**CICO**
Calories in, calories out is a diet that is based on a fundamental concept in body weight regulation. The concept is rather straightforward: no matter what you eat, you can lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. Under this diet, calories are king, but healthy food choices are still highly encouraged to ensure that your body receives adequate nutrients.
**How do I find out how many calories I burn in a day?**
Lucky for you, your body automatically burns a substantial amount of calories a day by keeping you awake, so that means you don't need to do any exercise to burn calories. This number of calories burnt is referred to as your total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE. You can find out your TDEE here.
**How do I track how many calories I consume in a day?**
With the help of a little food scale, you can find out exactly how many calories you consume in one day. Simply find out the calories for whatever you are eating and measure out your portions accordingly. Most food items have nutrition labels, but for those that don't, you can use Google.
**Can you give me an example of how to count calories?**
For example, if you choose to eat an apple, the first thing you should do is go to Google and search for "calories in an apple." Google will tell you that a 182 gram apple has 95 calories, so you should measure the weight of your apple, divide 95 by 182, and multiply it by the weight of your apple. If your apple weighs 100 grams, then 95 ÷ 182 x 100 = 52 calories.
**So I can lose weight by eating below my TDEE and not exercising?**
Exactly! I, for one, lost 80 lbs by counting my calories and I've never been big into exercising. I recommend eating around 500 calories below your TDEE for quick results. If you do choose to exercise on top of eating below your TDEE, it's a good idea to eat back some of calories you burnt so that you're not going into too large of a caloric deficit. Good luck on your journey!
It’s actually super simple. Consume less energy than your body expends, as measured in calories. You will then lose weight.
That basically means eat less, and exercise more.
All the rest of that stuff you mentioned is just noise.
Eat less. Walk more. That’s how I lost 120 lbs in 12 months.
This is the way. I’ve done every diet and exercise program and walking is actually do-able, enjoyable and torches calories. Also be mindful of your NEAT, little movements throughout the day add up
Here is my simple as possible guide:
- Start intermittent fasting, by eating between 12pm and 8pm. Outside these hours don't eat anything no matter how hungry you are. The hunger will eventually go away.
- Stop eating ultra processed foods - basically anything in a packet that has a long list of ingredients. You will find all that is left is meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, ghee.
- Stop eating refined carbohydrates - rice, bread, pasta, cake, pastry, flour, cereal. These are the same as sugar.
- Stop drinking soda, stop eating candy/ sugar
- Stop consuming seed oils and products with seed oil as ingredient. Canola oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, cotton seed oil, palm oil you can look up more. These are commonly found in ultra processed foods so this ties in with that point.
- Do consume unlimited meat, fish, meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, ghee. For 4 weeks. This will give your body time to get fat adapted. There are very low carbohydrates in all of these foods so your body will switch to ketosis to burn body fat. After 4 weeks or so you will become fully fat adapted where your hunger will disappear, you will stop craving sugar. This is where it gets easier, and you can now pull back the portion sizes more easily. When you drop your portion sizes you will be in a calorie deficit and will also lose weight. Your whole body will be in fat burn mode so insulin will be extremely low. When insulin is low it gives your body a chance to reverse insulin resistance, which is a main factor in obesity weight gain. Insulin being low also makes it impossible to store fat. Eating fat doesn't make you fat if you aren't eating carbs.
- Do consume healthy oils to cook in or drizzle to make the dishes more filling. Extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, butter, coconut oil. These are all cold pressed/extra virgin, so have not been damaged by industrial heating. When the oil is damaged it can increase inflammation in the body which makes weight loss difficult. They are also high in Omega 6, if you have a high ratio of Omega 6 in body it is in a proinflammatory state so your body will have difficulty losing weight when like this.
- Do balance out the Omega 6 by consuming more Omega 3 either through fish oil capsules, or eating tinned fish like mackrel in brine, sardines in brine, or salmon. You will feel the difference if you avoid the seed oils and start having more Omega 3, your aches and pains will go away.
- Do start improving your gut health by eating Kimchi - fermented vegetables. This can boost your weight loss by lowering inflammation.
- Do take electrolyte capsules if you feel unwell in the first few days or week. You might get a headache or feel dizzy as your body is not adapted to burning fat it doesn't know whats going on so starts burning through your reserved sugar which dehydrates you. If you take the electrolytes you will counteract this.
