Let’s be real—fitness books tend to either push ridiculous fad diets or get so bogged down in science that only someone with a PhD could understand. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably jumped on every diet trend, only to feel frustrated and blame yourself when nothing sticks.
It wasn’t until I met with a nutritionist that I realized something important: weight loss isn’t a quick fix, it’s a long game. I just needed simple, practical steps to cut body fat—minus all the fluff.
PSA: “nutritionist” is not a term that describes a medical professional and does not infer a level of quality of training, pretty much anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. “Registered Dietician” (RD) is a medical professional who specializes in diets and nutrition to support health.
For science-based nutrition information I highly recommend Harvard’s Nutrition Source, and it uses pretty accessible language.
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Nothing world-changing or revolutionary, but it’s nice to have these aspects listed in a concise fashion 👍
Focus on Dilution, Not Restriction
This is probably the key takeaway for most people. If you want to decrease your Calorie intake, then eat food that is more satiating per Calorie. A bunch of those named diets are based on this idea (e.g. Keto / low-carb, Paleo, Mediterranean)
That said, everyone’s mind and bodies are different. You’ll have to experiment and figure out what works for you. Some people do respond well to things like time-restriction based diets, or straight up Calories counting.
While a don’t exactly agree or could follow this everyone is different so if it works for you it works.
I dropped 10% in 4 months this year, can’t say this post hits many of the points my diabetes/dietician taught me.
Do you mind sharing some of those points? I am working on a goal of dropping about 10% right now.
A few points or a novel?
Glad to hear your making a change! I look forward to
being dunked oncorrected from those with better knowledge!If you can, get professional advice - I was able to access heavily subsidised resources in my country due to a (surprise) diabetes diagnosis. Sadly I believe its a crapshoot in US, but here there are regulations and recognized professionals to go to, and ‘care plans’ avalaible for chronic illness to get access to these services subsidised.
It’s hevaly individualised, so as per usual on the totally trustworthy internet, try and find a range of sources, take the common themes, and cross out what just doesn’t work for you.
Two main sources ive liked that had advice that largely resonated with me: https://cleanslate.sh/curriculum https://physiqonomics.com/fat-loss/ (except the supplement crap)
Weight loss is 90% eating habits, 10% exercise. You cannot outrun a poor diet, but ideally you will do both for the health benefits, they do go hand in hand.
Kitchen 90%
Its tracking calories in, calories out. Forget the fad diets, your body is a machine, and if you put more energy into it than it needs, it will store it as fat - run at a deficit it will burn fat (warning: it will also burn lean muscle which is bad if you dont exercise, so theres a balance to acheive on speed of loss)
Work out your maintenance calories, and then how much you want to lose per week. I was aggressive to try and kick diabetes to the curb, mine was 2200cal/day maintenance and i meal planneed 1200cal. (Averaged 900-950grams a week). I woudln’t recommend being that aggressive honestly, I just got real spooked by the idea of having T2 diabetes at a young age, i think 500 to 750 is usually more ‘acceptable’.
Next and (final?) level is understanding calories come as protein/carbs/fat, and balancing them in the meal plan. TLDR, keep protein high (~30% of calories, I see 0.8g / kg of lean mass thrown around a bit) as it helps signal your body to feel ‘fulll’ (satiety) and its key for muscle growth/retention. Split carbs and fat however. This is where you bring back in the ‘fad diet’ and decide which style you prefer eating - vegan, carnivore, atkins, mediteranean, whatever you prefer, just as long as its tracked vs CICO.
Nobody wants to track what they eat, what I found lifesaving was doing ONE meal plan in a tool (my fitness/mynetdiary) for one day, and eating that day in day out over the week without much thought or deviation. Eating one plan for a week enabled bulk cooking on weekends, cut down on shopping complexity, food waste, bills.
For protein, add protein powder, lean chicken, lentils/beans, tuna, salmon, (https://cleanslate.sh/groceries)
For filling (blog point on ‘dilution’), low starch veggies like cucumber, brocoli, cauli, etc. They have very high mass to calories ratio, adding a bunch to a place fills you up for cheap. Oh yeah and fibre too.
Uh… then track? Ideally with measuring tape and logging semi-regulary. Scales are fine but flucuate as much as ±1.5kg so you probably dont want to either keepa eye on it weekly or track it daily and average out.
You can then gauge if you need to increase/decrease calories if the weight loss is off
If you are feeling hungry/cant stick to the plan, look to add more protein (and reduce carbs/fat), and more serves of low starch veg.
Exercise: 10%
Lack of exercise (i.e. desk job) means muscles become harder to accepting insulin (insulin resistance) as they aren’t needing the energy intake, which is a factor in diabetes (sugar builds up avaliable in blood but isnt being uptaken into the muscles) Also, if you arent using your muscles your body will start to turn to breaking down muscle tissue for calories over fat, especially if you aren’t exercising (i.e. giving it stimulus to indicate you need it). This can have poor effects on metabolism/weight loss progress, lean mass is really important for health.
