If one's calorie needs go down, one can reduce consumption, correct? Similarly, "increased appetite" is simply a desire to eat more - additionally, it's a signal that your mind can correctly dismiss once you know it's phony. Another choice is to do what people in 1989 did - not consume those pills.

I'm aware you don't like me. I make no effort to signal loyalty to the American "blue tribe" (c.f. Scott Alexander [1]). Further, I am willing to discuss inconvenient facts/questions and I oppose the fashionable anti-intellectualism that's pushing into the tech world. This angers people.

[1] http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything...

> additionally, it's a signal that your mind can correctly dismiss once you know it's phony.

I know it's a phony signal yet I haven't correctly dismissed it. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong.

What you are doing wrong is eating when you get that signal.

By all means suggest what strategy would work to not eat when I get that signal. Note that a strategy of "not eating" doesn't work. I tried it. When I get hungry, no matter how hard I try, pretty soon I'll eat something, unless I'm already in the middle of doing something which makes that impractical. My mind right now can decide it'll eat less or delay eating, in the future, but the mind later will disagree. I have on many occasions walked out the door telling myself to turn around and not drive to the 7-11 and not get a Coke, and maybe half the time I do so.

I don't think you really appreciate what it's like to be fat and hungry and how that affects the ability to make good long term eating habits. Blaming somebody for being fat when they eat when hungry seems to make as much sense to me as blaming a fat cat for eating all the food their owner gives them. Imagine living life following the rule that whenever you have to pee, you've got to wait 3 hours before peeing. It's something like that. If you want to recommend a successful strategy I recommend recommending one where you avoid the signal altogether. Suggesting that people try to directly ignore their primitive biological urges is simply ridiculous, that's like thinking you can hire somebody with poor conscientiousness but make up for it by telling them, "Be more conscientious!"

From what I've understood, the reason the low carb diet seems to work is it reduces the intensity of the hunger signal.

This is purely anecdotal and YMMV but I used to be ravenous by dinner time inspite of eating breakfast and a large lunch. Completely eliminating sugar from my diet helped a lot. Drinking green tea and other NON SUGARY liquids throughout the day also helps.

> If you want to view yourself as having no more agency than a cat or a separate person in order to deflect blame for your own choices, I can't stop you.

Agency is not separate from biology; Social pressure is also not agency.

I think you have delusions of free will despite it being philosophically and biologically nonsensical because to do otherwise would contradict other aspects of your ideology.