Today I’m down 90lbs from my heaviest weight. I’m 7lbs from just being “overweight”. I’ve been obese for over 30 years. I’ve tried so many “diets” it’s not even funny. There were a lot of fad diets in the early 90s that my parents put me on. Since becoming an adult I’ve tried hcG, Atkins, keto, vegetarian diets, and at least half a dozen more random ones. I always gave up because I hated what I had to eat. People talk about how hard it is restricting what you eat. I agree, it really is.
I’ve learned in the last two years that what you eat matters less than how much you eat. I see all kinds of garbage about “clean eating” (whatever the hell that means, I blame Panera) or only eating whole foods. That’s garbage. You can do those things and still not lose weight if you are not in a deficit. You can also eat whatever you like (within reason) and still lose weight, as long as you are in a deficit. I eat out, I eat fast food, I enjoy desserts. I just set myself a weekly calorie goal and cycle my intake to not exceed that and I lose weight. I do prioritize protein because I’m also building muscle, but the key is knowing what you’re putting in your body and how much of it.
The other saying is also true: most weight loss is in the kitchen, not the gym. I do strength training 2-3 times a week, max. I don’t spend more than an hour each session. I also walk 1.5-2.5 miles 3-5 times a week. But that’s it. I don’t kill myself. I don’t spend 3-4 hours a day.
You can’t do it if you don’t know how much you consume. And you can’t guess. I am fairly meticulous with my calorie tracking, but it is definitely harder when you eat out (can’t really break out the scale at Black Angus). But it can be done.
Also one side note: GLP-1s can help, but that’s it. They can’t do it for you. I actually got to my heaviest while on a GLP-1 (I’m diabetic). I’ve been on them for 7 years. I’ve lost the vast majority of my weight in the last 18 months. But only because I decided what was important and knuckled down. I’ve still got probably 30lbs until I’m happy, but I feel better than I have for decades.
One other caveat: medications can mess with your progress. At suggestion of my doctor I removed one of my medications and my insulin resistance went up and I plateaued for almost six months, despite being in a deficit. Once that was resolved I started losing again.
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