Help with Diet and Weight Loss! Way too chunky!

[TheAnonOne]

Team,

Cutting right too it. I am pretty chunky right now, and honestly always have been but never to this level. I am looking for information on diets and not flashy ones, just good science. I really SUCK at diets. I can lift, and even maintain some light cardio with a plan, but my diet sucks.

I don't need to get into excuse land, but the pandemic really threw off my routine. Ordering in a lot, turning lazy, and maybe even some mental stress from a job I just left. I was around 235 but now I am pushing 260. 25 Pounds up. This is the first time I notice my actual quality of life being affected. I don't fit into my motorcycle gear as well, my pants are tight, I get more winded doing basic shit, ect. Yikes!


What I am good at...

Weight Lifting, I have decent routines and generally can lift fairly heavy. I usually rotate bi, tri, shoulder, back-squat, dead lifts, and a few others. I haven't been good about DOING it for the last 2-3 months, but this can change and I have no issues sticking to a decent plan of 3-4 times a week on this.



What I am not good at...

Diet. I get the jist of it, no sugar, limit carbs. Though, what does that actually look like? Do you follow macro's? I can cook pretty well, so I am looking for ideas. Tips. Tricks. Reading material... etc

I have lost weight on 2 occasions in my past, once going from 245 to 220. This was 7ish years ago, I managed to keep most of that off, sticking to about 230 for 4-5 years. 230 is still very fat.

The Plan...

I am around 260lbs, and 6ft tall. I need to get back to around 220. Outside of starting to lift again, with regularity, I plan on implementing some sort of intermittent fasting, cutting sugar and starting to cook daily. I still need to figure out WHAT I am cooking, and my calorie/ macro numbers.


The ultimate goal...

At the end of the day, 220 and i'll be pleased. I would love to hit 200, but one step at a time!



Any help is appreciated!

[DeniseNJ]

Diet is a matter of calories in vs. calories out.  Eat fewer calories than you use and you'll lose weight.  There is some fine tuning you could do but that's basically it. Determine how many calories you want to eat each day.  Split those up into 3 meals.  Eat those three meals.  The end.

It sometimes help to write down what you eat.  Like in a small notebook, write down what your lunch was and how many calories each thing was.

Here is the most important thing though. Being hungry is NOT an emergency.  It is normal to be hungry sometime during your day.  You aren't going to die. It's ok.  You will eat and savor your next meal.  Remember when your mom said not to ruin your appetite for dinner?  Now for some reason, everyone wants to snack all day and starts to panic in the afternoon when they start to feel hungry, thinking, oh no, what am I going to eat.  Answer:  Nothing!  You aren't going to die before your next meal.  When you feel hungry, tell yourself, it's ok, I'm not going to die, this is normal. After 3 days you'll be used to smaller meals. No snacking. No walking down the street eating a burrito. No waiting on line for the bus at Port Authority eating a bowl of mashed potatoes--yes, I saw this.

[sonofsven]

Prepare everything at home, either cooking or making lunch for work, and limit your processed food.
Step on the scale, every day.
My mom lost 25# this year on Noom or Neem or (?); it's basically counting calories but it's working for her where other diets haven't.

[Blackeagle]

Over the course of about 3-4 years I was successful in dropping over 100lbs; in the couple of years since then, I've managed to keep most of it off.  That said, take what I have to say with a grain of salt.  Weight loss seems to be a very individual thing and what works for one person may not be effective with someone else.

The number one thing I would tell you is not to think of this in terms of short-term deprivation.  With the amount of weight I had to loose, I knew it would be a long-term process.  Even after I'd lost the weight I knew that going back to my old habits would just lead me back to the same place.  So, at the start of the process I took the view that I was making permanent lifestyle changes.  I didn't try to do anything I couldn't sustain long-term.

For me, by far the biggest tool was a calorie counting app and setting a daily calorie limit.  To the extent that I changed what I was eating, it was because counting calories helped make me painfully aware of how many calories I was eating in the form of stuff that I didn't even get that much satisfaction out of (sugary drinks being the number one culprit).  "Enjoyment per calorie" became my number one priority in making eating decisions.  I cut out low-enjoyment stuff and kept eating high-enjoyment stuff (albeit in moderation).  I was able to loose all that weight while not giving up stuff like pizza and burgers.

One of the key tools in making this happen was planning meals ahead of time.  There's no better way to eat a bunch of calories without enjoying them than finding yourself without the time or ingredients to cook dinner and defaulting to junk food or takeout.

Hand in hand with calorie counting was weighing myself every day.  That said, I tried to mostly ignore the daily numbers.  One thing I figured out real quick was that normal day to day variation easily drowns out any weight loss.  What I weigh today doesn't matter.  My average weight over the past month compared to my average for the month before that is what really tells the story.

For me, changing my eating habits was the key, but exercise did play a supporting role.  I got an Apple Watch, set an activity goal, and worked out to hit that every day.  Mostly by just going for a walk and doing a bit of light weightlifting.  The idea wasn't to try to burn a bunch of extra calories.  It was more to make sure my level of physical activity didn't drop to compensate for the reduced amount of calories I was taking in. 

Another aspect of taking the long view was being willing to give myself an occasional dispensation.  I didn't sweat calories at Thanksgiving or on my birthday.  I tried to eat sensibly the few times a year that I traveled but I didn't get too wound up if I slipped when I was on the road.  While I might have been able to hit my goal faster if I was more strict, I figured that allowing myself some occasional flexibility made it easier to stay the course and that I'd still reach my goal eventually as long as that was the exception rather than the rule.

[wenchsenior]

Everyone's body is slightly different, but generally it's not very complicated. Don't overthink it.

What has worked like gangbusters for me (in the past, haven't tried to lose weight in about a decade) is cutting way back on processed food, esp carbs/sugar, and adding some interval training to my normal exercise. 

By 'cutting way back', I don't mean that I prohibit any individual food; it's just that I look at each day's eating as an exercise in getting better nutrient 'bang' for calorie 'buck'.  Nutrient bang is found in lean protein, healthy fat (e.g., avocado/nuts/fatty fish), tons of produce, some whole grains.

What this specifically would look like for you would depend on how you eat now, but the goal is not to 'diet' as in 'temporarily eat a bunch less calories to try to drop weight, and then go back to eating more like before'. The goal is to slowly shift your current eating pattern over to a new, permanent, healthier one that will allow you to slowly drop weight and then maintain it.

So look at your diet, and start with the low-hanging fruit first. E.g., back in Ye Olden Days when I was trying to change how I ate, there were some really obvious things I did.  I stopped drinking empty calories entirely. No more soda, juice, sweetened anything. Then I tackled breakfast, which historically had been almost entirely processed carbs (and it was making me feel like shit, which I didn't realize until I changed it). After a month or so of working on those habits, I went on to work on other elements (e.g., subbing whole grains for processed grains), increasing volume of plants eaten, tweaking specific ingredients, etc.

Some people also benefit from intermittent fasting, but I've never found a need for it.  I suspect it can be helpful for people who struggle with mindless snacking. But it's not a magic bullet...several people in my family eat like that by default and always have (only eat between noon and 7 pm, for example), and most of them are still overweight. 

Btw, my regular eating pattern, with which I've maintained a healthy weight for decades, includes desserts and indulgences. No food is 'off limits' so I don't feel deprived.  I simply eat small portions or I eat calorie heavy food occasionally, not daily (e.g., two squares of dark chocolate after dinner, or maybe 4-5 bites of Ben and Jerry's a couple times each week, etc).  If there's a meal (such as Thanksgiving) where I know I want to really indulge, I'll just play closer attention to how I eat during that week apart from Turkey Day, maybe cut back a bit.

ETA: Blackeagle and I said almost identical things :highfive:

[Greystache]

Not an expert, but here is what worked for me. I did not buy a book or consult with a doctor.  When I was 49 years old I was 6'1" and around 235 lbs. (maybe a little more, not really sure).  I was suffering with health issues and thought my diet and weight were likely the problem.  So I decided to change how I ate and exercised. I decided to cut out all most processed food and only eat real food.  One rule was if the package has more than three ingredients, don't eat it. I guess a better rule is, if it comes in a package, don't eat it. So my typical diet was oatmeal for breakfast, a salad for lunch and a balanced meal in the evening. If I needed a snack between meals it was something like carrot sticks or almonds. I never ate anything between my evening meal (around 6 oclock) and breakfast.  I also increased my physical activity. I walked a mile every day at lunch and every night after dinner. I also golfed a couple rounds a week. A round of golf is about a five mile walk. That's it. I lost about a pound a week over the next year (55 pounds in a little over a year). I got down to 180 lbs but found that difficult to maintain. Over the last 12 years I have bounced around between 185 and 190. If I get over 190, I start intermittent fasting (fancy way of saying, don't eat breakfast) until I get back down to my target weight. My diet has stayed pretty much the same over the last 12 years.  One other thing that worked for me is never eat until you are stuffed. Quit when you satisfied, but not stuffed. Maybe 80% full.

[Metalcat]

Well, first, no one needs to "limit carbs" to lose weight. I was only able to get to my leanest weight down from obese by switching to a higher carb diet. But my "carbs" are legumes, whole grains, and vegetables.

Carbs is a MASSIVE category of the majority of foods in the entire world. So unless you have a specific goal of a ketogenic diet, then limiting your access to the vast majority of nutritious foods is kind of excessive. If you *do* have the intention of eating a ketogenic diet, that's a whole other kettle of fish, and you need to educate yourself and be very clear on your goals.

First and foremost, you need to figure out why you are currently eating the way that you are. Is it convenience, lack of ability to cook delicious healthy food, self soothing with food due to a lack of healthy coping skills, etc?

What is your long term eating goal? It's one thing to lose a bunch of weight, it's another thing to sustain healthy weight loss.

I'm personally not a fan of arbitrary weight loss goals, meaning "I want to lose X number of pounds", I have helped many people lose substantial weight and keep it off by having them focus on lifestyle goals instead. Achieving and maintaining a certain leanness is a byproduct of a sustained lifestyle. Not beating ones body into submission through restriction until you decide it's "good enough" and then...what?

When you envision a healthy, sustainable lifestyle, what does that look like to you? What different daily behaviours do you want to engage in long term? And what are the barriers in your way to living that way today?

Discipline and knuckling down tend to be terrible approaches for long term weight management. Incremental, systematic, permanent lifestyle changes are well established as the most effective for long term success.

Think of it this way, if you manage to change your habits to those that can only sustain a healthy weight, then it's inevitable that you will end up a healthy weight eventually. You just have to sit back and let time do it for you, while you go about enjoying your life with healthier, more energizing habits.

I recommend a very simple approach. Start with one meal a day, and find easy, simple, sustainable ways to improve that meal as many times as you can in a week. Once it becomes easy and comfortable to have nutritious, satisfying food for that one meal, move onto the next one.

The key to lifelong healthy eating is to find ways to make nutrition easier and more satisfying than eating crap. If you figure that out, then it never takes any discipline to eat well, because it will always be the better option.

As I said, I have helped many people lose and keep off 30-80lbs, and never once have I ever advised anyone to "cut carbs" or do any specific type or amount of exercise, or even necessarily count calories.

[ixtap]

i control my diabetes with diet and exercise and even I don't aim for "no sugar."

The best diet is the one you will stick with. Across a large population, that looks like lots of veggies, including beans, smallish portions of proteins and whole grains (aka Mediterranean Diet). However, you may need to take some time to learn what works for you, personally.

The same goes for exercise. if you like lifting weights, do that. Go for a walk once in awhile to add in some cardio. Or dance in your living room. It doesn't have to be fancy or strenuous.

Have you had a physical lately? You may find your health factors improving even if you don't lose weight. Sometimes changing enough to stop gaining weight is sufficient to improve health, even mental health, so that you focus more on what your body can do, rather than how it compares to someone else's shape.