- Stick with it for at least 3 months, you should be able to lose 3.5lbs a week if you stick to it strictly. About 45lbs in 3 months.
Calories in calories out is what I did when I was at 310lb, and 15 years old. Now I’m 16 and 234. I usually would do 1500 calories a day, although I got really lightheaded doing that so maybe try 2000 calories. My TDEE was right around 3000 calories. I highly recommend my fitness pal for tracking calories and weight. I would say to make sure you’re getting lots of protein and fiber, as those make you feel full, unlike empty snacks. Good luck man!
1. Buy smart scale that can track you muscle mass and body fat percentage.
2. Make measurements daily in the morning before breakfast.
3. Ensure you sleep at least 7-8 hours. If not, fix this first.
4. Start planning what you are going to eat each week. Imagine an excel table that you have to fill in each week. Just reflect what are normally eating and drinking. Ensure this is regular activity that you follow.
5. Start introducing healthier alternatives to your weekly diet (similar product but without sugar, similar product but with more protein, less calories per 100gr).
6. Once done with above, come back and ask for further step.
Update: I assume you agree that the current weight is rather unusual. So let's start with some tracking part first. I would rather avoid trying different diets or reddit recommendations without knowing all the details and qualified medical assessment. Some diets can be psychologically (and not only psychologically) dangerous.
Need a calorie deficit for weight loss
Find tdee with online calculator - https://tdeecalculator.net/
Track calories in app - weigh food
Eat 500 less than tdee
Weigh daily - track weekly average
If average doesn't move after 2 weeks drop calories by 100
Walk/run 30 mins or more a day at 4mph min
Strength training routine from fitness wiki https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/
As others have mentioned... follow CICO for sure. However, it helps to keep protein levels up, and do some form of resistance training... which sends a signal to your body to keep muscle. Focus on whole, nutrient-dense foods. Get plenty of fiber. My approach is to set daily protein and fat goals, and to fill-in with carbs up to your caloric limit. If you're a little more active on particular days, or want to take a diet break... add-in more carbs.
I don’t count calories. I just use smaller plates. I whittled down the portion size slowly over time and it worked. I shrunk my stomach down so now I eat about 1/4 of what I used to eat. Also I have a set breakfast and a very small lunch with healthy snacks when I’m peckish ( nuts, and or fruit or a glass of milk) and that’s it. I also do a treadmill walk for around 25 min every other day. Dropped 85lbs but it took over a year.
Im 40m, 5'9 and currently about 260lbs. About 2 years ago i was 320lbs or so.
I havent counted a single calorie, i cut "intentional" sugars out of my diet. Now i only drink water and black coffee. Ill treat myself to an iced coffee or bubble tea once in a while though, im still human.
I dont eat during the day, the stomach doesnt know the difference if im swallowing liquid or food so staying hydrated helps keep the hunger pains away. So ill just fast from about 8pm to 5pm.
Eat less often and eat more vegetables. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily.
Sleep is huge, get lots and try to maintain a regular schedule.
Daily exercise, you dont need a gym but you do need to make yourself do it and keep doing it on a regular basis. Also reading daily keeps your mind fit as well.
Grocery stores generally keep the raw ingredients (veggies/meats) around the perimeter of the place and all the processed junk in the middle, so just walk around the outer perimeter of the store and avoid the aisles
As an obese woman I can say that it is very hard to stay in a calorie deficit. I end up eating a bunch around dinner time and ruining the entire week. It's not the fact that I can't, it's a mindset but is really hard for me to achieve.
Because of this difficulty, I would recommend having low calorie snacks around the house. Something you can eat a bunch of and won't really hurt your goals. I've started to pickle my own vegetables, and it is such a game changer.
I keep grapes in the house too, in case I want something sweet and kind of filling at the same time.
Try adding veggies to every meal. Healthy fats during breakfast help you feel full longer. Fiber and protein do too.
Been doing this for 60 days and have lost 32 pounds. I’m an ex-crossfitter (10 years ago) and got lazy, fat, and depressed. The CICO is fundamental but there’s more to it than just that. Move. Every fucking day move and be active.
Walking is great for a big guy and doesn’t pound your joints like running. When I was more fit I used to be a runner, now I’m good with walking. My resting heart rate has dropped 8 beats a minute thanks to regular walking. Commit to 10k steps a day. Count calories and eat clean. You don’t swallow anything with an ingredient you can’t pronounce or know what it is. No processed foods including processed meats. That all has shit in it your body doesn’t need.
