I've tried low-carb, KETO, and exercise. This is what worked for me.
TL;DR Summary (in order of importance)
Diet: Maintain a caloric deficit using a carolic app tracker, like Lose It!
Exercise: Worked out 6 days a week for an hour. M-W-F weights, T-TH-SAT Zone 2 cardio.
Protein: At least 1 gram of protein a day per pound of target weight. (180g-200g for me).
Steps: 7,000 steps a day.
Why
Because my doctor said I should, that punk. I was pre-type 2 diabetes. I have tried to lose weight in the past through Keto, low carb, and just a lot of exercise with some success, but felt that at 43, living at a different weight shelf was not possible. I decided to do my own research on YouTube and started following several fitness experts that guided me through this process, especially Peter Attia and Layne Norton. For all YouTube's faults, it proved to be an incredible resource and source of motivation. I compared the advice of whatever fitness experts YouTube's algorithm was throwing my way to develop my own weight loss plan.
Use an app to track progress
Maintaining a caloric deficit (burning more calories than you consume) is crucial for weight loss, and using an app to track is most convenient. I use Lose It! which tracks calories, macros (protein, fat, carbs), and has a scan function so you can easily scan a barcode to log your food. You can also log your weigh-ins and upload photos to track your progress.
Diet
The practice of counting calories was incredibly educational and honestly mind blowing. I did not realize that steaks, burgers, fried food, thai food, and alcohol were so calorically dense! Instead, I opted for more salads, fruit, rice, and white meats—mostly chicken and fish. I also had to limit the amount of desert, which was not too difficult—I have a salt tooth. I still ate burgers and steaks, but not as often and as long as it didn't put me over my caloric allowance for the day. I changed mostly what I ate, not how much I ate. Because of this, I never felt hungry.
When we talk about losing weight, what we really want is to lose fat. Most fitness experts recommend much higher protein intake than the USDA recommendation. I opted to consume 200g per day (or 1 gram per pound of your body weight). Protein helps retain muscle mass during weight loss and is also satiating, unlike simple sugars and carbohydrates.
The challenge of meeting my protein goals while maintaining a caloric deficit became a game. Yes, I still went out to restaurants. I just logged something similar in the database for a rough caloric estimate of what I was eating. The important thing is that you log everything!
Here is an average day for a moderately aggressive weight loss target of 1.5 - 2 pounds a week. My caloric allowance was 1,856, given my age and activity level. (The caloric allowance decreases as you lose weight!)
I weighed myself every day. You realize that weight loss isn't a clean straight line downwards. It's quite normal for weight to fluctuate 1-4 pounds from day to day depending on water retention, if you've used the bathroom, etc.
Exercise
Exercise during weight loss isn't critical. It is possible to lose weight without going to the gym—I know many that have—as most of the calories expended during aerobic and weight training activities are so small in comparison. Why get on a stairmaster for an hour to burn 500 calories when you can just not eat your afternoon snack? Also, you can't out-exercise a bad diet.
However, there are many other benefits to exercise. Because we are trying to lose fat, not muscle, weight training induces hypertrophy, the process of increasing the size, density, and shape of an organ or tissue. Weight training helps us maintain muscle mass during a weight loss phase and protein consumption is crucial for the repair and rebuilding of muscle tissue. During my cut (weight loss), I opted for 3 compound exercises to engage the most muscle groups: barbell back squat, bench, and pull ups. I also did some bicep and ab machines. (I probably should be working in deadlifts, maybe that's next). I spend an hour on M-W-F for weight training, doing 6 sets of each exercise.
On T-Th-Sat, I spend an hour on the stairmaster for my Zone 2 cardio (Zone 2 is a level of exertion where you can still maintain a conversation with someone while working out, or about 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. For me, this is a heart rate between 135-140 bpm). I like the stair master because it is easy on the joints. Another benefit is that Zone 2 is a "fat loss" zone, where you are pulling a greater relative amount of fat as fuel. I did cardio to improve my aerobic fitness for hiking and to accelerate my weight loss. It was also a great time to catch up on podcasts and/or read a book.
