I read labels and…

• Eat only trace amounts of saturated fat.
• No sugary drinks.
• Eat a lot of fiber.
• No breakfast, it isn’t necessary.
• Walk or bike 1 hour every morning.
• Lift & run every work day during my lunch hour.

I’ve never been more fit.

“Lose It” app, which is a food log. Awareness does the trick. I set it to about 2/3 of my average daily calorie burn, and stick to it, with a day off every two weeks or so.

Works for me.

Eat raw veggies (salads)

In the first week or two you won’t feel like it was a real meal since your body still craves sugars, fats and junk. But once you get past the cravings you find out that this huge meal filled with fiber is super filling but the calorie count is really low, and so you start losing weight

Metformin. No other changes. Guess the better blood sugar levels make a difference. Still drinking coke and eating whatever I feel like and dropped 10lbs. The only reason I noticed was because my pants kept falling down.

Not a method I’d ever recommend to anybody but depression did it. Just stopped eating, like, almost entirely, had no appetite whatsoever, would force myself to eat at least something around dinner time, around 50g of carbs (when dry) like pasta, rice or noodles. Drank tea during the day for some caffeine. Combined with some exercise - started walking then running about 5k every few days.

Things got a bit more normal after a while and just kind of went with watching calories. Mostly just kept an eye on carbs - no more than 100g per day, used less fat or oil in cooking, picked slightly (but not excessively) leaner cuts of meat, more veggie dishes, skimmed milk, no sugary drinks. Never was one for eating breakfast, my day would normally be some kind of lunch time thing like a couple of crumpets with some jam, an afternoon snack - usually rice cakes, japanese-style crackers, pickled stuff (gherkins, onions, sauerkraut) then dinner as I mentioned above. There was a few brands of ice cream that did low calorie versions I would buy for dessert, or I would have fat-free yoghurt and a couple of squares of chocolate.

I found this pretty easy to do during covid (started this all maybe mid 2020). It was easy to hide the fact you were eating strangely if people aren’t aware. The bit that I found (and still find) hardest is the intention to start or cut portion sizes. I never intended to do it but I found that when I stopped eating because I had no appetite, it was like a kind of reset that allowed me to build up to a more appropriate diet. I can’t say I think this is a good idea for a whole host of reasons but that is what happened to me.

Use a calorie counting app like lose it. Log everything you eat. It’s very tedious at first but pretty soon you get really good at judging how many calories are in things. Don’t stop logging! Track your weight. When you hit plateaus zoom out on the time scale and look at your trend line going down and feel good about yourself.

The trick is being honest with yourself. There are no free calories. Those 2-3 little cookies you had at work? They count. The extra scoop of rice? That counts. Most people have no concept of how many excess calories they’re really taking in.

Over COVID lockdown my wife and I both gained 10-15 pounds and I was already a good 20 pounds over where I wanted to be. We both started this and never stopped. I lost 40 pounds in about 9 months (230 to 185) , she lost 20, 155 to 134, and we’ve both kept it off for the last three years. We log all our meals and we exercise. Exercise becomes rewarding because burning extra means you can cheat! Did you bike twenty miles today? HAVE YOU A FUCKIN DONUT THEN!

I stopped eating ice cream. Still not sure why that did it, I didn’t think I was eating that much. 70lbs down.

I’ve seen a few people recommending calorie counting here but haven’t seen anyone mention Macrofactor, which seems weird considering how often I see people recommending Kagi. I draw the parallel because, while it’s a paid product, I find it significantly better than the competition.

I started using it at the start of the year and have had steady progress. Foremost, it is extremely snappy and easy to log food. The database is fairly expansive without having poor quality user submissions. The real win of the app is the feedback loop. Rather than estimating calories expended using formulas meant to be accurate across a population (but not necessarily accurate to each person), it uses your calorie intake data and your weight data to derive your expenditure.

This, to me, helps reduce the stress of tracking significantly. Reason being, if you habitually do not track something like small bites during cooking or condiments, the calculation will take it into account and reduce your calorie target accordingly.

It also doesn’t take into account data from activity trackers. Instead, your exercise is essentially smoothed over the following weeks. It helps psychologically to break from “I exercised so I get a treat” mentality, where you 1: immediately eat back whatever you’ve burned (or more) and 2: are telling yourself a reward for good behavior is calorie-dense food.

The website has a lot of data driven articles.