[GuitarStv]

Don't just lift.  Don't get me wrong, weightlifting is great . . . but aim to do 30-60 minutes of light cardio each day.  Doesn't have to be destroying yourself when you do it - just go for a walk, do some skipping, ride a bicycle, etc.  But make it a daily activity that you do - every day - along with your weightlifting.  If it's too boring, gradually ramp up intensity over a couple months . . . but the goal is to supplement your muscle generating exercises with some that will simply fire those muscles up and burn more calories.

Don't drink calories.  Drink water or black coffee - and pretty much nothing else.  Drinking calories is the easiest way to overeat that I know of . . . they don't make you feel full at all so it's really easy to overdo it.  No juice, no milk, no soda, no egg nog, no beer, no booze.  Don't drink artificially sweetened drinks either.  Getting used to having sweet stuff all the time seems to make me more liable to overeat when I'm eating desserts.

The easiest way I know of to do portion control is raw veggies.  Each time you eat a meal, make sure that at least half of your plate is a mix of raw vegetables - carrots, beets, radishes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc.  Before you eat anything else, you finish all the raw vegetables on your plate.  You'll find that you're much fuller after the veggies and will tend to not want to overeat the other stuff.

About 10 minutes before each meal have a large glass of water.  This also helps your stomach feel more full while you're eating, so less likely to overeat.

I don't recommend trying to cut all sugar or all processed foods out of your diet entirely.  That can be miserable if you're like me and have a sweet tooth.  Just limit portions, and follow the above tips before consuming them to help reduce the chance of overdoing things.

[ChpBstrd]

1) You are no longer allowed to buy candy, pastries, sodas, beer, or wine.

2) You are no longer allowed to buy restaurant food/beverage, except twice per month, and then not from anywhere with a drive-thru and only if it is a social occasion.

3) Weight-lifting time is the only time you're allowed to enjoy your favorite podcast, music, or TV shows. Set up your equipment accordingly.

4) At least 4 of your weekly dinners and 4 of your weekly lunches shall be vegetarian. Some of my favorites include:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/132394/meatiest-vegetarian-chili-from-your-slow-cooker/
https://runningonrealfood.com/vegan-bbq-chickpea-salad/
https://foodwithfeeling.com/black-bean-stuffed-sweet-potatoes/
https://foodwithfeeling.com/sheet-pan-baked-tofu-veggies/ minus the honey/syrup

5) You shall set your alarm 20 minutes earlier, go to bed 20 minutes earlier, and walk a quarter-mile each morning before breakfast (e.g. around the block). Place the alarm across the room from your bed, not next to it. When the alarm goes off, say to yourself "well I'm already up, might as well go walk a bit outside".

Note that I said "buy" on #1 and #2. It's much easier to avoid temptation at the store level of decision than at the snack level of decision. With #3 I'm turning hard work into a treat. Such pseudo-religious rule layers can be easier to follow than simply saying "I'll try to do better".

One open question is whether you are commuting to work. If it's 3 miles or less, this commute needs to become a bike ride or walk.

[Ftao93]

I am a huge fan of Mike Matthews 'muscle for life' series.

Life kicked us in the giblets the past 18 months, and we were badly ill with COVID.   We each lost a parent.  there was  lot of eating/drinking of feelings.

So I signed up for a 3 month coaching session.  It cost a pretty penny, but screw it.

The books/programs are easy to follow, cheap on Kindle, and if you can either build a home gym or get to one regularly, progress is steady.

He also tells you what macros to eat and provides free calculators to get there.

Just like saving, the hardest part is the doing.    I've been a trainer and martial arts instructor on and off for 30 years.   Sustainable lifestyle changes are key.  ANYONE is welcome to pick my brain on these topics. 

[Tester]

What kind of works for me:

Eating less, counting calories.
If I know I want to drink a beer, I need to eat less during the day...
For me this works because in theory I can "eat whatever I want", I just need to limit calories.
This might or not work for you too...

I lost 10 pounds quickly like this, then I said I can party during the weekends.
It does not work like this.
Now I am back on counting calories all days, looking to lose more weight.
I am also picking up more exercise...

[TheAnonOne]

Wow, leave it to the MMM board to write me a book before noon!

Love it. Looking forward to hearing more and reading/digesting what has been written already. I really appreciate it.


I am noticing a theme of 'permanent lifestyle changes' over 'weight loss', and I am with that 100%. I don't think my life overall has ever been one of 'extreme health' but, certainly it's been better in the past. However, I am 30+ now, life is different and I need to find my new 'way'. I won't shy away from some rapid weight loss in this first phase though! :)

[jeninco]

Learn to cook vegetables so they're delicious, and eat some at every meal. "Vegetable-flooding" is a term I first heard here, but it's a great idea. And no worries if the most delicious way to prepare them involves, say, reasonable amounts of bacon fat! Little Okra pods fried (I should probably say "sautéed", as there's just enough fat to coat the pan) hot and fast in bacon fat are delicious!

Chopped salads are something you can make on Sunday or Monday and eat all week (I like one with celery, apples, a handful of walnuts, some dried cranberries, and either crumbled blue cheese or toast with melted blue cheese).

Just be sure every meal includes some veggies (or at least some fresh fruit, in the case of breakfast) and let it displace a bit of junk. Similarly, if you're hungry in the afternoon, eat an apple first (find a type that's delicious to you: pink ladies, for instance, are available most places and are vastly superior to the "delicious" varieties) and then consider if you need anything else. (If so, perhaps try a measured amount of nuts, rather than anything white-flour-based.)

[sixwings]

Weight loss is about calories. Use a calorie tracker like myfitnesspal and track your calories. I lost 30 lbs and kept it off doing that. It keeps it really simple. Eventually you can start tracking other macros to meet your needs, like protein and stuff. But for now keep it really simple and track everything you eat through an easy app like myfitnesspal.

I also like calories vs. only eating certain foods or whatever because it was way more flexible. Like I could totally eat pizza on friday when i want, but i have to either exercise a lot to eat it or i have to eat a lot less of it to fit within my calorie budget, but i can still eat it. I wasn't deprived of anything, i just had to learn to make choices about what i wanted and how i wanted to feel. Some days I would eat pizza, others i felt like i wanted something more filling for the same amount of calories. All my choice. 

[Paper Chaser]

The first step in a financial case study here is to do a full inventory of your spending to find out where you're over doing things.
Health and wellness is no different. You need to have a very good understanding of what you're consuming, only instead of $$, it's going to be measured in calories. And like money can be boiled down to the relationship between income and expenses, diet and exercise comes down to the relationship between calories consumed and calories burned.

I'd focus first on eliminating empty calories. These will be "low hanging fruit" for most people. Drinks are an easy way to consume a bunch of calories without realizing it or getting much benefit from those calories. Eating super clean while consuming hundreds of calories per day in juice/coffee drinks/alcohol/etc isn't going to get you anywhere. Tons of people lose lots of weight just from replacing calorie laden beverages with water. This often has the side benefit of saving money as well.

Obviously, unhealthy stuff like sweets, baked goods, etc need to be limited. I try to focus each meal around a lean protein of some sort, and eat that first. They tend to be more filling, so you eat fewer calories per meal. There's also some thinking that your body responds almost instantly to the foods you eat, so starting a meal with high carb foods will cause your body to process all the foods you eat like they're carbs.

Once you know what you're eating, and you've made an effort to clean it up and reduce wasteful caloric consumption, then you can focus on portion control, eating at certain times, etc.

What you're trying to achieve is a lifestyle change not unlike getting finances in order. Just like with finances, people's needs and wants vary, so you have to determine what your priorities are, what your areas you might be able to improve easily, and plan accordingly. If you need to incorporate a specific cheat meal once per week in order to maintain the healthy habits, then do it. If you love to lift weights and hate cardio, then lean into the weight lifting for your calorie burning. If a behavior is a miserable slog, then you're not likely to sustain long term success, so some of this comes down to knowing yourself enough to figure out what you're good at, what you hate, and what you're willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals. Where can you change your diet/exercise to cut literal fat from your body the same way you'd change income/spending to cut metaphorical fat from a budget?

[wenchsenior]

1) You are no longer allowed to buy candy, pastries, sodas, beer, or wine.

2) You are no longer allowed to buy restaurant food/beverage, except twice per month, and then not from anywhere with a drive-thru and only if it is a social occasion.

3) Weight-lifting time is the only time you're allowed to enjoy your favorite podcast, music, or TV shows. Set up your equipment accordingly.

4) At least 4 of your weekly dinners and 4 of your weekly lunches shall be vegetarian. Some of my favorites include:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/132394/meatiest-vegetarian-chili-from-your-slow-cooker/
https://runningonrealfood.com/vegan-bbq-chickpea-salad/
https://foodwithfeeling.com/black-bean-stuffed-sweet-potatoes/
https://foodwithfeeling.com/sheet-pan-baked-tofu-veggies/ minus the honey/syrup

5) You shall set your alarm 20 minutes earlier, go to bed 20 minutes earlier, and walk a quarter-mile each morning before breakfast (e.g. around the block). Place the alarm across the room from your bed, not next to it. When the alarm goes off, say to yourself "well I'm already up, might as well go walk a bit outside".

Note that I said "buy" on #1 and #2. It's much easier to avoid temptation at the store level of decision than at the snack level of decision. With #3 I'm turning hard work into a treat. Such pseudo-religious rule layers can be easier to follow than simply saying "I'll try to do better".

One open question is whether you are commuting to work. If it's 3 miles or less, this commute needs to become a bike ride or walk.

This is really a great example of how one must know something about what one's personal motivators and de-motivators are to develop a successful plan.  The above plan would be the opposite of motivating for me...far too inflexible and would only make me feel deprived, angry, and rebellious.  However, there are people that really thrive under strict guidelines, and are able to 'enforce' them on themselves.

[Metalcat]

Don't just lift.  Don't get me wrong, weightlifting is great . . . but aim to do 30-60 minutes of light cardio each day.  Doesn't have to be destroying yourself when you do it - just go for a walk, do some skipping, ride a bicycle, etc.  But make it a daily activity that you do - every day - along with your weightlifting.  If it's too boring, gradually ramp up intensity over a couple months . . . but the goal is to supplement your muscle generating exercises with some that will simply fire those muscles up and burn more calories.

Don't drink calories.  Drink water or black coffee - and pretty much nothing else.  Drinking calories is the easiest way to overeat that I know of . . . they don't make you feel full at all so it's really easy to overdo it.  No juice, no milk, no soda, no egg nog, no beer, no booze.  Don't drink artificially sweetened drinks either.  Getting used to having sweet stuff all the time seems to make me more liable to overeat when I'm eating desserts.

The easiest way I know of to do portion control is raw veggies.  Each time you eat a meal, make sure that at least half of your plate is a mix of raw vegetables - carrots, beets, radishes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc.  Before you eat anything else, you finish all the raw vegetables on your plate.  You'll find that you're much fuller after the veggies and will tend to not want to overeat the other stuff.

About 10 minutes before each meal have a large glass of water.  This also helps your stomach feel more full while you're eating, so less likely to overeat.

I don't recommend trying to cut all sugar or all processed foods out of your diet entirely.  That can be miserable if you're like me and have a sweet tooth.  Just limit portions, and follow the above tips before consuming them to help reduce the chance of overdoing things.

100% this.

I lost my first 40 pounds and got down to a healthy weight not cutting anything or every restricting anything, and not really doing any strenuous exercise at all. The only thing I did was always make sure to eat a fuck ton of vegetables. Its so hard to over eat calories when your stomach is jam packed with roughage and nutrients. So I actually lost weight by stuffing my face. My diet was largely small portions of meat and heaping piles of chopped raw vegetables, and maybe a bit of whole grains.

I then switched to a plant based diet and started eating a lot more legumes and grains and cooked vegetables, and lost even more weight.

I cannot tolerate a restriction mentality, I will naturally rebel against it. I can't do it with saving money and I can't do it with food. My goal always has to be *adding* good things to my day, not taking them away.