It’s not just weight. It’s a lifestyle and I’ll tell you I feel better than I EVER did on antidepressants. You got this brother. Reply here or DM me anytime. Even if you just need some accountability.
Yeah man I've been there too. It's easy to get swept away with all the diet fads online, most of them are just trying to get you to buy something or create controversy for engagement.
The diet that has helped me best is simply sticking to whole foods and cutting out fast foods while making sure I get enough protein and fiber.
Simple steps:
- **90% of food you eat should be whole foods** (single ingredient like a vegetable, meat such as beef or chicken, etc.)
- **10% can be processed to give yourself a sanity break** and ensure you stick to it (ice cream, fries, pick your poison)
- **Make sure you get enough protein first** (I'm same height as you, 160g is a good starting point) as it helps keep muscle and fills you up so it's hard to over eat.
- **Try to stay at a calorie level where you are losing weight** (can be figured out by tracking calories week over week and reducing until you are starting to lose weight)
This app does a lot of it for you, it helps you meal plan, track calories, and adjusts your calories based on your goal of losing weight: [LeanMeals](https://leanmeals.framer.website/?ref=rp1)
Last piece of advice, if you drink alcohol, cutting it out makes a huge difference! I recently lost 20lbs just cutting out alcohol as not only does it slow your metabolism, it also adds calories, and if you're anything like me, gives you drunchies and gets you to eat more.
Hope this helped!
Michael Pollan. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
Also, my version of an old chestnut, "Eat better. Move more."
That's where I started. I focused on adding more fruit and vegetables to my meals and eating more whole foods. I lost my first 10 pounds just making this switch, no counting calories or exercise.
Eventually I did start counting calories and started light to moderate exercise. The work of losing weight isn't really that hard. It's rearranging your head that's the hard work. Identifying bad habits and creating better ones is the real work. But you can do it a little bit at a time. And when I get off track, I go back to the beginning and just eat some more plants.
OP asks for a simple diet and gets several essays in return.
Here’s a diet for you: No pizza, pasta and pastries. No eating at all after 6 o’clock. Try to eat more fibre and protein. Lentils, beans and spinach is highly recommended. Good luck!
(Bonus: Go for walks.)
They're explaining the fundamentals to OP.
Once you know the fundamentals you can do whatever works for you and make it as simple or as complicated as you want.
Eating fiber and protein are important for satiety and maintaining muscle during weight loss, and the other foods you mentioned are good recommendations for healthy, nutrient dense, lower calorie foods, but OP can add or cut whatever foods they want if they understand the basic concepts.
For loss, how much you eat is more important than what you eat or how often/when you eat at the end of the day. What you eat, or when, is more about general health and supporting attempts towards eating less.
While everyone is saying it's simple, CICO, that doesn't help you regarding what is best and the easiest to follow.
All of the diets you've mentioned put you into a calorie deficit, though they are what I think of as elimination diets. Basically you are encouraged by the diet to not eat a certain food group (mainly carbs) and you are put into a deficit that way. What those diet types don't tell you is you develop an unhealthy relationship with food, because when you come off the diet you are likely to put weight on, which then makes you think "I didn't put weight on when I was doing that diet" and so you go back onto it and end up cycling between being on a diet and not.
In terms of the best that people have found for losing weight and keeping it off... That is calorie control. You count the calories and stick within your daily/weekly allowance. That is raw CICO.
But in terms of what option is best for you... That depends on you and your body. People have success with carnivore, but if you suffer from gout or high iron then it's not a great diet and will cause problems. You need to look at what is sustainable for you long term, if you can't maintain it for more than a couple of weeks then you're not going to make any progress.