Over the summer, I went on walks to hit 7,000-10,000 steps a day. It was helpful in combating my body's natural inclination to do less to compensate for living in a caloric deficit. But as fall arrived, I got busier so I stopped going on these walks. (This is when I would record my harmonic hiker series!).
I use a Garmin watch (Apple Watch or similar would work) to track my exercise, steps, heart rate, and sleep! But I would never log my exercise on my Lose It! app for a few reasons. 1. I wanted faster progress. 2. I didn't feel hungrier after working out, so I wasn't desperate for more food. 3. Just because your watch says you burned 100 calories, you have probably only burned around 75, as the body automatically compensates for up to 25% of the calories you burn during exercise in order to maintain energy balance by adjusting calorie expenditure in response to increased activity.
The journey
It began January 2023. I tried three methods:
Keto
Fasting + Gym
Calorie Counting + Gym (and protein intake)
I saw great results with Keto, until I hit a weight shelf around 240 pounds. Keto worked because it reduced my overall caloric consumption by restricting certain foods (carbs) from my diet. Around October 2023 (#2), I tried fasting (not eating from when I got up to dinner) and joined a gym in hopes adding weight lifting and cardio to my routine would help me break through that shelf. It did help a bit, but not enough. In retrospect, I consumed too many calories come feeding time at night. I took a break from dieting winter 2023-early 2024 and found myself back around 245 pounds Feb 2024.
What really worked was calorie counting + gym routine which began March 2024 (#3).
As you can see it isn't a clean descent downwards—it's a bit jaggy. The weight came off quickly, but gradually slowed September - October 2024 as I approached what I felt was my body's natural set point. Going from 246 to 230 (16 pounds) at the beginning took 1 month. Losing the last 10 pounds took 1.5 months.
Final thoughts
My motivation to lose weight initially came from being annoyed at my doctor (lol), but quickly evolved into a new fitness challenge. Our society has a complicated relationship with weight and it is too easy to equate weight with value. But going through the process of losing weight, I have the opportunity to look back at my heavier self without judgement. I am just as valuable as a person today as I was before.
Losing weight is a long game. For me, it felt like sacrificing a little bit over a longer period of time. I can still eat and drink what I want, but I just have to plan for it. It's easy to find the motivation to get fit and do extreme things—fast for long periods of time, run 4 miles a day without having ran in years—it doesn't have to be that unpleasant. And I wouldn't recommend overexerting yourself, as it's easy to get injured if you have previously been sedentary. I found a routine that worked with my life and took on new habits I could live with.
As you can imagine, there are a number of practical benefits from being smaller. Walking up stairs feels like nothing, I can play ultimate frisbee without killing my knees, I can tie my shoes easier, I can cross my legs, I can do 3 pulls ups! I am one of the fastest hikers in our group—I feel like I have cheated time, and am living in the body I had in high school.
One thing I have yet to experience is a renewed sense of confidence many people experience after losing weight. The world and my relationship with it, from my perspective, does not seem to have changed. I am still friends with my friends—they do not love me differently. People who know me, while clearly noticing that I have lost weight (very interesting who decides to acknowledge/ignore, and to ponder why), do not treat me differently. I find this comforting and representative of a world I want to live in, where weight is as interesting to someone's personality as eye color.
Now that I've hit my goal, I plan on buying more clothes and get a tailored suit for performances. It is hard to buy clothes knowing you will still keep losing weight. So I bought a few items along the way as to not look like I was wearing a garbage bag even though big garbage bags are in. The challenge in front of me is maintaining this new weight shelf. I hope to eventually start a bulk, maybe around 190-195 pounds.
If anyone reading this is considering going on your own fitness journey, DO IT! It's a fun challenge and I hope you find this entry useful. It's worth it, it's fun, and it feels like you are turning back the clock.
Impressive, Markdavin. And very common sense. Looking great.