[jrhampt]

I too gained weight during the pandemic because I: started eating breakfast instead of going to the gym in the morning (my usual pre-pandemic habit), ate lots of takeout including loads of heavier comfort food like lobster mac and cheese, drank more alcohol/calories than usual, and wasn't lifting weights.  I was running every day, but it wasn't enough to offset the additional calories I was drinking and consuming w breakfast.

When I reinstated the gym membership this summer, it was easy to skip breakfast since I was otherwise occupied at a time when I might have wanted to eat if I was at home.  I continued the running, so I was essentially doubling up on my exercise, and I limited my eating to a window between noon and 8 pm. My fitbit told me that I was burning around 2600 calories a day with this exercise program, so I needed to create a calorie deficit of about 1000 calories per day if I wanted to lose around 2 pounds a week.  I didn't put anything off limits for myself to eat, but I tried to stay within 1600 calories per day total.  I quickly learned that if I ate larger volumes of low calorie food (bowl of popcorn, bowl of tomatoes), I felt more satisfied than if I ate high calorie low volume food.  I also replaced higher calorie mixed drinks with red wine and champagne cocktails - much lower calorie but still delicious so I didn't feel like I was giving anything up.  When I went out to eat, I ate a lot of raw seafood, which I also love, vs heavier stuff like pasta.  Whatever I enjoyed eating, if it was healthy and lower calorie, I doubled down on regardless of cost.  I also studied the menus ahead of time and had a plan for what I wanted to eat that was going to be healthier but still delicious.  I still ate dessert, but in smaller portions.

This worked for me since I really enjoy the exercise I do, and I lost 20 pounds in 3 months despite a number of vacations and dinners out and continued alcohol consumption.

[Malum Prohibitum]

Team,

Cutting right too it. I am pretty chunky right now, and honestly always have been but never to this level. I am looking for information on diets and not flashy ones, just good science. I really SUCK at diets. I can lift, and even maintain some light cardio with a plan, but my diet sucks.

I don't need to get into excuse land, but the pandemic really threw off my routine. Ordering in a lot, turning lazy, and maybe even some mental stress from a job I just left. I was around 235 but now I am pushing 260. 25 Pounds up. This is the first time I notice my actual quality of life being affected. I don't fit into my motorcycle gear as well, my pants are tight, I get more winded doing basic shit, ect. Yikes!


What I am good at...

Weight Lifting, I have decent routines and generally can lift fairly heavy. I usually rotate bi, tri, shoulder, back-squat, dead lifts, and a few others. I haven't been good about DOING it for the last 2-3 months, but this can change and I have no issues sticking to a decent plan of 3-4 times a week on this.



What I am not good at...

Diet. I get the jist of it, no sugar, limit carbs. Though, what does that actually look like? Do you follow macro's? I can cook pretty well, so I am looking for ideas. Tips. Tricks. Reading material... etc

I have lost weight on 2 occasions in my past, once going from 245 to 220. This was 7ish years ago, I managed to keep most of that off, sticking to about 230 for 4-5 years. 230 is still very fat.

The Plan...

I am around 260lbs, and 6ft tall. I need to get back to around 220. Outside of starting to lift again, with regularity, I plan on implementing some sort of intermittent fasting, cutting sugar and starting to cook daily. I still need to figure out WHAT I am cooking, and my calorie/ macro numbers.


The ultimate goal...

At the end of the day, 220 and i'll be pleased. I would love to hit 200, but one step at a time!



Any help is appreciated!

I am a competitive bodybuilder who actually won a title recently.  The one bit of advice I would tell you is to spend twenty bucks.

Get a food scale at Walmart. 

Then go online to MyFitnessPal.  It's free and takes 30 seconds.

Then use it religiously.

Most persons can fool themselves about what they eat every day.  You will hear how they have "tried everything" but can't lose weight.  Really?  Try counting macros and calories?  LOL!  Then you will hear about so and so's cousin who ate everything in sight but could not gain weight.  Studies repeatedly show that thinner folks eat less than they think, and heavier folks eat more. 

So track it. 

Then you control everything.  You may not be aiming at competing in bodybuilding, but I mention this because it works, and there really is no good substitute.  Weigh, measure, track.  Stop when you hit your macros for the day.

Ok, I said "one bit of advice," but I will give you two.  The second it so up your protein.  Up it.  How much?  Oh, higher than that.  Eating high protein works when cutting bodyfat.  Again, there have been studies done on this (real ones).  Higher protein works, period.  There is not an upper limit to it (and you would not hit it consistently and daily even if there was, because you would be miserable eating all of that meat).  Given your weight, I would shoot for a minimum of 250 grams of protein a day, and this is not counting "shakes" and other nonsense marketing gimmicks.  Eat real food.  This generally means eggs and meats. 

Get fats to below 50 grams a day (which means your protein won't be coming from cheeseburgers all day).

250 grams of protein is 1000 calories.  50 grams of fat is 450 calories.

So now we are up to 1450 calories a day.  You need more for lifting and cardio.

Then fill in the rest with carbs.  Like others have said above, carbs are not the devil.  They fuel your weightlifting workouts.  You don't need carbs in every meal.   Put them right around your workout time.


How many carbs?  It does not matter.  Pick a level.  Let's say you start with 250 grams a day.  Now your total calorie count is 2450 a day, right?

So do it for a week.  Weigh yourself at the end of the week.  Did you lose weight?  Yes?  Ok, then keep on this for another week?  Did you lose weight?  No?  Ok, pull out 300 calories (all from fats and carbs, never protein) and do another week, then step on the scale, and so on.

The first ten pounds or so are not fat.  They are glycogen and water.  So get the first ten pounds out of the way before you start looking for bodyfat reductions in the mirror.

DO take pictures before your start.  You are going to want to take some more in the same position and lighting in a few months.

This works.  As you can see, it is not a gimmick.  It is just discipline and consistent effort.

I hope this advice helps.

Do cardio <---   You can progressively ramp this up, too, like your weight training, adding minutes as you can handle more. 

I guess I should mention that you should be working progressively at weight training, too.  If you are not trying to increase your reps or your weight or your sets, then you are losing out on many of the benefits of weight training for your goals.

[TheAnonOne]

Team,

Cutting right too it. I am pretty chunky right now, and honestly always have been but never to this level. I am looking for information on diets and not flashy ones, just good science. I really SUCK at diets. I can lift, and even maintain some light cardio with a plan, but my diet sucks.

I don't need to get into excuse land, but the pandemic really threw off my routine. Ordering in a lot, turning lazy, and maybe even some mental stress from a job I just left. I was around 235 but now I am pushing 260. 25 Pounds up. This is the first time I notice my actual quality of life being affected. I don't fit into my motorcycle gear as well, my pants are tight, I get more winded doing basic shit, ect. Yikes!


What I am good at...

Weight Lifting, I have decent routines and generally can lift fairly heavy. I usually rotate bi, tri, shoulder, back-squat, dead lifts, and a few others. I haven't been good about DOING it for the last 2-3 months, but this can change and I have no issues sticking to a decent plan of 3-4 times a week on this.



What I am not good at...

Diet. I get the jist of it, no sugar, limit carbs. Though, what does that actually look like? Do you follow macro's? I can cook pretty well, so I am looking for ideas. Tips. Tricks. Reading material... etc

I have lost weight on 2 occasions in my past, once going from 245 to 220. This was 7ish years ago, I managed to keep most of that off, sticking to about 230 for 4-5 years. 230 is still very fat.

The Plan...

I am around 260lbs, and 6ft tall. I need to get back to around 220. Outside of starting to lift again, with regularity, I plan on implementing some sort of intermittent fasting, cutting sugar and starting to cook daily. I still need to figure out WHAT I am cooking, and my calorie/ macro numbers.


The ultimate goal...

At the end of the day, 220 and i'll be pleased. I would love to hit 200, but one step at a time!



Any help is appreciated!

I am a competitive bodybuilder who actually won a title recently.  The one bit of advice I would tell you is to spend twenty bucks.

Get a food scale at Walmart. 

Then go online to MyFitnessPal.  It's free and takes 30 seconds.

Then use it religiously.

Most persons can fool themselves about what they eat every day.  You will hear how they have "tried everything" but can't lose weight.  Really?  Try counting macros and calories?  LOL!  Then you will hear about so and so's cousin who ate everything in sight but could not gain weight.  Studies repeatedly show that thinner folks eat less than they think, and heavier folks eat more. 

So track it. 

Then you control everything.  You may not be aiming at competing in bodybuilding, but I mention this because it works, and there really is no good substitute.  Weigh, measure, track.  Stop when you hit your macros for the day.

Ok, I said "one bit of advice," but I will give you two.  The second it so up your protein.  Up it.  How much?  Oh, higher than that.  Eating high protein works when cutting bodyfat.  Again, there have been studies done on this (real ones).  Higher protein works, period.  There is not an upper limit to it (and you would not hit it consistently and daily even if there was, because you would be miserable eating all of that meat).  Given your weight, I would shoot for a minimum of 250 grams of protein a day, and this is not counting "shakes" and other nonsense marketing gimmicks.  Eat real food.  This generally means eggs and meats. 

Get fats to below 50 grams a day (which means your protein won't be coming from cheeseburgers all day).

250 grams of protein is 1000 calories.  50 grams of fat is 450 calories.

So now we are up to 1450 calories a day.  You need more for lifting and cardio.

Then fill in the rest with carbs.  Like others have said above, carbs are not the devil.  They fuel your weightlifting workouts.  You don't need carbs in every meal.   Put them right around your workout time.


How many carbs?  It does not matter.  Pick a level.  Let's say you start with 250 grams a day.  Now your total calorie count is 2450 a day, right?

So do it for a week.  Weigh yourself at the end of the week.  Did you lose weight?  Yes?  Ok, then keep on this for another week?  Did you lose weight?  No?  Ok, pull out 300 calories (all from fats and carbs, never protein) and do another week, then step on the scale, and so on.

The first ten pounds or so are not fat.  They are glycogen and water.  So get the first ten pounds out of the way before you start looking for bodyfat reductions in the mirror.

DO take pictures before your start.  You are going to want to take some more in the same position and lighting in a few months.

This works.  As you can see, it is not a gimmick.  It is just discipline and consistent effort.

I hope this advice helps.

Do cardio <---   You can progressively ramp this up, too, like your weight training, adding minutes as you can handle more. 

I guess I should mention that you should be working progressively at weight training, too.  If you are not trying to increase your reps or your weight or your sets, then you are losing out on many of the benefits of weight training for your goals.

Op here...
What does this generally look like for a daily meal plan? 6 chicken breasts? Just curious for a mental image.

[brooklynmoney]

Are you a woman? If so better try to get in a good groove sooner rather than later because it just gets more and more difficult. I used to eat donuts for breakfast. Then I hit 40 and my metabolism hit a wall. My mother gained 15 lbs during menopause. I expect to gain weight  just thinking about a donut at that point. I like counting calories because it is elegantly simple. If you need guidance or help go to Weight Watchers. Also abs (or weight loss basically) are made in the kitchen not the gym. Diet modification is the only thing that works. Note: am not a doctor just lifelong obsessed with losing weight (like most women I know).

[seemsright]

I am working on a lifestyle change myself. I am also dealing with a hand injury that will require a couple more surgeries. So my diet is becoming vital for me to get to my goals.

I am eating higher protein and my biggest meal is breakfast and my lightest meal is dinner. Loads of veggies. I eat a couple cups of veggies at every meal. I am making my meal times a ritual. I am drinking out of fancy glasses, lighting a candle, playing music. And slowing down eating.

I feel so much better. Diet has always been hard for me. But this seems to be working for me.

[Metalcat]

Team,

Cutting right too it. I am pretty chunky right now, and honestly always have been but never to this level. I am looking for information on diets and not flashy ones, just good science. I really SUCK at diets. I can lift, and even maintain some light cardio with a plan, but my diet sucks.