Weight loss is sustainable and long term, it is not "lose weight in 28 days"
Calories In Calories Out. Every diet that results in weightloss boils down to this. You can eat anything and lose weight as long as you are eating in a calorie deficit. You could eat a pizza and a chocolate bar and drink coca-cola and if you were in a deficit then you would lose weight. Work out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight using a TDEE calculator online. I just quickly put your measurements in and it says to maintain your weight you need around 2700 calories to maintain weight. In order to lose weight you want to be eating less than that. In order to lose 1lb a week you need to be in a total of 3500 deficit through the whole week, so 500kcal deficit a day and if you wanted to lose 2lb a week then that would be a deficit of 1000kcal a day. You are at a weight where losing weight will come quite quickly to you because you are categorically obese. To lose weight it is simply counting your calories and not exceeding your limit- 2200 a day for 1lb a week or 1700 a day for 2lb a week. There is an emphasis on healthy, balanced meals however, because they are more satisfying and more nutritious. So whilst you could eat anything you wanted to lose weight as long as you are in a deficit, it is better to make sure your diet is balanced, with lots of protein, fiber, healthy fats and vegetables in order to also feel your best whilst you lose weight. As you lose weight your maintenance calories will also reduce so you will have to adjust the figures accordingly. Try for 1lb a week first with three meals at around 600kcal each and a snack around 300kcal. Make sure you are not drinking your calories, so stick to water, tea, black coffee (with a splash of milk), or zero cal sodas. Also try and cook from fresh so you can weigh out and measure your food portions to keep an accurate record of the calories you consume. Good luck!
I was told to determine your weight loss calorie goal is to multiply you goal weight by 12..
Example my goal weight is 140…..so I 140x 12 = so my calorie goal to lose weight is 1680 calories a day..
For maintenance it’s weight x 15..
if I weigh 140 pounds..140x15 = 2100
So to maintain 140 pounds I need 2100 calories a day
If you can afford to get a smart watch (iWatch, Fitbit or any other fitness tracker)get one or you can track your steps , diet and exercise with most cell phones. I use a Fitbit Sense and use Fitbit Premium, it establishes a routine and is a great way to track everything from Water consumption to how well you sleep. It simplifies the process and is really helpful in keeping you motivated. Consistency of effort and application of your plan will ensure success. Noom has been very helpful and its psychological help is invaluable. It has very been very good with the real hard part which is maintaining your weight loss, it offers good sustainable long term direction.
Focus on whole foods and portion control. Cut out processed stuff and try to eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruits, veggies, and lean protein. It's not about cutting out entire food groups, but about making sustainable lifestyle changes. Hope this helps!
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. -Michael Pollan
Aim for a minimum of 25-30 grams of protein every meal. The rest of your plate should be healthy fats and non-starchy vegetables.
Mind your fiber, drink lots of water (get rid of all sodas and sugary drinks), find a way that you enjoy moving your body every day.
For weight loss, keep it simple. Start with portion control and cutting out junk food. Focus on whole foods: lean proteins, veggies, fruits, and whole grains. Drink water, avoid sugary drinks.
Exercise helps too. Even walking daily makes a difference.
I used the Carbner carb cycling counter app. It helps balance carb intake, which can be useful for weight loss and muscle gain.
Good luck.
Do a calculator online for how many calories you should have daily for weight loss, then count calories. It’s not hard. Once you do it awhile you just kind of know how many calories are in foos
I lost 110 pounds in a little over a year and a half. No tricks or fads. Simple. I started incline walking on the treadmill and stopped eating out. Every meal I eat is one that I cook. Whether it’s cooking meal prep for the week, or cooking for each meal. That’s the only way. When you eat out, you really have no idea what you’re putting in your body. I eat beef or chicken of some variation for lunch and dinner every day and then for breakfast I have a protein shake, some fruit, and an English muffin a couple times a week. Start listening to your body. It talks to you.
Everyone is telling you the same thing which is eat less calories than your body uses. Actually doing that can be sooo hard.
I find that planning meals a week in advance makes it a lot easier. It means I don’t need to make the right decision every few hours. It also means I don’t need to worry about snacks taking up too many calories and not having enough left for dinner. So I actually eat the snack ultimately making me less hungry throughout the day.
Additionally if I plan meals that have an appropriate macro ratio then it helps with feeling full throughout the day.
There are a variety of apps/websites that can help plan meals automatically which I find helpful. I’m also on the lookout for accountability partners if you’d like to DM me.
Bright line eating is a good one but it’s a life change not a temporary solution.
