I see posts here about people starving themselves, doing extreme exercises, starting strange diets, and then giving up as they see no progress. I am someone who finds it easy to stay in shape and and I would like to share what I follow, hoping that those who struggle can benefit from it.
If you starve yourself, restrict food for many hours, your body will make you crave food that gives you a very quick boost (high calories). You will be much more likely to crave something sweet, junk food with a lot of carbs, and it will be very hard to resist. Cheat days like that will set you back. You might end up with deficiencies because you flip flop between eating junk food or sweet things and empty calories and it's nothing but torture.
Instead: eat frequently, small, simple, and healthy meals, have snacks, chew food many times and eat slowly so your body will let you know when it's soon enough - if you are too quick, you will miss this body signal. Eat until 70-80% full and feel more energetic. The snacks and meals you eat should be as low processed as possible. Many people mistake the feeling of thirst with a feeling of hunger, so do not forget to hydrate. My snacks are apples, carrots and sometimes a dip.
Exercises are good to do but they only work if you can stay consistent. It's difficult to figure out nutrition in general when someone is doing intense sports and together with a weight loss journey it's even more so. In a calorie deficit, your body will scream at you to stop exercising because you have no energy from your caloric intake to do that. What happens after an exercise when you are depleted and exhausted is you will be laying on your bed, sitting in the armchair watching tv, finding it hard to focus and think, barely moving your body the rest of the day, as your body is trying to preserve some energy and recover from the shock. It's again, torturing yourself. So many people quit.
Instead: light exercises, frequently, such as riding a bike or just walking. It's much more likely that you can stay consistent and it's easier to fit in your agenda. Intense exercises are good to plan once light exercises are easy to do and you feel ready for the challenge. As you become healthier, the intense exercises won't be as painful either anymore.
The choice of food matters, the best is to learn to cook from scratch. Processed food is your enemy because you do not control what they put in it and you should look at it with suspicion. The simpler a dish it's most often the better. Replace snacks with carrots or celery, apples, use a small amount of hummus or peanut butter as a dip. If you want to buy hummus from the store, even for something like that, check the ingredient list, check the calories. If you really want something sweet, it's best if you buy something plain and sweeten it yourself at home so you can set the sweetness level. An example is that eating plain yogurt is healthy, adding fruits, nuts and seeds, a small amount of (real and unadulterated) honey, cinnamon, is a nice treat as well. I personally do not drink sweet drinks and do not use sugar at home at all. I am never hungry, and I rarely crave sweet food.
Trial and error: Test and see what works, do more of that, and what does not, then troubleshoot, observe why it did not work out. Maybe you just find it boring to walk, but it's easier with company, so you can try to join a friend who walks their dog. Maybe you hate walking aimlessly, then you can listen to music or a podcast and choose to walk when your destination is 30 minutes away from you. Find what is the easiest for you to do. Stick to it.
Difficult days: If hard boiled eggs are annoying to make and peel, but you can buy them at the store, or pre-cut vegetables, then buy those and do not care if you spent more on them on that day. Always have something quick to grab at home so you are never starving.
The goal for a weight loss journey should be to find something that is easy to fit in your agenda and lifestyle, therefore it is very personal. The reason you want to do that because consistency is the most difficult thing and you want to stay consistent. If it's difficult, you will most likely to eventually quit because your body and mind will scream at you.
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