I don't need to get into excuse land, but the pandemic really threw off my routine. Ordering in a lot, turning lazy, and maybe even some mental stress from a job I just left. I was around 235 but now I am pushing 260. 25 Pounds up. This is the first time I notice my actual quality of life being affected. I don't fit into my motorcycle gear as well, my pants are tight, I get more winded doing basic shit, ect. Yikes!


What I am good at...

Weight Lifting, I have decent routines and generally can lift fairly heavy. I usually rotate bi, tri, shoulder, back-squat, dead lifts, and a few others. I haven't been good about DOING it for the last 2-3 months, but this can change and I have no issues sticking to a decent plan of 3-4 times a week on this.



What I am not good at...

Diet. I get the jist of it, no sugar, limit carbs. Though, what does that actually look like? Do you follow macro's? I can cook pretty well, so I am looking for ideas. Tips. Tricks. Reading material... etc

I have lost weight on 2 occasions in my past, once going from 245 to 220. This was 7ish years ago, I managed to keep most of that off, sticking to about 230 for 4-5 years. 230 is still very fat.

The Plan...

I am around 260lbs, and 6ft tall. I need to get back to around 220. Outside of starting to lift again, with regularity, I plan on implementing some sort of intermittent fasting, cutting sugar and starting to cook daily. I still need to figure out WHAT I am cooking, and my calorie/ macro numbers.


The ultimate goal...

At the end of the day, 220 and i'll be pleased. I would love to hit 200, but one step at a time!



Any help is appreciated!

I am a competitive bodybuilder who actually won a title recently.  The one bit of advice I would tell you is to spend twenty bucks.

Get a food scale at Walmart. 

Then go online to MyFitnessPal.  It's free and takes 30 seconds.

Then use it religiously.

Most persons can fool themselves about what they eat every day.  You will hear how they have "tried everything" but can't lose weight.  Really?  Try counting macros and calories?  LOL!  Then you will hear about so and so's cousin who ate everything in sight but could not gain weight.  Studies repeatedly show that thinner folks eat less than they think, and heavier folks eat more. 

So track it. 

Then you control everything.  You may not be aiming at competing in bodybuilding, but I mention this because it works, and there really is no good substitute.  Weigh, measure, track.  Stop when you hit your macros for the day.

Ok, I said "one bit of advice," but I will give you two.  The second it so up your protein.  Up it.  How much?  Oh, higher than that.  Eating high protein works when cutting bodyfat.  Again, there have been studies done on this (real ones).  Higher protein works, period.  There is not an upper limit to it (and you would not hit it consistently and daily even if there was, because you would be miserable eating all of that meat).  Given your weight, I would shoot for a minimum of 250 grams of protein a day, and this is not counting "shakes" and other nonsense marketing gimmicks.  Eat real food.  This generally means eggs and meats. 

Get fats to below 50 grams a day (which means your protein won't be coming from cheeseburgers all day).

250 grams of protein is 1000 calories.  50 grams of fat is 450 calories.

So now we are up to 1450 calories a day.  You need more for lifting and cardio.

Then fill in the rest with carbs.  Like others have said above, carbs are not the devil.  They fuel your weightlifting workouts.  You don't need carbs in every meal.   Put them right around your workout time.


How many carbs?  It does not matter.  Pick a level.  Let's say you start with 250 grams a day.  Now your total calorie count is 2450 a day, right?

So do it for a week.  Weigh yourself at the end of the week.  Did you lose weight?  Yes?  Ok, then keep on this for another week?  Did you lose weight?  No?  Ok, pull out 300 calories (all from fats and carbs, never protein) and do another week, then step on the scale, and so on.

The first ten pounds or so are not fat.  They are glycogen and water.  So get the first ten pounds out of the way before you start looking for bodyfat reductions in the mirror.

DO take pictures before your start.  You are going to want to take some more in the same position and lighting in a few months.

This works.  As you can see, it is not a gimmick.  It is just discipline and consistent effort.

I hope this advice helps.

Do cardio <---   You can progressively ramp this up, too, like your weight training, adding minutes as you can handle more. 

I guess I should mention that you should be working progressively at weight training, too.  If you are not trying to increase your reps or your weight or your sets, then you are losing out on many of the benefits of weight training for your goals.

Op here...
What does this generally look like for a daily meal plan? 6 chicken breasts? Just curious for a mental image.

What pp is saying will work, but if your diet is currently shit, it can kind of be overkill.

Just eating a maintenance diet for a healthy weight will eventually get you to a healthy weight. It won't get you there quickly, but it takes extremely little effort, virtually no discipline, and is remarkably unlikely to fail or result in weight regain.

So it's up to you if you want to start weighing and logging your food and analyzing macros, but if you didn't even have the will to eat a reasonable diet before, where realistically are you going to come up with the emotional resources to do this every day?

If you feel up for it, and will be motivated by tracking and logging, then go for it. I personally hate tracking and logging, but some people love it, whether it be eating or spending. Data junkies get off on that shit, so maybe that will work really well for you.

Use your judgement. Would easy to implement, incremental, permanent, comfortable lifestyle changes work best for you, or would meticulous quantification?

Weight loss really isn't complicated, it's just a matter of figuring out what is in your way, and removing those barriers.

[Askel]

What I am not good at...

Diet. I get the jist of it, no sugar, limit carbs. Though, what does that actually look like? Do you follow macro's? I can cook pretty well, so I am looking for ideas. Tips. Tricks. Reading material... etc

I have lost weight on 2 occasions in my past, once going from 245 to 220. This was 7ish years ago, I managed to keep most of that off, sticking to about 230 for 4-5 years. 230 is still very fat.

The Plan...

I am around 260lbs, and 6ft tall. I need to get back to around 220. Outside of starting to lift again, with regularity, I plan on implementing some sort of intermittent fasting, cutting sugar and starting to cook daily. I still need to figure out WHAT I am cooking, and my calorie/ macro numbers.


The ultimate goal...

At the end of the day, 220 and i'll be pleased. I would love to hit 200, but one step at a time!



Any help is appreciated!

Ooof, I'm in a pretty similar boat here so will post to commiserate.  I have lost and gained and lost an gained weight many times, at this point- I can only be philosophical about it.  Some fun reading here: https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2021/07/07/a-chemical-hunger-part-i-mysteries/  It's clearly somebody cherry picking the research to reach their desired conclusion, but the studies they link to make for some interesting reading. 

But after 20 years of doing this, the only consistent thing I've learned is the best way for me to maintain a healthy weight is massive amounts of outdoor exercise.  Like bare minimum an hour a day of bike riding or skiing.  Also need a couple of all-day adventures thrown in here or there.   

Anytime life circumstances prevent me from doing this at all, boom- the weight comes piling back on. I can white knuckle it and calorie count all I want with limited success, but it is in no way sustainable for me.  (That's not to say calorie counting is worthless- if you're starting from zero on diet- it's a good tool to help you get a handle on where the problem areas are on the intake side of the equation.) 

So after an ill fated attempt at getting a PhD which kept me off the bike and skis way too much, I found myself on the north side of 310 (for like the 3rd time in my life).  I managed to crank the diet down enough to get me in the 290s, but it wasn't until this summer I was able to get myself back on the bike regularly and now the weight is coming off much more easily (saw 269 on the scale last weekend). 

Would like to get back to ~230. Still in the overweight category for me, but it's a weight I feel comfortable at and perform best at in all my dumb outdoor pursuits. 

The outdoor activity seems to be a double edged sword. It clearly helps on the burn side of the equation, but it's shocking how many miles you have to ride to burn off my guilty pleasure- megaton double IPAs. Less clear to me is it seems to have a regulating affect on my metabolism.  Despite burning more calories I am somehow less hungry and find it much easier to say no to tempting foodstuffs. 

YMMV, best of luck! 

[Malossi792]

Didn't read all the replies, sorry if I'm repeating someone.
What I usually do is:
Start counting calories. Not in my head, but in a free calorie counting app (like myfitnesspal). Use a kitchen scale, easily portable.
Note: this will hurt initially, because it's boring as hell, but strictly necessary! You get used to it in a week or so.

The app will tell you how much to eat, but IGNORE that. Just count for 2 weeks, step on the scale once a week naked, upon getting up, after peeing but before breakfast. This is your 'dry' weight.

What gets measured, gets managed. Studies show that most people eat less 'without trying' when they're counting. That's because you'll think twice about that bag of peanuts if you know how much it adds to the bottom line that day.

After 2 weeks, see if you weigh less. If yes, just continue. If not, add up all your calories thus far, divide by number of days. You will see that you're eating; for example 3000 calories a day. Or 2500 or 5000 doesn't matter. Reduce by 10% from now on. You'll need to exercise too if you don't want to only eat as a bunny would.

Rinse and repeat.

Important:
When you reach your goal and stop reducing daily calorie intake, count for at least 1 more month so you get used to your new maintenance calorie need and don't gain back everything you lost and then some, just because you've made it.

[svosavvy]

Totally a +1 to the drink a big glass of water 10 min before meals advice.  I would up the ante by saying I put whole husk psyllium in my water 30 min before my big meal for the day.  It is super gross in the beginning.  I try to only eat 10am-6pm 2 meals, but, that's just me.  I am no fitness guru.  I am technically not ideal weight and drink my fair share of alcohol.  Some of the best advice I ever got was "you can't outrun (out exercise) your mouth."  Weight loss is 80/20 diet/exercise for me.  Primarily, because I can do calorie intense work and not drop a pound when I am not being disciplined about my diet. 

My wife and I did a big health reset in 2012 together.  It went great and it felt awesome to have a teammate and someone to be accountable with.  Maybe you have someone who would help you stay accountable to your goals.  I know it sounds corny, but, it helped me to find other things in my life to soothe self.  Eating less will leave a hole in your life.  Try to fill it with something positive and exciting.  Treat yourself to experiences to replace food.  I doubled down on my investment learning in the evenings when cravings were the hardest.  I had mint tea with nothing in it because it has an interesting taste on its own.  That is just me. 

Good luck out there.  We are thinking happy thoughts for you.  Please eat whole vegetables and don't juice.  You miss out on so much when you juice. 

[sixwings]

Team,

Cutting right too it. I am pretty chunky right now, and honestly always have been but never to this level. I am looking for information on diets and not flashy ones, just good science. I really SUCK at diets. I can lift, and even maintain some light cardio with a plan, but my diet sucks.

I don't need to get into excuse land, but the pandemic really threw off my routine. Ordering in a lot, turning lazy, and maybe even some mental stress from a job I just left. I was around 235 but now I am pushing 260. 25 Pounds up. This is the first time I notice my actual quality of life being affected. I don't fit into my motorcycle gear as well, my pants are tight, I get more winded doing basic shit, ect. Yikes!


What I am good at...

Weight Lifting, I have decent routines and generally can lift fairly heavy. I usually rotate bi, tri, shoulder, back-squat, dead lifts, and a few others. I haven't been good about DOING it for the last 2-3 months, but this can change and I have no issues sticking to a decent plan of 3-4 times a week on this.



What I am not good at...

Diet. I get the jist of it, no sugar, limit carbs. Though, what does that actually look like? Do you follow macro's? I can cook pretty well, so I am looking for ideas. Tips. Tricks. Reading material... etc

I have lost weight on 2 occasions in my past, once going from 245 to 220. This was 7ish years ago, I managed to keep most of that off, sticking to about 230 for 4-5 years. 230 is still very fat.

The Plan...

I am around 260lbs, and 6ft tall. I need to get back to around 220. Outside of starting to lift again, with regularity, I plan on implementing some sort of intermittent fasting, cutting sugar and starting to cook daily. I still need to figure out WHAT I am cooking, and my calorie/ macro numbers.


The ultimate goal...

At the end of the day, 220 and i'll be pleased. I would love to hit 200, but one step at a time!



Any help is appreciated!

I am a competitive bodybuilder who actually won a title recently.  The one bit of advice I would tell you is to spend twenty bucks.

Get a food scale at Walmart. 