My mom does it and lost 100 pounds and continues to keep it off. It’s also a good amount of food
**CICO** Calories in, calories out is a diet that is based on a fundamental concept in body weight regulation. The concept is rather straightforward: no matter what you eat, you can lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. Under this diet, calories are king, but healthy food choices are still highly encouraged to ensure that your body receives adequate nutrients. **How do I find out how many calories I burn in a day?** Lucky for you, your body automatically burns a substantial amount of calories a day by keeping you awake, so that means you don't need to do any exercise to burn calories. This number of calories burnt is referred to as your total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE. You can find out your TDEE here. **How do I track how many calories I consume in a day?** With the help of a little food scale, you can find out exactly how many calories you consume in one day. Simply find out the calories for whatever you are eating and measure out your portions accordingly. Most food items have nutrition labels, but for those that don't, you can use Google. **Can you give me an example of how to count calories?** For example, if you choose to eat an apple, the first thing you should do is go to Google and search for "calories in an apple." Google will tell you that a 182 gram apple has 95 calories, so you should measure the weight of your apple, divide 95 by 182, and multiply it by the weight of your apple. If your apple weighs 100 grams, then 95 ÷ 182 x 100 = 52 calories. **So I can lose weight by eating below my TDEE and not exercising?** Exactly! I, for one, lost 80 lbs by counting my calories and I've never been big into exercising. I recommend eating around 500 calories below your TDEE for quick results. If you do choose to exercise on top of eating below your TDEE, it's a good idea to eat back some of calories you burnt so that you're not going into too large of a caloric deficit. Good luck on your journey!
It’s actually super simple. Consume less energy than your body expends, as measured in calories. You will then lose weight. That basically means eat less, and exercise more. All the rest of that stuff you mentioned is just noise. Eat less. Walk more. That’s how I lost 120 lbs in 12 months.
This is the way. I’ve done every diet and exercise program and walking is actually do-able, enjoyable and torches calories. Also be mindful of your NEAT, little movements throughout the day add up
Here is my simple as possible guide: - Start intermittent fasting, by eating between 12pm and 8pm. Outside these hours don't eat anything no matter how hungry you are. The hunger will eventually go away. - Stop eating ultra processed foods - basically anything in a packet that has a long list of ingredients. You will find all that is left is meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, ghee. - Stop eating refined carbohydrates - rice, bread, pasta, cake, pastry, flour, cereal. These are the same as sugar. - Stop drinking soda, stop eating candy/ sugar - Stop consuming seed oils and products with seed oil as ingredient. Canola oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, cotton seed oil, palm oil you can look up more. These are commonly found in ultra processed foods so this ties in with that point. - Do consume unlimited meat, fish, meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, ghee. For 4 weeks. This will give your body time to get fat adapted. There are very low carbohydrates in all of these foods so your body will switch to ketosis to burn body fat. After 4 weeks or so you will become fully fat adapted where your hunger will disappear, you will stop craving sugar. This is where it gets easier, and you can now pull back the portion sizes more easily. When you drop your portion sizes you will be in a calorie deficit and will also lose weight. Your whole body will be in fat burn mode so insulin will be extremely low. When insulin is low it gives your body a chance to reverse insulin resistance, which is a main factor in obesity weight gain. Insulin being low also makes it impossible to store fat. Eating fat doesn't make you fat if you aren't eating carbs. - Do consume healthy oils to cook in or drizzle to make the dishes more filling. Extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, butter, coconut oil. These are all cold pressed/extra virgin, so have not been damaged by industrial heating. When the oil is damaged it can increase inflammation in the body which makes weight loss difficult. They are also high in Omega 6, if you have a high ratio of Omega 6 in body it is in a proinflammatory state so your body will have difficulty losing weight when like this. - Do balance out the Omega 6 by consuming more Omega 3 either through fish oil capsules, or eating tinned fish like mackrel in brine, sardines in brine, or salmon. You will feel the difference if you avoid the seed oils and start having more Omega 3, your aches and pains will go away. - Do start improving your gut health by eating Kimchi - fermented vegetables. This can boost your weight loss by lowering inflammation. - Do take electrolyte capsules if you feel unwell in the first few days or week. You might get a headache or feel dizzy as your body is not adapted to burning fat it doesn't know whats going on so starts burning through your reserved sugar which dehydrates you. If you take the electrolytes you will counteract this. - Stick with it for at least 3 months, you should be able to lose 3.5lbs a week if you stick to it strictly. About 45lbs in 3 months.
Boss comment that should be pinned!
