularly shares it in weight loss threads as a clear, precise explanation of the physics of weight loss.
10 comments from Hacker News
There is a nice Ted talk about the same topic. Something I often link to people saying "I can eat everything I want in this diet..." The mathematics of weight loss | Ruben Meerman | TEDxQUT: this video My personal weight-loss (and now sports) is largely based on understanding how the human body works with metabolism.. carbs, fat, protein.. nice and geeky
Your description above is not how the body works. To support a mass M must require a quantity of energy E obtained from food. The attempt to alter this model with “loose” ideas about “burn rates” therefore does not make sense. The mathematics of weight loss is laid out clearly in 20 minutes here: this video
Fat stores are considered, metabolically, as stored energy as they expand and diminish based on the metabolizable energy of the diet, which may be different from the measured total energy. But you’re definitely right! There’s a great Mr. Wizard-style TEDx video about it: this video
Whenever I have a discussion about weight loss, I like to share this TEDx video: this video Just because I think it is quite interesting, not trying to make a point or anything :-).
For the science geeks, here's a great TEDx demonstration with lab experiments: "The mathematics of weight loss " this video