Then go online to MyFitnessPal.  It's free and takes 30 seconds.

Then use it religiously.

Most persons can fool themselves about what they eat every day.  You will hear how they have "tried everything" but can't lose weight.  Really?  Try counting macros and calories?  LOL!  Then you will hear about so and so's cousin who ate everything in sight but could not gain weight.  Studies repeatedly show that thinner folks eat less than they think, and heavier folks eat more. 

So track it. 

Then you control everything.  You may not be aiming at competing in bodybuilding, but I mention this because it works, and there really is no good substitute.  Weigh, measure, track.  Stop when you hit your macros for the day.

Ok, I said "one bit of advice," but I will give you two.  The second it so up your protein.  Up it.  How much?  Oh, higher than that.  Eating high protein works when cutting bodyfat.  Again, there have been studies done on this (real ones).  Higher protein works, period.  There is not an upper limit to it (and you would not hit it consistently and daily even if there was, because you would be miserable eating all of that meat).  Given your weight, I would shoot for a minimum of 250 grams of protein a day, and this is not counting "shakes" and other nonsense marketing gimmicks.  Eat real food.  This generally means eggs and meats. 

Get fats to below 50 grams a day (which means your protein won't be coming from cheeseburgers all day).

250 grams of protein is 1000 calories.  50 grams of fat is 450 calories.

So now we are up to 1450 calories a day.  You need more for lifting and cardio.

Then fill in the rest with carbs.  Like others have said above, carbs are not the devil.  They fuel your weightlifting workouts.  You don't need carbs in every meal.   Put them right around your workout time.


How many carbs?  It does not matter.  Pick a level.  Let's say you start with 250 grams a day.  Now your total calorie count is 2450 a day, right?

So do it for a week.  Weigh yourself at the end of the week.  Did you lose weight?  Yes?  Ok, then keep on this for another week?  Did you lose weight?  No?  Ok, pull out 300 calories (all from fats and carbs, never protein) and do another week, then step on the scale, and so on.

The first ten pounds or so are not fat.  They are glycogen and water.  So get the first ten pounds out of the way before you start looking for bodyfat reductions in the mirror.

DO take pictures before your start.  You are going to want to take some more in the same position and lighting in a few months.

This works.  As you can see, it is not a gimmick.  It is just discipline and consistent effort.

I hope this advice helps.

Do cardio <---   You can progressively ramp this up, too, like your weight training, adding minutes as you can handle more. 

I guess I should mention that you should be working progressively at weight training, too.  If you are not trying to increase your reps or your weight or your sets, then you are losing out on many of the benefits of weight training for your goals.

Op here...
What does this generally look like for a daily meal plan? 6 chicken breasts? Just curious for a mental image.

Depends on what you like eating and what your goals are. For a title winning body builder, he probably eats a fair amount of lean meats like chicken breast. It's probably the most efficient way to get a lot of protein but it's not very interesting. There's lots of great ways to get a lot of protein. For instance, I eat overnight oatmeal every morning that's half a cup of oats, half a cup of milk, some frozen fruit, a banana, some yoghurt with protein powder mixed in, it's about 600 calories, has 64g of protein, amd keeps me full until lunch (I'm 6'2 male, 185 lbs, work out every morning then bike to work). Lunches sometimes are chicken breasts, but not very frequently, they are too boring reheated at work. I make a lot of stews with lots of beans, sometimes meat, chilis, soups, etc. A nice snack is cottage cheese with some fruit in it. I eat about 200g of protein a day in about 2200 calories when i'm losing weight with very few chicken breasts. Saying you need at least 250g of protein a day seems like bro-science to me, but more protein isn't a bad thing.

If I were you, I'd  focus on just tracking what you eat through myfitnesspal and getting on a calorie budget every day. Keep it simple for now to get going. Once you've got that going you can start with more meal planning and macro planning/tracking for specific goals you have (building muscle mass = more protein and designing meals around that) based on foods you like to eat.  But focus first on just measuring and tracking everything you eat and achieving a sustainable healthy calorie deficit (500 calorie deficit a day = 1lb of weight loss a week) based on what you like to eat. When I'm meal planning I put whatever I'm thinking of making into the recipe tracker in myfitnesspal and then play around with quantities, servings, ingredients, etc to get to the calorie and macro count i want for each meal. I now have like 80 recipes that I can just make when I want to so meal planning is really easy for me. 

If you really want a lot of protein with very few calories, have scrambled for breakfast and mix in a bunch of egg whites. I usually do 2-3 eggs + half a cup of egg whites, egg whites add very few calories and tons of protein.

This can help you get a general understanding of how many calories you need and you can adjust as you go.

https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

[GreenSheep]

As others have said, don't think of it as a temporary diet with a short-term weight loss goal, but a way of eating to achieve and sustain long-term health. And keep in mind WHY you want to do this. Just looking good in your pants won't sustain you long-term. Think about things you want to be able to do with your healthy body.

Calorie density will save you from counting every last calorie. Things that have more water and fiber are going to fill you up better than things that don't, so you can eat fewer calories without being hungry (think of an apple versus a tablespoon of butter). You can look up calorie density charts online and eat from the lower end of them. Just have a general idea of what types of foods are low in calorie density (fruits, vegetables) and what types are high (oil), and eat toward the middle/lower end of the spectrum.

Food addiction. If there are things that make you want to keep eating, get rid of them. You might be a potato chip person or a cookie person or whatever. If you can have just a little bit of something that's not particularly healthy, and that makes you happy, then great, have one cookie or five potato chips. But if you can't, then find other things to eat instead. Some people do better with abstaining, and some people do better with moderating. But if you're a "moderator," make sure you're honest with yourself.

Use the good stuff to crowd out the bad stuff. Instead of thinking about "giving up" all the junk, think about all the beautiful, fresh, colorful fruits, vegetables, etc. you get to eat. Try new grains, new beans, new vegetables, whatever you can find that's healthy and that you're excited about. But as others said, vegetables are your new best friend. And they can be delicious! Try roasting or air-frying them, and play around with spices.

If you feel like eating something unhealthy, tell yourself that you have to eat X healthy food first (a salad, an apple, whatever) first, and then if you're still truly hungry, you can have the unhealthy thing. Most of the time, you won't want it anymore.

Don't be afraid of complex carbs. Simple carbs, yeah, all junk. But whole foods like intact grains, potatoes (gasp, yes, I said potatoes!), sweet potatoes, winter squash... those things are filling and satisfying, and you will need to eat them in addition to fruits and vegetables in order to avoid being ravenously hungry all the time. And beans! Those are super filling! You can only fight hunger for so long. We're all here because our ancestors ate when food was available and were good at storing calories. So there's nothing wrong with your body -- it's just adapted for a different environment than what we live in now, as far as food goes.

Be careful about what you put ON your food in addition to the main component of the food itself. No point in eating a bowl of vegetables if it's drowning in 4 tablespoons of butter or oil. Similarly, pay attention to all the "incidental" intake, like licking the spoon after making your kids' peanut butter sandwiches. That tablespoon of peanut butter won't make you feel full and has a lot of calories. Nothing wrong with (a little) peanut butter, but don't eat stuff like that mindlessly!

I heard this analogy recently... if you're driving down the road and mess up and get into the ditch, you don't just keep driving through the ditch and into the house by the road. You correct yourself immediately and get back on the road. Same with healthy habits. Don't throw in the towel for the whole day just because you had a bite of cake. Just make sure your next bite is something good for you. Not only is it healthier than wallowing in junk food for the rest of the day, you will feel SO good about yourself and being in control of what goes into your stomach!

Keep healthy "emergency foods" in the freezer or pantry for those hectic days so you have no excuses. Homemade whole meals you can throw in the microwave, or ingredients for things you can quickly put together for a healthy meal that will keep you from ordering pizza. Even just whole wheat pasta and a jar of sauce is infinitely better than fast food. Also take healthy snacks with you when you go out, so you'll always have something good to eat if you get delayed.

On a busy day, if you have to choose between preparing/eating healthy food and exercising, choose the food. Exercise has tons of benefits, but you can't outrun a bad diet.

[MrThatsDifferent]

If you’re serious, consider this:
Exercise
1. Focus on HIIT workouts, aim for 30-45 min 3x a week, full body workouts the best
2. Walk every morning, first thing, as early as you can safely for at least an hour, aim for 10k steps minimum throughout the day
3. Find some sport you like, join a club or something and do that for fun 1-2x a week

Food
1. Avoid the white stuff (sugar, salt, flour, rice and potatoes), substitute with the dark versions if you have to but avoid for 60 days if you can, except for yams/sweet potatoes
2. Plan your meals out, do the cooking yourself or have a food service
3. Increase amount of green vegetables
4. No fast food, alcohol or artificial sugar drinks for 60 days
5. Replace dinner plates with the bread plates and keep your meals to that size 4-5x a day
6. Have one day as vegetarian day (use protein shakes and green smoothies)
7. Increase water intake until you’re peeing clear or light yellow, not dark yellow

Habits
1. Use free version of Lose it or My Fitness Pal to log food, weight and exercise
2. Get a fitness tracker to count steps
3. Weigh yourself naked every morning after peeing
4. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep, don’t take electronics into the bedroom (no phone, tablet or tv)
5. Don’t sit longer than an hour without moving
6. Whatever your food crutch is when you get down or need a pick up, take a 60 day break
7. Write out your goals, post it somewhere you can see daily
8. Tell people you love and ask to be held accountable
9. Give yourself a reward not connected to food
10. Love yourself and tell yourself you’re worthy of a healthy life, and believe it!

[achvfi]

While exercise is important, it is not as important as the diet is for sustainable weightless.

Try low carb, it works like magic.

Reduce carbs as much as you can (less than 100g per day at least, mostly with non starchy vegetables) and prioritize eating meats. Make bulk of your meal filled with animal proteins and fat. Slowly replace carbs with meats more and more. You can eat meat to your content, you dont need to starve. You will see the magic yourself.

Avoid sugar, starches, grains and vegetable oils (including olive avocado oils).

Overtime you will cravings will disappear.  Your body will be satisfied with food eat. You will heal and you will lose your excess weight.

[Metalcat]

If you’re serious, consider this:
Exercise
1. Focus on HIIT workouts, aim for 30-45 min 3x a week, full body workouts the best
2. Walk every morning, first thing, as early as you can safely for at least an hour, aim for 10k steps minimum throughout the day
3. Find some sport you like, join a club or something and do that for fun 1-2x a week

Food
1. Avoid the white stuff (sugar, salt, flour, rice and potatoes), substitute with the dark versions if you have to but avoid for 60 days if you can, except for yams/sweet potatoes
2. Plan your meals out, do the cooking yourself or have a food service
3. Increase amount of green vegetables
4. No fast food, alcohol or artificial sugar drinks for 60 days
5. Replace dinner plates with the bread plates and keep your meals to that size 4-5x a day
6. Have one day as vegetarian day (use protein shakes and green smoothies)
7. Increase water intake until you’re peeing clear or light yellow, not dark yellow

Habits
1. Use free version of Lose it or My Fitness Pal to log food, weight and exercise
2. Get a fitness tracker to count steps
3. Weigh yourself naked every morning after peeing
4. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep, don’t take electronics into the bedroom (no phone, tablet or tv)
5. Don’t sit longer than an hour without moving
6. Whatever your food crutch is when you get down or need a pick up, take a 60 day break
7. Write out your goals, post it somewhere you can see daily
8. Tell people you love and ask to be held accountable
9. Give yourself a reward not connected to food
10. Love yourself and tell yourself you’re worthy of a healthy life, and believe it!

If by "serious" you mean impatient to see rapid results, then sure.

But I would argue that the most "serious" way is to make permanent sustainable changes that are likely to stick, and to continue doing so until reaching their ideal healthy lifestyle.

Doing more all at once is not predictive of long term success for people with a longstanding history of simply not living that way. There's usually a reason they're not eating well, and it's not usually because they just don't know better.