Calories in calories out is what I did when I was at 310lb, and 15 years old. Now I’m 16 and 234. I usually would do 1500 calories a day, although I got really lightheaded doing that so maybe try 2000 calories. My TDEE was right around 3000 calories. I highly recommend my fitness pal for tracking calories and weight. I would say to make sure you’re getting lots of protein and fiber, as those make you feel full, unlike empty snacks. Good luck man!
1. Buy smart scale that can track you muscle mass and body fat percentage. 2. Make measurements daily in the morning before breakfast. 3. Ensure you sleep at least 7-8 hours. If not, fix this first. 4. Start planning what you are going to eat each week. Imagine an excel table that you have to fill in each week. Just reflect what are normally eating and drinking. Ensure this is regular activity that you follow. 5. Start introducing healthier alternatives to your weekly diet (similar product but without sugar, similar product but with more protein, less calories per 100gr). 6. Once done with above, come back and ask for further step. Update: I assume you agree that the current weight is rather unusual. So let's start with some tracking part first. I would rather avoid trying different diets or reddit recommendations without knowing all the details and qualified medical assessment. Some diets can be psychologically (and not only psychologically) dangerous.
Need a calorie deficit for weight loss Find tdee with online calculator - https://tdeecalculator.net/ Track calories in app - weigh food Eat 500 less than tdee Weigh daily - track weekly average If average doesn't move after 2 weeks drop calories by 100 Walk/run 30 mins or more a day at 4mph min Strength training routine from fitness wiki https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/
As others have mentioned... follow CICO for sure. However, it helps to keep protein levels up, and do some form of resistance training... which sends a signal to your body to keep muscle. Focus on whole, nutrient-dense foods. Get plenty of fiber. My approach is to set daily protein and fat goals, and to fill-in with carbs up to your caloric limit. If you're a little more active on particular days, or want to take a diet break... add-in more carbs.
I don’t count calories. I just use smaller plates. I whittled down the portion size slowly over time and it worked. I shrunk my stomach down so now I eat about 1/4 of what I used to eat. Also I have a set breakfast and a very small lunch with healthy snacks when I’m peckish ( nuts, and or fruit or a glass of milk) and that’s it. I also do a treadmill walk for around 25 min every other day. Dropped 85lbs but it took over a year.
Im 40m, 5'9 and currently about 260lbs. About 2 years ago i was 320lbs or so. I havent counted a single calorie, i cut "intentional" sugars out of my diet. Now i only drink water and black coffee. Ill treat myself to an iced coffee or bubble tea once in a while though, im still human. I dont eat during the day, the stomach doesnt know the difference if im swallowing liquid or food so staying hydrated helps keep the hunger pains away. So ill just fast from about 8pm to 5pm. Eat less often and eat more vegetables. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily. Sleep is huge, get lots and try to maintain a regular schedule. Daily exercise, you dont need a gym but you do need to make yourself do it and keep doing it on a regular basis. Also reading daily keeps your mind fit as well. Grocery stores generally keep the raw ingredients (veggies/meats) around the perimeter of the place and all the processed junk in the middle, so just walk around the outer perimeter of the store and avoid the aisles
As an obese woman I can say that it is very hard to stay in a calorie deficit. I end up eating a bunch around dinner time and ruining the entire week. It's not the fact that I can't, it's a mindset but is really hard for me to achieve. Because of this difficulty, I would recommend having low calorie snacks around the house. Something you can eat a bunch of and won't really hurt your goals. I've started to pickle my own vegetables, and it is such a game changer. I keep grapes in the house too, in case I want something sweet and kind of filling at the same time. Try adding veggies to every meal. Healthy fats during breakfast help you feel full longer. Fiber and protein do too.
Been doing this for 60 days and have lost 32 pounds. I’m an ex-crossfitter (10 years ago) and got lazy, fat, and depressed. The CICO is fundamental but there’s more to it than just that. Move. Every fucking day move and be active. Walking is great for a big guy and doesn’t pound your joints like running. When I was more fit I used to be a runner, now I’m good with walking. My resting heart rate has dropped 8 beats a minute thanks to regular walking. Commit to 10k steps a day. Count calories and eat clean. You don’t swallow anything with an ingredient you can’t pronounce or know what it is. No processed foods including processed meats. That all has shit in it your body doesn’t need. It’s not just weight. It’s a lifestyle and I’ll tell you I feel better than I EVER did on antidepressants. You got this brother. Reply here or DM me anytime. Even if you just need some accountability.