Strength training
Strength training and high protein diet helps signal the body to keep muscle/actively develop it, helping ensure weight loss comes from fat cells not muscle. 3 times a week, 45 min-ish? I hit up reddit /r/bodyweightfitness, then also got PT at free work gym (by a ex-commonwealth games boxer!) and also later diabetes fitness training. Doing something that hits pull, push and legs 3 times a week is a great minimum, either free weights, cable machines, or low-to-no equipment bodyweight at home. Ive been doing everything i need with a pullup bar, gymnastic rings, adjustable kettleball and some resistance bands, < $200 setup. Also: https://cleanslate.sh/lifting
Cardio
Cardio helps you not die early and can lower resting heart rate. I think it had some impact on blood sugar/insulin resistance too. To be ‘time efficient’ Ive been doing a mock-HIIT with kettleball swings twice a week, 5-10 mins cycling max HR and lower ‘rest’ HR and skipping rope ($5) on off days as workout warmum. Couch to 5k (interval training) is another good approach. I can’t verify how effective this is, but i can definietly jog further without wanting to die than I used to. Other options would be HIIT with rowing machine, bike, skipping rope, burpees (nope thx), etc. You can also just go for a run and have HR in zone 2. Also: https://cleanslate.sh/cardio
Walking Reduces risk of early death, daily walks were sold to me as the final 1% on top for health, and the doggos love it.
Personal outcomes: I had second thoughts adding this. I find the success stories feel like bragging/unibtainabke, not encouraging. I let myself go for years, and had multiple half hearted attempts and fixing, but never had the right drive ir knowledge until very recently. Forget Bad days, be kind to yourself, and back yourself fornghe long-term, it’s OK if life throws a spanner in your plans.
- 16kg loss between roughly Xmas 23 and April 24.
- blood sugar went from formal T2 diabeties diagnosis (hba1c 6.6%) to just one point higher than normal (5.8%) [Diabetes eduactor thinks its ‘good chance’ it will not progress into needing medication ** if i stay healthy and exercise for life**]
- blood pressure went from nearly needing medication to lower end of ‘optimal’ range, and i started worrying it was too low as i started having dizzy spells standing up too fast
- cholesterol dropped but still high - I believe this is genetic though so i dont expect to ‘beat’ it easily.
- GP told me I lost weight faster than they recommend and i needed to eat maintenance to let my metabolisim ‘catch up’ before eying off further weight loss. Can keep them happy! ‘Loose weight and exercise, wait hold on but not too much…’
I think im sorry for the wall of text, but if it helps one person…
Thanks a ton, all of what you wrote is super helpful!
I think I’m doing pretty similar things, but you’ve definitely given me some food for thought.
I estimated my TDEE (energy expenditure) around 2800cal, and I’ve been aiming for 2000cal. Like you it’s a little aggressive, but also gives me wiggle room in case I’m not estimating calories correctly.
I actually really like counting calories along with intermittent fasting (I only eat between noon and 8pm every day. I also don’t really like “fad” diets or even worrying too much about macronutrients, though I’m making an effort to get more protein, and stuff like cucumbers helps a ton with satiation like you’re saying. Your way of meal planning simplifies things a lot, but I don’t know if I could really do that because I like a wide variety of food.
I’ve been doing strength training (3-4x per week), but you’re giving me motivation to add some cardio. I hate cardio but deep down I know I need to train because the outdoor activities I like the most (hiking, skiing) require it.
I’ve been following my plan for a little over a week so far. Not a lot of time, but seems like I’m down about 0.25kg. Scales are pretty inaccurate though, and my weight does fluctuate over 1kg in a single day.
My motivation is perhaps a bit different… I’ve done strength training before and am trying to get back into it, but at this point in my life I’m at about 24% body fat (according to U.S. Navy calculation) which is right on the verge of obesity, so I’m thinking to drop down 10% before seriously trying to put on more muscle. I’ve read it’s slightly easier to put on muscle at low BF%, but more importantly I think I will just look better, since I don’t think I look great at 24% BF.
Whenever I get blood tests done though, I’m usually just barely in the “healthy” range when it comes to cholesterol and stuff, so that’s definitely a secondary motivation. Plus lots of people in my family have diabetes, so it’s better for me to take steps now to prevent it.
Thanks again for your reply, it gives me validation that I’m on the right track, and definitely gives me some food for thought.
I’m seeing conflicting info on peanut butter having high trans fats? Seems like that might be incorrect?
Peanuts don’t naturally have trans fats, but some manufacturers use hydrogenated vegetable oil in their recipe. Hydrogenated vegetable oil is the primary source of trans fats in most foods, but most brands use small enough amounts that it can still be labeled as zero trans fats per serving. So, yes there might be some trans fats in your PB, but probably not enough to be concerned with. If you are concerned, check the labels and find a brand without hydrogenated vegetable oil.
On the other hand, popular brands can be high in sugar. A teaspoon of peanut butter with some carrots or apples is fine. A tablespoon between two slices of white bread with jelly is not a dieter’s friend.
Thanks for the detailed reply. Very interesting. I only get the 100% roasted whole peanut versions with no additives, so that’s sounding ok (in moderation).
Coincidentally I only stumbled on apples with a little PB recently & it’s become my new favourite snack, & has been a good way to make me want to eat apples more frequently.
PB & carrots sounds a bit wrong, but I can kind of see how it might work. will certainly be giving that a go soon, nice one!
Curious as to why trans fat is the devil - I have poked around a bit and couldn’t quite pin down why 1g in my PB was worth totally avoiding, especially when PB was recommended as a ‘filling’ snack to help me sleep (I struggle to sleep if im at all hungry) I put it in the ‘probably not a massive deal’ bucket but interested from this thread if i should do a bit better to avoid.
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I lost 50 pounds and I have kept it off for 2 years through healthy eating, weight lifting, rucking and a good mental attitude. If interested you can review my story at - https://healthyretirementstrategies.blogspot.com/p/my-story.html - Using the menu selections and the links you can also navigate to my Exercise, Healthy Eating and Thriving in Retirement posts. - I hope you find it helpful, interesting and funny.
My gf dropped much more. The trick: diet