This is also a state of readiness thing. People in the active or maintenance phase of readiness for change always think that it's just so easy to *do the thing*, when really, if they're talking to someone in the contemplation stage, they're speaking a totally different language.

So for example, if I know I don't work out enough because I'm a busy, exhausted, single working parent, and I speak to my childfree friend who does HIIT every morning, their advice might be "just sign up at my HIIT gym, they have classes at 5 am! I guarantee you will see results!"

Well sure, that advice might be fair for someone who is already in the action phase, but it's beyond useless for someone in contemplation or pre contemplation. The key is to find ways to move through to the next stage of readiness, and that's where incremental, manageable changes usually work much better for people who are "serious" about making permanent behavioural changes.

Note, in no way am I saying that any of the advice given in this thread doesn't make sense, I'm just unconvinced about OP's state of readiness for change, because they're not using change language, they're using problem language, and that's contemplation stage framing.

The most common mistake people make in adopting new healthy habits is acting too quickly while still stuck in the contemplation stage, because that sets them up for burnout and failure.

[TheAnonOne]

This is awesome stuff guys.

Ultimately, I would like to stick to meals and food ideas.... I know there is a lot of mental hurdles for folks around weight, I don't have any reason I can't jump in and be successful I just really need to build my "cookbook" if you will.

Workout plans are good too. Always nice to have a few things to do.

[TheAnonOne]

Don't just lift.  Don't get me wrong, weightlifting is great . . . but aim to do 30-60 minutes of light cardio each day.  Doesn't have to be destroying yourself when you do it - just go for a walk, do some skipping, ride a bicycle, etc.  But make it a daily activity that you do - every day - along with your weightlifting.  If it's too boring, gradually ramp up intensity over a couple months . . . but the goal is to supplement your muscle generating exercises with some that will simply fire those muscles up and burn more calories.

Don't drink calories.  Drink water or black coffee - and pretty much nothing else.  Drinking calories is the easiest way to overeat that I know of . . . they don't make you feel full at all so it's really easy to overdo it.  No juice, no milk, no soda, no egg nog, no beer, no booze.  Don't drink artificially sweetened drinks either.  Getting used to having sweet stuff all the time seems to make me more liable to overeat when I'm eating desserts.

The easiest way I know of to do portion control is raw veggies.  Each time you eat a meal, make sure that at least half of your plate is a mix of raw vegetables - carrots, beets, radishes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc.  Before you eat anything else, you finish all the raw vegetables on your plate.  You'll find that you're much fuller after the veggies and will tend to not want to overeat the other stuff.

About 10 minutes before each meal have a large glass of water.  This also helps your stomach feel more full while you're eating, so less likely to overeat.

I don't recommend trying to cut all sugar or all processed foods out of your diet entirely.  That can be miserable if you're like me and have a sweet tooth.  Just limit portions, and follow the above tips before consuming them to help reduce the chance of overdoing things.

Are you legitimately eating like... a full carrot while your food gets cold? :) I don't hate this idea, this definitely seems a bit foreign to me though

[Uturn]

Change your view the purpose of food.  Food is to nourish your body, not make the hunger go away. If you are properly nourished, you won't be hungry.  However, you can make the hunger stop and not be nourished.

Most North American people don't eat enough vegetables.  Cut back on non-vegetables and especially processed food.  You would be surprised at how much sugar and salt is in processed and restaurant food.  I think it was the Irish equivalent of the FDA ruled that Subway bread was actually a pastry due to the sugar content.  I lost 20lbs when the pandemic hit because I stopped eating out.  Lost another 10 when cut way back on meat.  I went from eating meat 2-3 meals per day to about 3-4 per week.

Don't think too hard about what veggies, just get more.  Make you dinner colorful.  Go to a grocery store with a large produce section, H Mart is glorious.  Once a week, pick out something that you don't know, buy it, go home and Google how to prepare it.

[GreenSheep]

Don't just lift.  Don't get me wrong, weightlifting is great . . . but aim to do 30-60 minutes of light cardio each day.  Doesn't have to be destroying yourself when you do it - just go for a walk, do some skipping, ride a bicycle, etc.  But make it a daily activity that you do - every day - along with your weightlifting.  If it's too boring, gradually ramp up intensity over a couple months . . . but the goal is to supplement your muscle generating exercises with some that will simply fire those muscles up and burn more calories.

Don't drink calories.  Drink water or black coffee - and pretty much nothing else.  Drinking calories is the easiest way to overeat that I know of . . . they don't make you feel full at all so it's really easy to overdo it.  No juice, no milk, no soda, no egg nog, no beer, no booze.  Don't drink artificially sweetened drinks either.  Getting used to having sweet stuff all the time seems to make me more liable to overeat when I'm eating desserts.

The easiest way I know of to do portion control is raw veggies.  Each time you eat a meal, make sure that at least half of your plate is a mix of raw vegetables - carrots, beets, radishes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc.  Before you eat anything else, you finish all the raw vegetables on your plate.  You'll find that you're much fuller after the veggies and will tend to not want to overeat the other stuff.

About 10 minutes before each meal have a large glass of water.  This also helps your stomach feel more full while you're eating, so less likely to overeat.

I don't recommend trying to cut all sugar or all processed foods out of your diet entirely.  That can be miserable if you're like me and have a sweet tooth.  Just limit portions, and follow the above tips before consuming them to help reduce the chance of overdoing things.

Are you legitimately eating like... a full carrot while your food gets cold? :) I don't hate this idea, this definitely seems a bit foreign to me though

I don't do that, but I do make sure that about half of each meal (visually) is non-starchy veggies. They're healthy, filling, and decrease the overall calorie density of a meal. So it could be a a bunch of raw vegetables or a plate of crunchy air-fried veggies with balsamic vinegar drizzled on them, or it could be a veggie lasagna (go easy on the cheese or, even better, skip it in favor of a nut-, squash-, or potato-based cheesy sauce) or a dal with lots of vegetables in it or a bunch of tacos that are stuffed with lots of seasoned vegetables. I've had the most luck with "ethnic" dishes, because outside the US, people do tend to eat more vegetables. Try to see vegetables as a more important part of the meal instead of a sad, limp thing you dumped out of a can as an afterthought.

You can add vegetables to just about anything, so as you're planning/cooking meals, just ask yourself, "How can I add vegetables to this?" They can be a large side or incorporated into the main course, but just get them in there! If you do make them as a separate dish from the main course, then if you go back for seconds, have seconds of the vegetables first and THEN the other part of the meal, if you're still hungry after the second portion of vegetables.

[GoConfidently]

You asked for meal and food ideas, so I’m going to stick to that. Most people who think they’re not “good” at cooking are really just boring cooks because they don’t use complex flavors (and I know you said you’re a good cook, but eating out too much might just mean you’re sick of your own go-to flavor profiles). Learn to make sauces and dips that are healthy. If you can have a variety of sauces on hand and available that you love, salads and veggies and plain meats and grains will be so much better.

This video has a good all purpose dressing and tomato sauce: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xAIerfe3m8U

This channel has lots of great vegan ideas and these dressings are all oil/gluten free: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SzH9DNRCQgQ

I try to keep on hand: pesto, at least one good vinaigrette, hot sauce/salsa, peanut sauce, plus hummus and guacamole as a starting point. As long as you don’t overuse them, sauces can give you flexibility (grilled chicken on salad with a vinaigrette on day 1, and the same chicken with beans and a salsa in corn tortillas the next day, and on day 3 grilled chicken with a side of pesto whole wheat pasta) and make your home cooked meals feel as exciting as restaurant meals. I find that boring meals also make me snacky because I am craving flavor, even if I’m not necessarily hungry.

For instance, my dinner tonight was a “clear out the leftovers” meal. I had roasted carrots and parsnips, and quinoa with chickpeas, sautéed onions, and spinach. It was dry and unexciting until I added a little homemade peanut sauce dressing to it and mixed it all up. Delicious and super filling.

Get saucy. Life is too short to eat blah food, even when you’re trying to lose weight.

[Runrooster]

4. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep, don’t take electronics into the bedroom (no phone, tablet or tv)

8. Tell people you love and ask to be held accountable

I was also going to mention the importance of sleep and its bedfellow, stress.

I have mixed feelings about telling other people though.  I don't like making other people, even close loved ones, into food police or cheerleaders.  I see this in my life in two places:  my brother has been an unsuccessful dieter most of his life; I admit to having tried to be if not police then temptor with healthy home-cooked meals.  Now, his kids berate him (not an exaggeration) when he eats: guavas, chocolate-covered strawberries at his mother's bday party, pineapple.  I get it, they think he needs to stick to his "only berries" rule, but realistically, it's a pretty minor treat, eaten outside the house where no berries were available.  He eats much, much more carby, caloric foods too, but if they don't watch him do it, they can't police it.  I don't know, it's just a very disturbing thing to watch a 14 year old calling out his father for some minor food trespass, much less in the middle of a bday party.

The other place I see it is that the coworker I shared an office with decided to use me as her sounding board because she read that it helps to tell someone.  No specific strict rules, but she would inform me about every food or exercise accomplishment or cheat.  I walked an extra half hour, I ate 2 (20-calorie) pieces of hard candy, my husband brought home pizza - whatever.  Who even knows what she wanted - a gold star, a spanking, permission to go off-diet?  I kind of lost it when she told me her husband gave her raisins to take to work so she wouldn't eat the candy.  If I'm ever that irritating, can someone please shoot me?

The alternative that I have to offer is to write a food journal.  I kept one for like a decade, and I had an excel spreadsheet.  Basically it listed the day, weight, how much I ate (rough caloric estimate), how much I intentional exercised (roughly), and a brief listing of what I ate.  I didn't input everything into myfitnessplan because that's way too exhausting (may be easier now).  Actually one of the biggest ideas here is that I would write down what I *planned* to eat the next day, later update with actual.   Calories low for awhile, cheat okay.  Exercise high for awhile, also okay.   Too many cheats, too little exercise, you see it in the numbers.

ETA: I think a large part of my aversion to telling people comes from the way "diet talk" forms a part of female culture.  The amount of energy that goes into discussing every pound gained or lost, every food eaten or not, every workout, is mind-boggling. 

[wenchsenior]

This is awesome stuff guys.

Ultimately, I would like to stick to meals and food ideas.... I know there is a lot of mental hurdles for folks around weight, I don't have any reason I can't jump in and be successful I just really need to build my "cookbook" if you will.

Workout plans are good too. Always nice to have a few things to do.

I generally agree with the advice to just build your meals around fresh produce. At least half the plate should be produce. Start off with produce you already like, just increase the size of the amount on the plate (and correspondingly decrease the size of portions of other stuff).  Branch out to try new veggies/fruit as desired.

For example, my husband and I eat a huge salad, with a little meat (could also top with hard boiled eggs) on the side, for dinner probably 4 days per week.  I don't mean lettuce with a few shredded carrots, I mean e.g., lettuce,, carrots, onions, tomatoes, radishes, avocado, celery, dried cranberries or other fruit, sprinkling of nuts and crumbled chips (tortilla or sweet potato).  No cheese, though a light sprinkling would be fine.  Vinegar and oil dressing.  Small amount of lean meat on the side.

Very simple, can be changed up a lot with slight variants of veggies, fruit, and dressing. Salads are just fantastic. Tons of nutrients, few calories, tons of variety, totally delicious.   Just make a few different lower fat dressings and keep them around for variety, and start subbing different salads in for lunch or dinner.


ETA: It might help if you could outline meals that are particularly challenging, or what you typically eat that you think is problematic, or anything you particularly hate.  I know some people who simply won't eat salads for example. I find those people slightly insane, but many of them exist. If you are one of these people, then my suggestion above is obviously not helpful.

[GreenSheep]

I know some people who simply won't eat salads for example. I find those people slightly insane, but many of them exist. If you are one of these people, then my suggestion above is obviously not helpful.

