I’ve gained 50 pounds over the last 15 years. I’d like to get a sense of what it would be like to lose that weight. One way to do that is to wear a weighted vest all day long for a while, then gradually take off the weight in increments.
The simplest version of this experiment is to do a farmer’s carry with two 25 lb free weights. It makes a huge difference in the way it feels to move around, especially walking up and down the stairs.
However, I assume this feeling is due to a combination of factors:
The sense of self-consciousness that comes with doing something unusual
The physical bulk and encumbrance (i.e. the change in volume and inertia, having my hands occupied, pressure on my diaphragm if I were wearing a weighted vest, etc)
The ratio of how much muscle I have to how much weight I’m carrying
If I lost 50 pounds, that would likely come with strength training as well as dieting, so I might keep my current strength level while simultaneously being 50 pounds lighter. That’s an argument in favor of this “simulated weight loss” giving me an accurate impression of how it would feel to really lose that much weight.
On the other hand, there would be no sudden transition from weird artificial bulk to normalcy. It would be a gradual change. Putting on a weighted vest and wearing it around for, say, a month, would be socially awkward, and require the daily choice to put it on. I’d have to take it off to sleep, shower, etc. This would cause the difference in weight to be constantly brought to my attention, although that effect would diminish throughout the experiment as I gradually took weights off of the vest and got used to wearing it around.
One way to make it more realistic would be to gradually increase the weight to 50 lb, then gradually decrease it back to 0 lb. Another way to make it more realistic would be to add uncertainty. Instead of, say, changing the weight by 1 increment every day, I might flip a coin and change the weight by 1 increment only if I flip heads.
I’m interested to try this experiment. The weighted vest would be a useful piece of exercise gear on its own. The only way to really find out if the experiment actually matches the real feeling of losing 50 lb would be to lose the weight for real. If I did the experiment, then lost the weight, I’d actually be able to make a comparison. That would be impossible if I didn’t do the experiment. I also suspect the experiment would be motivating, and would also provide real exercise that would contribute to actual weight loss.
Overall, this experiment seems like it would have very few downsides and quite a few upsides, so I am excited to give it a try!
Weight Loss Simulation
I’ve gained 50 pounds over the last 15 years. I’d like to get a sense of what it would be like to lose that weight. One way to do that is to wear a weighted vest all day long for a while, then gradually take off the weight in increments.
The simplest version of this experiment is to do a farmer’s carry with two 25 lb free weights. It makes a huge difference in the way it feels to move around, especially walking up and down the stairs.
However, I assume this feeling is due to a combination of factors:
The sense of self-consciousness that comes with doing something unusual
The physical bulk and encumbrance (i.e. the change in volume and inertia, having my hands occupied, pressure on my diaphragm if I were wearing a weighted vest, etc)
The ratio of how much muscle I have to how much weight I’m carrying
If I lost 50 pounds, that would likely come with strength training as well as dieting, so I might keep my current strength level while simultaneously being 50 pounds lighter. That’s an argument in favor of this “simulated weight loss” giving me an accurate impression of how it would feel to really lose that much weight.
On the other hand, there would be no sudden transition from weird artificial bulk to normalcy. It would be a gradual change. Putting on a weighted vest and wearing it around for, say, a month, would be socially awkward, and require the daily choice to put it on. I’d have to take it off to sleep, shower, etc. This would cause the difference in weight to be constantly brought to my attention, although that effect would diminish throughout the experiment as I gradually took weights off of the vest and got used to wearing it around.
One way to make it more realistic would be to gradually increase the weight to 50 lb, then gradually decrease it back to 0 lb. Another way to make it more realistic would be to add uncertainty. Instead of, say, changing the weight by 1 increment every day, I might flip a coin and change the weight by 1 increment only if I flip heads.
I’m interested to try this experiment. The weighted vest would be a useful piece of exercise gear on its own. The only way to really find out if the experiment actually matches the real feeling of losing 50 lb would be to lose the weight for real. If I did the experiment, then lost the weight, I’d actually be able to make a comparison. That would be impossible if I didn’t do the experiment. I also suspect the experiment would be motivating, and would also provide real exercise that would contribute to actual weight loss.
Overall, this experiment seems like it would have very few downsides and quite a few upsides, so I am excited to give it a try!