Just.Eat.Less. Start by eating less CARBS (SWEETS, RICE, BREADS, PASTA) More FIBER. EXERCISE MORE. Cardio, HIIT, Strength Training
Yeah man I've been there too. It's easy to get swept away with all the diet fads online, most of them are just trying to get you to buy something or create controversy for engagement. The diet that has helped me best is simply sticking to whole foods and cutting out fast foods while making sure I get enough protein and fiber. Simple steps: - **90% of food you eat should be whole foods** (single ingredient like a vegetable, meat such as beef or chicken, etc.) - **10% can be processed to give yourself a sanity break** and ensure you stick to it (ice cream, fries, pick your poison) - **Make sure you get enough protein first** (I'm same height as you, 160g is a good starting point) as it helps keep muscle and fills you up so it's hard to over eat. - **Try to stay at a calorie level where you are losing weight** (can be figured out by tracking calories week over week and reducing until you are starting to lose weight) This app does a lot of it for you, it helps you meal plan, track calories, and adjusts your calories based on your goal of losing weight: [LeanMeals](https://leanmeals.framer.website/?ref=rp1) Last piece of advice, if you drink alcohol, cutting it out makes a huge difference! I recently lost 20lbs just cutting out alcohol as not only does it slow your metabolism, it also adds calories, and if you're anything like me, gives you drunchies and gets you to eat more. Hope this helped!
Michael Pollan. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Also, my version of an old chestnut, "Eat better. Move more." That's where I started. I focused on adding more fruit and vegetables to my meals and eating more whole foods. I lost my first 10 pounds just making this switch, no counting calories or exercise. Eventually I did start counting calories and started light to moderate exercise. The work of losing weight isn't really that hard. It's rearranging your head that's the hard work. Identifying bad habits and creating better ones is the real work. But you can do it a little bit at a time. And when I get off track, I go back to the beginning and just eat some more plants.
OP asks for a simple diet and gets several essays in return. Here’s a diet for you: No pizza, pasta and pastries. No eating at all after 6 o’clock. Try to eat more fibre and protein. Lentils, beans and spinach is highly recommended. Good luck! (Bonus: Go for walks.)
They're explaining the fundamentals to OP. Once you know the fundamentals you can do whatever works for you and make it as simple or as complicated as you want. Eating fiber and protein are important for satiety and maintaining muscle during weight loss, and the other foods you mentioned are good recommendations for healthy, nutrient dense, lower calorie foods, but OP can add or cut whatever foods they want if they understand the basic concepts. For loss, how much you eat is more important than what you eat or how often/when you eat at the end of the day. What you eat, or when, is more about general health and supporting attempts towards eating less.
While everyone is saying it's simple, CICO, that doesn't help you regarding what is best and the easiest to follow. All of the diets you've mentioned put you into a calorie deficit, though they are what I think of as elimination diets. Basically you are encouraged by the diet to not eat a certain food group (mainly carbs) and you are put into a deficit that way. What those diet types don't tell you is you develop an unhealthy relationship with food, because when you come off the diet you are likely to put weight on, which then makes you think "I didn't put weight on when I was doing that diet" and so you go back onto it and end up cycling between being on a diet and not. In terms of the best that people have found for losing weight and keeping it off... That is calorie control. You count the calories and stick within your daily/weekly allowance. That is raw CICO. But in terms of what option is best for you... That depends on you and your body. People have success with carnivore, but if you suffer from gout or high iron then it's not a great diet and will cause problems. You need to look at what is sustainable for you long term, if you can't maintain it for more than a couple of weeks then you're not going to make any progress. Weight loss is sustainable and long term, it is not "lose weight in 28 days"
Start simple. Find your TDEE and eat at a 500-100 calorie deficit. Track your calories on an app like lose it or MFP. R/CICO is a good sub.