I was never much of a salad eater until I learned how to make them better. I still don't want them daily, but I like an occasional salad (usually in the summer, and only with an excellent dressing), and I agree that a pile of lettuce is not a salad. In addition to a wide variety of vegetables, and occasionally fruits, I also add grains and beans, and maybe a few chopped nuts (like a tablespoon) on top if I'm not already using a nut-based dressing. Then it's filling and satisfying as a meal. I love most of the salad (and more importantly, dressing!) recipes at monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com.

When I make salads, I cut everything REALLY small. I mean so small I sometimes end up eating my salads with a spoon. That way you get a little of each flavor in every bite, it doesn't take a decade to chew, and you're not trying to cram unwieldy leaves into your mouth and splashing dressing on your cheeks in the process. How did salads become the stereotypical first date meal for women? What a mess!

But this time of year, I really prefer warm foods, so I eat cooked vegetables. I think it's totally doable to lose weight and be healthy without ever eating a salad. They're helpful for those who like them, but they're not required!

[Metalcat]

This is awesome stuff guys.

Ultimately, I would like to stick to meals and food ideas.... I know there is a lot of mental hurdles for folks around weight, I don't have any reason I can't jump in and be successful I just really need to build my "cookbook" if you will.

Workout plans are good too. Always nice to have a few things to do.

To be clear, my point was not specifically about emotional issues about food and weight, my point is about making *any* significant, daily lifestyle change.

It's a lot of work to add new recipes to your "cookbook", whenever I take on too many new recipes in a week, it's really tedious and makes me hate cooking. You want to set yourself up for success by understanding what prevented you in the first place from eating healthier meals, and then you will know how to tackle the challenge of totally rehabbing the way you plan, shop, prepare, and eat food.

For me, the easiest is to bulk cook nutritious recipes, portion them out into individual containers, and then that's it, that's what I get to eat. I keep no snacks in the house except for vegetables, almonds, yogurt, and hard boiled eggs in the fridge at all times. So if I'm genuinely hungry, I have good sources of fats and proteins to eat, and if I'm just feeling munchy, I can chew on vegetables. It has really helped me identify the difference between feeling legitimately hungry and snacky, which is really key to eating properly for health and weight maintenance.

[MrThatsDifferent]

This is awesome stuff guys.

Ultimately, I would like to stick to meals and food ideas.... I know there is a lot of mental hurdles for folks around weight, I don't have any reason I can't jump in and be successful I just really need to build my "cookbook" if you will.

Workout plans are good too. Always nice to have a few things to do.

Meals? I’m a keep is quick and simple person. Get a George Foreman grill or equivalent and have a palm size of meat, fistful of vegetables and 3 fingers of carbs (non white ones). Grill meat and vegetables in less than 10 min. Greek yogurt with protein powder and berries for breakfast. Log your food.

Workouts? Google the 7 minute workout (there are free apps) and do this workout 4-6 sets with 1-2 minutes rest between sets. And do the walking every morning! Easiest way to lose weight.

[sonofsven]

OK, meal ideas.
 
I found I need a solid breakfast or I start craving carbs in the middle of the day.
I really simplified my breakfasts, typically I start to saute some mini sweet peppers, or beets, (or broccoli, or cauliflower, or sweet potatoes, whatever) and kale in olive oil then crack an egg in. Sometimes I have a piece of toast or a small tortilla but not always. To the egg and veg I usually add salsa, sour cream, and avocado.

The other breakfast I make starts with cooked oatmeal. I dry roast some walnuts quickly on the stove top in a little cast iron pan, I saute some kale quickly. With the oatmeal in a bowl I add a little olive oil, the kale, nuts, and pour some Braggs liquid aminos over it, and add (sounds familiar...) salsa, sour cream, and avocado.
This is 90% of my breakfasts. Sometimes it's just an egg and kale (I grow kale so I usually have plenty).

I also soak almonds in liquid aminos overnight and strain them and eat them for a snack. I'm a bad snacker and I have a sweet tooth so I have to keep that stuff away. I'll add chocolate chips and the almonds mixed for a treat; my other treat I make is homemade oatmeal. The other snack I like is sliced apples with peanut butter.

[Metalcat]

I kept breakfast much simpler.
I've had Vega One with yogurt every workday morning for 7 years.

I had a physically demanding job where I couldn't take breaks, so I needed a meal that reliably kept me full and energized for 6 solid hours, and Vega One with yogurt was the only thing that worked for me.

For the first chunk of my weight loss from obese down to high healthy weight, all of my other meals were basically the same. I would make a small piece of meat, often fish,nand serve it with a chopped salad of: avocado, tomato, peppers, and cucumber, so almost like a Greek salad, drizzled with a bit of balsamic glaze, or olive oil and spices.

Sometimes i would just have meat and veggies, and sometimes I would pile the veggies on top of a seasoned grain, so spicy Moroccan couscous, seasoned rice, etc. Then I would eat the same thing for leftovers for lunch the next day.

So I basically ate essentially the same food every day for a year and lost over 40lbs with virtually no effort, and no significant exercise.

The best part was that it required very little cooking. I could thaw a freeze-dried Costco fish filet in 5 minutes, and then broil it for 10 minutes. And in that 15 minutes, chop up the veggies. So a full meal for myself and DH for dinner and lunch the next day in 15 minutes from start to finish.

[seemsright]

I am currently trying to fix my stress level as this pandemic has made it sky high and has caused physical issues.

To do this I am not wanting to eat more than 2ish times a day. So my meals are bigger and higher in protein and fat than normal. And I am starting to feel so much better so it is working for me.

Brunch I will make a protein source, a slice of toast, a couple eggs, what ever veggie I have, some fruit and coffee and I am good to go till dinner.

Dinner could be anything from some roasted salmon, veggie and some rice, to a bowl of chicken veggie soup.

I am finding with trying to relax, and I just do not need as much food. And I want food that I feel is nourishing my body.

But when I am training for a Tri or a full marathon, my diet is much different. I will be eating bowls of oatmeal with peanut butter and fruit. And many more sandwiches, and potato based meals.

So diet can change based on what you are trying to do.

The only way to find out is to experiment. What works for me may or may not work for you.

[sixwings]

I'm a big fan of overnight oatmeal for breakfast/brunch. Make it the night before and it's good to go in the morning. I get up at 5am, walk my dogs, then bike to the gym, then bike to work (I prefer working in the office) so by the time i get to the office i've had 2-3 hours of exercise so i'm absolutely ravenous. Overnight oatmeal is the only thing ive found that is super convenient (just gotta pull it out of the fridge and stick in the pannier in the morning) and fills me up until lunch. I've been eating it for 5 years and i still look forward to it every morning.

[Malum Prohibitum]

Team,

Cutting right too it. I am pretty chunky right now, and honestly always have been but never to this level. I am looking for information on diets and not flashy ones, just good science. I really SUCK at diets. I can lift, and even maintain some light cardio with a plan, but my diet sucks.

I don't need to get into excuse land, but the pandemic really threw off my routine. Ordering in a lot, turning lazy, and maybe even some mental stress from a job I just left. I was around 235 but now I am pushing 260. 25 Pounds up. This is the first time I notice my actual quality of life being affected. I don't fit into my motorcycle gear as well, my pants are tight, I get more winded doing basic shit, ect. Yikes!


What I am good at...

Weight Lifting, I have decent routines and generally can lift fairly heavy. I usually rotate bi, tri, shoulder, back-squat, dead lifts, and a few others. I haven't been good about DOING it for the last 2-3 months, but this can change and I have no issues sticking to a decent plan of 3-4 times a week on this.



What I am not good at...

Diet. I get the jist of it, no sugar, limit carbs. Though, what does that actually look like? Do you follow macro's? I can cook pretty well, so I am looking for ideas. Tips. Tricks. Reading material... etc

I have lost weight on 2 occasions in my past, once going from 245 to 220. This was 7ish years ago, I managed to keep most of that off, sticking to about 230 for 4-5 years. 230 is still very fat.

The Plan...

I am around 260lbs, and 6ft tall. I need to get back to around 220. Outside of starting to lift again, with regularity, I plan on implementing some sort of intermittent fasting, cutting sugar and starting to cook daily. I still need to figure out WHAT I am cooking, and my calorie/ macro numbers.


The ultimate goal...

At the end of the day, 220 and i'll be pleased. I would love to hit 200, but one step at a time!



Any help is appreciated!

I am a competitive bodybuilder who actually won a title recently.  The one bit of advice I would tell you is to spend twenty bucks.

Get a food scale at Walmart. 

Then go online to MyFitnessPal.  It's free and takes 30 seconds.

Then use it religiously.

Most persons can fool themselves about what they eat every day.  You will hear how they have "tried everything" but can't lose weight.  Really?  Try counting macros and calories?  LOL!  Then you will hear about so and so's cousin who ate everything in sight but could not gain weight.  Studies repeatedly show that thinner folks eat less than they think, and heavier folks eat more. 

So track it. 

Then you control everything.  You may not be aiming at competing in bodybuilding, but I mention this because it works, and there really is no good substitute.  Weigh, measure, track.  Stop when you hit your macros for the day.

Ok, I said "one bit of advice," but I will give you two.  The second it so up your protein.  Up it.  How much?  Oh, higher than that.  Eating high protein works when cutting bodyfat.  Again, there have been studies done on this (real ones).  Higher protein works, period.  There is not an upper limit to it (and you would not hit it consistently and daily even if there was, because you would be miserable eating all of that meat).  Given your weight, I would shoot for a minimum of 250 grams of protein a day, and this is not counting "shakes" and other nonsense marketing gimmicks.  Eat real food.  This generally means eggs and meats. 

Get fats to below 50 grams a day (which means your protein won't be coming from cheeseburgers all day).

250 grams of protein is 1000 calories.  50 grams of fat is 450 calories.

So now we are up to 1450 calories a day.  You need more for lifting and cardio.

Then fill in the rest with carbs.  Like others have said above, carbs are not the devil.  They fuel your weightlifting workouts.  You don't need carbs in every meal.   Put them right around your workout time.


How many carbs?  It does not matter.  Pick a level.  Let's say you start with 250 grams a day.  Now your total calorie count is 2450 a day, right?

So do it for a week.  Weigh yourself at the end of the week.  Did you lose weight?  Yes?  Ok, then keep on this for another week?  Did you lose weight?  No?  Ok, pull out 300 calories (all from fats and carbs, never protein) and do another week, then step on the scale, and so on.

The first ten pounds or so are not fat.  They are glycogen and water.  So get the first ten pounds out of the way before you start looking for bodyfat reductions in the mirror.

DO take pictures before your start.  You are going to want to take some more in the same position and lighting in a few months.

This works.  As you can see, it is not a gimmick.  It is just discipline and consistent effort.

I hope this advice helps.

Do cardio <---   You can progressively ramp this up, too, like your weight training, adding minutes as you can handle more. 

I guess I should mention that you should be working progressively at weight training, too.  If you are not trying to increase your reps or your weight or your sets, then you are losing out on many of the benefits of weight training for your goals.

Op here...
What does this generally look like for a daily meal plan? 6 chicken breasts? Just curious for a mental image.

Sorry for the delay in responding.

Chicken breast - My wife and I eat a lot of that due to cost, and low fat.  Chicken breast is about 9 grams of protein per ounce.  So roughly 27 ounces of chicken breast if that was going to be the sole source of your protein.  But I would not recommend that, because it would be boring.  Thankfully, my wife is an excellent cook who finds ways to make chicken breast delightful.  Fish and beef, too.

Eggs every morning get in part of my protein count for the day.

Let me be clear, you can obviously cut fat without increasing protein so high.   Increasing protein, however, is better in that your outcome will be better, and this has been tested many times in real studies with very high protein intakes during fat loss.  You appear to care about body composition and not just moving the needle on the scale, and increasing the protein will help with that (along with other things you are doing like lifting weights).