It also has a bunch of neat graphs. Anyway. Would recommend it. Obviously there’s a LOT of different ways to lose weight, but for me it starts with understanding what I’m putting in my body. Can’t outrun a bad diet.

I tried to do a bunch of small things. No 1 thing was the key.

• started drinking my coffee black
• drink more water, and drink water instead of other things
• I take the stairs instead of elevator/escalator whenever possible
• I try not to eat seconds at dinner
• “Real” exercise (like running, rowing, etc.) every other day, but if I can squeeze in extra ones, (e.g., 2 days in a row), I go for it
• If I’m not up for real exercise, I’ll go for a walk
• intermittent fasting in the mornings, so often no breakfast, but not necessarily every day
• No snacking after 19:00
• At restaurants, if 2 options look good, go for the one with fewer calories

There are probably more, but those are the kinds of habits we’re talking about.

Also important: if you don’t stick to all habits, don’t beat yourself up about it.

With the above, I was able to get from a high of 235 lbs down to around 180. I’m a bit more than that right now, but pretty close still.

Naltrexone and then became vegan. It’s AMAZING.

Edit; should clarify I am not taking naltrexone for weight loss, it’s for an anxiety disorder, and it’s a side effect. It made me loathe the taste of animal products and I have almost no appetite, but bitch is SKINNAY.

I went from 217->173 and have stayed in that range for 4 years. I’m 5’10” / M / 43years

Short answer: high protein / adequate fat keto with skipping breakfast (aka 16:8 intermittent fasting)

I tried it for weightloss, and immediately had health benefits within 36 hours of switching over. I’m never going back. I feel 10 years younger. Brain fog lifted, joint pain gone, more energy to move and do things, more patience and clarity at work and home. Hunger is a signal now and I’m never hangry.

It’s also just not that hard. I eat a ton of awesome meals full of chicken and roasted veg, bbq meats I smoke, steaks, omelets, huge salads. Life is good and I feel good.

100% calorie counting, NO ‘extra’ exercise. Lost 30 lb in 30 weeks just by being ~500 cal negative every day.

Don’t drink calories, skip breakfast, and cutting out obvious ‘junk’ made it rather easy once I got past the first 4 weeks of willpower & adjustment.

that’s it, nothing fancy. (40yr old male)

Overweight and obesity are extremely complex disorders, that combines genetic predisposition, changes in hormonal levels and horrible obesogenic environment that we have nowadays. There is no simple answer on how to lose weight as it depends on multiple factors too - your home and work environment, availability of stores with fresh products, your medical history, your goals in general. What is working well for one person, may not be ideal for others or even sometimes dangerous (depends on other comorbidities).

Most important part is not just to lose weight, but do it safely and maintain the weight loss. For that you need a whole lifestyle change, that is why it is so hard for many people. The major rule is: permanent dietary changes needed for a weight loss and regular exercises needed for maintaining the result.

My advise (if you are in the US) - find an obesity clinic with obesity board-certified physician, discuss all your concerns and develop a plan what will work specifically for you. It is pretty well covered by insurances and you will always have a specialist who can answer your questions and help to overcome any barriers in the future.

And remember we all are just internet strangers, take all our advices with healthy skepticism.

Measured everything I ate and put it into a calorie counter app. Ate whatever I wanted, but if I wanted to eat (or drink) it, I had to measure it and put it in the app.

I tried not to go over the recommended calorie amount, and if I did, I did some exercise that the app would put me under the calorie amount for the day.

I had it set to the slowest weight loss amount (something like 0.5lbs per week?), but lost weight faster than that.

It helped me improve my diet, get a better understanding of what I was eating, helped me get better in tune with my “fullness”, and got me drinking more water.

From 2013 to 2017 I lost 60 pounds and I’ve kept it off since.

I tried everything to lose that fat.

I’ve tried at different times: keto, calorie counting, intermittent fasting, low fat, low carb, Soylent, cutting alcohol, high fiber, if it fits your macros, power lifting, CrossFit, running, vegan, vegetarian, carnivore, and Renaissance periodization.

What’s actually worked consistently for losing and keeping it off? Simple. Intermittent fasting 20/4 with low carb during the week, free cheat weekends, and no alcohol ever. With that protocol I can control my weight to the pound, consistently, and I’ve held it there for over 5 years.

It’s such a great feeling to be totally in control of it.