Me too, though it was more like 25 years. If someone asked me "who is your hero", I would answer John Walker. To be honest, I didn't know all that much about him beyond The Hacker's Diet, his own autobiography/Autodesk File, and the stuff on his web site circa 15-20 years ago. But the things I did know seemed admirable:
* He was an engineer's engineer, and when his company became successful, the impression I got was that he stayed one.
* The Hacker's Diet is a good example - approaching weight loss as a problem to be solved the same as any other: by learning what's known about it and using empiricism and data.
* As far as I can tell, at some point he decided he had achieved all the money he needed so he went off to Switzerland and became a sort of mad scientist, pursuing whatever interested him for the rest of his life. Including things like the hotbits random number generator, where he installed a radiation source in his basement and used it to serve random bits up via a public web API.
None of us are perfect, and it's best not to know too much about one's heroes, so I didn't. I looked up to the John Walker in my mind as the person I want to be when I grow up, and this sad news hits hard.
It's basic CICO, from having skimmed it. The problem is this type of diet has the greatest likelihood of failing. CICO is hard to maintain. Eventually willpower fails and gradual overeating begins, leading to surprisingly large and abrupt weight regain. Being persistently hungry all the time just sucks.
Some of the stuff is possibly wrong, like this
There's a lot of nonsense floating around regarding exercise and weight control. The only way to lose weight is to eat less than your body burns. Period. Exercising causes your body to burn more, but few people have the time or inclination to exercise enough to make a big difference. An hour of jogging is worth about one Cheese Whopper. Now, are you going to really spend an hour on the road every day just to burn off that extra burger?
There is scant to zero literature to suggest exercising raises metabolism. Recent research by Herman Pontzer shows the opposite, that calories burned with exercise are negated later through lowered BMR and NEAT. So if you do a 400-calorie run and then eat a 400 calorie cookie, you will still get a net 400 gain, or close to it.
Anyone else feel a little weird reading the section about exercise?
> You exercise because you'll live longer and you'll feel better.
It's a little depressing that despite a good diet and exercise, he had a slightly shorter than average lifespan. When I put in the effort to eat well and exercise, I know I certainly have the mindset that it will extend my life. I hope that at the least he felt strong and healthy.
masto|2 years ago
* He was an engineer's engineer, and when his company became successful, the impression I got was that he stayed one.
* The Hacker's Diet is a good example - approaching weight loss as a problem to be solved the same as any other: by learning what's known about it and using empiricism and data.
* As far as I can tell, at some point he decided he had achieved all the money he needed so he went off to Switzerland and became a sort of mad scientist, pursuing whatever interested him for the rest of his life. Including things like the hotbits random number generator, where he installed a radiation source in his basement and used it to serve random bits up via a public web API.
None of us are perfect, and it's best not to know too much about one's heroes, so I didn't. I looked up to the John Walker in my mind as the person I want to be when I grow up, and this sad news hits hard.
paulpauper|2 years ago
Some of the stuff is possibly wrong, like this
There's a lot of nonsense floating around regarding exercise and weight control. The only way to lose weight is to eat less than your body burns. Period. Exercising causes your body to burn more, but few people have the time or inclination to exercise enough to make a big difference. An hour of jogging is worth about one Cheese Whopper. Now, are you going to really spend an hour on the road every day just to burn off that extra burger?
There is scant to zero literature to suggest exercising raises metabolism. Recent research by Herman Pontzer shows the opposite, that calories burned with exercise are negated later through lowered BMR and NEAT. So if you do a 400-calorie run and then eat a 400 calorie cookie, you will still get a net 400 gain, or close to it.
btilly|2 years ago
I should do that again actually. Gained some weight during COVID.
38|2 years ago
hobabaObama|2 years ago
https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/introduction.html
fermentation|2 years ago
> You exercise because you'll live longer and you'll feel better.
It's a little depressing that despite a good diet and exercise, he had a slightly shorter than average lifespan. When I put in the effort to eat well and exercise, I know I certainly have the mindset that it will extend my life. I hope that at the least he felt strong and healthy.
AdeptusAquinas|2 years ago
paulpauper|2 years ago
snthpy|2 years ago