So, to answer your question, what it looks like for me is 6-8 eggs in the a.m. (although I decrease the number of yolks when I am cutting to get fat down, so it might be only 2-3 eggs cooked with a bunch of liquid egg whites to get the protein count up) and 4-5 meals additional meals spread out throughout the day with roughly a half pound of meat, usually chicken, but sometimes fish or beef or venison.

I hope that explanation helps, and good luck.   

One poster stated above that this approach may be an extreme, and that person is right, but the results are extreme, too.    It's like the difference between saving 5-10% of your income or saving half or more.  It's extreme, but so are the results if done consistently.

[former player]

There's a lot of good advice on this thread, but I can add or emphasize a few things.

1.  What's right for someone else might not be right for you.

2.  Introducing new foods and recipes just makes you think more about food when in order to eat less you need to be thinking about it less.  Instead, make small changes to what you are already eating, and once one small change has bedded into your lifestyle then make another.

3.  Eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetable each day.  If you aren't doing this already the first thing you should do is add this to what you normally eat.  5 a day gets easier if there is at least one portion of fruit or vegetables in your breakfast.

4.  Weighing food and counting calories is not for me.  Instead I base my intake on the crockery I use: one dinner plate of food a day plus one side plate of food a day plus one bowl of food a day.   (Watch out for the size of your crockery: a standard dinner plate used to be 8" or 9" in diameter but newer dinner plates are now 10" or more in diameter.)    Your height and weightlifting means that your crockery amounts will be bigger than mine, but start by noticing what your current usual day is like in terms of crockery used and work from that.

5.  Work on cutting down, and eventually out, fizzy and sugary drinks.  Snacks between meals should be single ingredient items that have not been cooked or manufactured - fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and so on (dried fruit pieces are OK).

6.  Take this one with a pinch of salt as it is based on personal experience and may well not be applicable.  After a high cholesterol reading I cut dairy out of my diet and then realised (when I went back to dairy after a month) that I had been living with a minor food intolerance to it for a long time.  There were a number of small health issues resolved by stopping dairy that hadn't been enough of an issue to trouble a doctor with, my waistline shrank as my guts stopped being inflamed, I stopped equating hurting guts with hunger pains and my cholesterol levels have been healthy ever since.  So I've been avoiding and substituting dairy ever since and feel a lot better for it.  Lactose in dairy and gluten in wheat are the two likeliest food intolerances, if you think either of these could be an issue for you cutting them out for a month and seeing how you feel (particularly how you feel if you then put them back into your diet) might be an idea.  But I am not a doctor or a dietitian and this is not expert or scientific health advice.  (I'd be interested if anyone does have scientific evidence linking inflammation of the gut from food intolerances with the "apple" shape that is a risk for diabetes and linking inflammation of the gut to heart disease - I know inflammation generally is already linked to heart disease.)

[MrThatsDifferent]

Team,

Cutting right too it. I am pretty chunky right now, and honestly always have been but never to this level. I am looking for information on diets and not flashy ones, just good science. I really SUCK at diets. I can lift, and even maintain some light cardio with a plan, but my diet sucks.

I don't need to get into excuse land, but the pandemic really threw off my routine. Ordering in a lot, turning lazy, and maybe even some mental stress from a job I just left. I was around 235 but now I am pushing 260. 25 Pounds up. This is the first time I notice my actual quality of life being affected. I don't fit into my motorcycle gear as well, my pants are tight, I get more winded doing basic shit, ect. Yikes!


What I am good at...

Weight Lifting, I have decent routines and generally can lift fairly heavy. I usually rotate bi, tri, shoulder, back-squat, dead lifts, and a few others. I haven't been good about DOING it for the last 2-3 months, but this can change and I have no issues sticking to a decent plan of 3-4 times a week on this.



What I am not good at...

Diet. I get the jist of it, no sugar, limit carbs. Though, what does that actually look like? Do you follow macro's? I can cook pretty well, so I am looking for ideas. Tips. Tricks. Reading material... etc

I have lost weight on 2 occasions in my past, once going from 245 to 220. This was 7ish years ago, I managed to keep most of that off, sticking to about 230 for 4-5 years. 230 is still very fat.

The Plan...

I am around 260lbs, and 6ft tall. I need to get back to around 220. Outside of starting to lift again, with regularity, I plan on implementing some sort of intermittent fasting, cutting sugar and starting to cook daily. I still need to figure out WHAT I am cooking, and my calorie/ macro numbers.


The ultimate goal...

At the end of the day, 220 and i'll be pleased. I would love to hit 200, but one step at a time!



Any help is appreciated!

I am a competitive bodybuilder who actually won a title recently.  The one bit of advice I would tell you is to spend twenty bucks.

Get a food scale at Walmart. 

Then go online to MyFitnessPal.  It's free and takes 30 seconds.

Then use it religiously.

Most persons can fool themselves about what they eat every day.  You will hear how they have "tried everything" but can't lose weight.  Really?  Try counting macros and calories?  LOL!  Then you will hear about so and so's cousin who ate everything in sight but could not gain weight.  Studies repeatedly show that thinner folks eat less than they think, and heavier folks eat more. 

So track it. 

Then you control everything.  You may not be aiming at competing in bodybuilding, but I mention this because it works, and there really is no good substitute.  Weigh, measure, track.  Stop when you hit your macros for the day.

Ok, I said "one bit of advice," but I will give you two.  The second it so up your protein.  Up it.  How much?  Oh, higher than that.  Eating high protein works when cutting bodyfat.  Again, there have been studies done on this (real ones).  Higher protein works, period.  There is not an upper limit to it (and you would not hit it consistently and daily even if there was, because you would be miserable eating all of that meat).  Given your weight, I would shoot for a minimum of 250 grams of protein a day, and this is not counting "shakes" and other nonsense marketing gimmicks.  Eat real food.  This generally means eggs and meats. 

Get fats to below 50 grams a day (which means your protein won't be coming from cheeseburgers all day).

250 grams of protein is 1000 calories.  50 grams of fat is 450 calories.

So now we are up to 1450 calories a day.  You need more for lifting and cardio.

Then fill in the rest with carbs.  Like others have said above, carbs are not the devil.  They fuel your weightlifting workouts.  You don't need carbs in every meal.   Put them right around your workout time.


How many carbs?  It does not matter.  Pick a level.  Let's say you start with 250 grams a day.  Now your total calorie count is 2450 a day, right?

So do it for a week.  Weigh yourself at the end of the week.  Did you lose weight?  Yes?  Ok, then keep on this for another week?  Did you lose weight?  No?  Ok, pull out 300 calories (all from fats and carbs, never protein) and do another week, then step on the scale, and so on.

The first ten pounds or so are not fat.  They are glycogen and water.  So get the first ten pounds out of the way before you start looking for bodyfat reductions in the mirror.

DO take pictures before your start.  You are going to want to take some more in the same position and lighting in a few months.

This works.  As you can see, it is not a gimmick.  It is just discipline and consistent effort.

I hope this advice helps.

Do cardio <---   You can progressively ramp this up, too, like your weight training, adding minutes as you can handle more. 

I guess I should mention that you should be working progressively at weight training, too.  If you are not trying to increase your reps or your weight or your sets, then you are losing out on many of the benefits of weight training for your goals.

Op here...
What does this generally look like for a daily meal plan? 6 chicken breasts? Just curious for a mental image.

Sorry for the delay in responding.

Chicken breast - My wife and I eat a lot of that due to cost, and low fat.  Chicken breast is about 9 grams of protein per ounce.  So roughly 27 ounces of chicken breast if that was going to be the sole source of your protein.  But I would not recommend that, because it would be boring.  Thankfully, my wife is an excellent cook who finds ways to make chicken breast delightful.  Fish and beef, too.

Eggs every morning get in part of my protein count for the day.

Let me be clear, you can obviously cut fat without increasing protein so high.   Increasing protein, however, is better in that your outcome will be better, and this has been tested many times in real studies with very high protein intakes during fat loss.  You appear to care about body composition and not just moving the needle on the scale, and increasing the protein will help with that (along with other things you are doing like lifting weights).


So, to answer your question, what it looks like for me is 6-8 eggs in the a.m. (although I decrease the number of yolks when I am cutting to get fat down, so it might be only 2-3 eggs cooked with a bunch of liquid egg whites to get the protein count up) and 4-5 meals additional meals spread out throughout the day with roughly a half pound of meat, usually chicken, but sometimes fish or beef or venison.

I hope that explanation helps, and good luck.   

One poster stated above that this approach may be an extreme, and that person is right, but the results are extreme, too.    It's like the difference between saving 5-10% of your income or saving half or more.  It's extreme, but so are the results if done consistently.

See, I mostly agree with this, for competitive body builders, which is a part time job (at least). For us amateurs, who want to be in good shape, are older and can’t eat like this daily then I would modify some things. First, I’d keep the protein between 175-190 grams, fat 50-75g and carbs 100-150g. I also use protein shakes because I can’t physically eat that much food a day, it’s way too much for the average person or slightly above average person. The food should be somewhat relative to your energy outputs. I’m also in the keep it simple and easy boat. Have 2 morning meals that tick your macros boxes and alternate if you want variety. The key for everything is consistency, so make a plan and commit to 45-60 days. Know what you want to do for movement and for food each day, everything has to be planned and structured. And you have to want this enough that you put in the effort, otherwise you will continue with the results you’ve been getting instead of the ones you want.

So, @TheAnonOne, accountability time, you’ve gotten a ton of advice, time to make your plan and let us know what you’re going to do and when? Keep it updated here or start a journal. Move from educating yourself, you have all the information and the internet to access, to action and doing. You won’t lose weight and become healthier by reading. What’s your plan and what day is it going to start?

[seemsright]

There's a lot of good advice on this thread, but I can add or emphasize a few things.

1.  What's right for someone else might not be right for you.

2.  Introducing new foods and recipes just makes you think more about food when in order to eat less you need to be thinking about it less.  Instead, make small changes to what you are already eating, and once one small change has bedded into your lifestyle then make another.

3.  Eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetable each day.  If you aren't doing this already the first thing you should do is add this to what you normally eat.  5 a day gets easier if there is at least one portion of fruit or vegetables in your breakfast.

4.  Weighing food and counting calories is not for me.  Instead I base my intake on the crockery I use: one dinner plate of food a day plus one side plate of food a day plus one bowl of food a day.   (Watch out for the size of your crockery: a standard dinner plate used to be 8" or 9" in diameter but newer dinner plates are now 10" or more in diameter.)    Your height and weightlifting means that your crockery amounts will be bigger than mine, but start by noticing what your current usual day is like in terms of crockery used and work from that.

5.  Work on cutting down, and eventually out, fizzy and sugary drinks.  Snacks between meals should be single ingredient items that have not been cooked or manufactured - fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and so on (dried fruit pieces are OK).

6.  Take this one with a pinch of salt as it is based on personal experience and may well not be applicable.  After a high cholesterol reading I cut dairy out of my diet and then realised (when I went back to dairy after a month) that I had been living with a minor food intolerance to it for a long time.  There were a number of small health issues resolved by stopping dairy that hadn't been enough of an issue to trouble a doctor with, my waistline shrank as my guts stopped being inflamed, I stopped equating hurting guts with hunger pains and my cholesterol levels have been healthy ever since.  So I've been avoiding and substituting dairy ever since and feel a lot better for it.  Lactose in dairy and gluten in wheat are the two likeliest food intolerances, if you think either of these could be an issue for you cutting them out for a month and seeing how you feel (particularly how you feel if you then put them back into your diet) might be an idea.  But I am not a doctor or a dietitian and this is not expert or scientific health advice.  (I'd be interested if anyone does have scientific evidence linking inflammation of the gut from food intolerances with the "apple" shape that is a risk for diabetes and linking inflammation of the gut to heart disease - I know inflammation generally is already linked to heart disease.)

After I had my DD 11 years ago. I was having all kinds of issues. I was breaking out in hives and other digestive issues. We figured out it was dairy. I removed all dairy from diet and within a year I no longer needed my eye glasses. I think most would benefit from trying to remove dairy and see how much they improve.