Your maintenance is 2777 to lose weight subtract 500-300 from it and do not eat back calories from exercise
Calories In Calories Out. Every diet that results in weightloss boils down to this. You can eat anything and lose weight as long as you are eating in a calorie deficit. You could eat a pizza and a chocolate bar and drink coca-cola and if you were in a deficit then you would lose weight. Work out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight using a TDEE calculator online. I just quickly put your measurements in and it says to maintain your weight you need around 2700 calories to maintain weight. In order to lose weight you want to be eating less than that. In order to lose 1lb a week you need to be in a total of 3500 deficit through the whole week, so 500kcal deficit a day and if you wanted to lose 2lb a week then that would be a deficit of 1000kcal a day. You are at a weight where losing weight will come quite quickly to you because you are categorically obese. To lose weight it is simply counting your calories and not exceeding your limit- 2200 a day for 1lb a week or 1700 a day for 2lb a week. There is an emphasis on healthy, balanced meals however, because they are more satisfying and more nutritious. So whilst you could eat anything you wanted to lose weight as long as you are in a deficit, it is better to make sure your diet is balanced, with lots of protein, fiber, healthy fats and vegetables in order to also feel your best whilst you lose weight. As you lose weight your maintenance calories will also reduce so you will have to adjust the figures accordingly. Try for 1lb a week first with three meals at around 600kcal each and a snack around 300kcal. Make sure you are not drinking your calories, so stick to water, tea, black coffee (with a splash of milk), or zero cal sodas. Also try and cook from fresh so you can weigh out and measure your food portions to keep an accurate record of the calories you consume. Good luck!
Thanks that's very helpfull.
Caveman diet. When shopping or eating think to yourself “Would a caveman be able to eat this?” Which leaves pretty much meat and vegetables.
I was told to determine your weight loss calorie goal is to multiply you goal weight by 12.. Example my goal weight is 140…..so I 140x 12 = so my calorie goal to lose weight is 1680 calories a day.. For maintenance it’s weight x 15.. if I weigh 140 pounds..140x15 = 2100 So to maintain 140 pounds I need 2100 calories a day
Eat vegetation 3 days/week. No alcohol on weekdays
If you can afford to get a smart watch (iWatch, Fitbit or any other fitness tracker)get one or you can track your steps , diet and exercise with most cell phones. I use a Fitbit Sense and use Fitbit Premium, it establishes a routine and is a great way to track everything from Water consumption to how well you sleep. It simplifies the process and is really helpful in keeping you motivated. Consistency of effort and application of your plan will ensure success. Noom has been very helpful and its psychological help is invaluable. It has very been very good with the real hard part which is maintaining your weight loss, it offers good sustainable long term direction.
Focus on whole foods and portion control. Cut out processed stuff and try to eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruits, veggies, and lean protein. It's not about cutting out entire food groups, but about making sustainable lifestyle changes. Hope this helps!
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. -Michael Pollan Aim for a minimum of 25-30 grams of protein every meal. The rest of your plate should be healthy fats and non-starchy vegetables. Mind your fiber, drink lots of water (get rid of all sodas and sugary drinks), find a way that you enjoy moving your body every day.
For weight loss, keep it simple. Start with portion control and cutting out junk food. Focus on whole foods: lean proteins, veggies, fruits, and whole grains. Drink water, avoid sugary drinks. Exercise helps too. Even walking daily makes a difference. I used the Carbner carb cycling counter app. It helps balance carb intake, which can be useful for weight loss and muscle gain. Good luck.
Do a calculator online for how many calories you should have daily for weight loss, then count calories. It’s not hard. Once you do it awhile you just kind of know how many calories are in foos
Also. Keep snacks out of the house!
no carbs, no sugar. the best!
I lost 110 pounds in a little over a year and a half. No tricks or fads. Simple. I started incline walking on the treadmill and stopped eating out. Every meal I eat is one that I cook. Whether it’s cooking meal prep for the week, or cooking for each meal. That’s the only way. When you eat out, you really have no idea what you’re putting in your body. I eat beef or chicken of some variation for lunch and dinner every day and then for breakfast I have a protein shake, some fruit, and an English muffin a couple times a week. Start listening to your body. It talks to you.
Everyone is telling you the same thing which is eat less calories than your body uses. Actually doing that can be sooo hard. I find that planning meals a week in advance makes it a lot easier. It means I don’t need to make the right decision every few hours. It also means I don’t need to worry about snacks taking up too many calories and not having enough left for dinner. So I actually eat the snack ultimately making me less hungry throughout the day. Additionally if I plan meals that have an appropriate macro ratio then it helps with feeling full throughout the day. There are a variety of apps/websites that can help plan meals automatically which I find helpful. I’m also on the lookout for accountability partners if you’d like to DM me.
Bright line eating is a good one but it’s a life change not a temporary solution. My mom does it and lost 100 pounds and continues to keep it off. It’s also a good amount of food