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by ta76567656 2867 days ago
In my experience of having lost fifty pounds and having kept most of it off for a year or two now, "move more" is significantly less important than "eat less". (For overall health I'm sure it's very important, here I'm specifically talking about losing weight.) I increased my activity only a little bit, by adding a 10-30 minute walk.

And while "eat less" is important, it's secondary to "eat what". My rule of thumb was (and is) "It's almost impossible to control how much you eat. Controlling what you eat is merely very difficult." In other words, your primary target is changing your diet from unhealthy foods to healthy foods, and you will "eat less" in calories as a result. If you keep eating junk food and try to control exactly how much junk food you eat you will have a much harder time.

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To elaborate a bit more, I try to stick with the No S Diet (http://nosdiet.com/), especially the part about "no snacks". I used to be extremely prone to snacking, and it would almost always be snacks of a very unhealthy variety.

So I cut out snacks almost completely, but I still let myself eat a burger+fries or a pizza once in a while. But they count as a full meal plus a bit ekstra, so my next meal will have to be smaller to compensate. Seems to be working out.

But the biggest difference for me was changing my sedentary lifestyle. Standing as my desk, always taking the stairs, riding a bike everyday. It adds up.

Fad diets here, fad diets there, fad diets everywhere. Don't eat this, only eat that, don't eat at these times, only eat at these times, fast, don't fast.

It's been going on for decades, and it's both silly and counterproductive.

You start off complaining about fad diets and now you link to your diet which is the very epitome of a fad diet. Is there any medical research behind this diet?

What makes it a fad diet? All it says is to cut out second helpings, empty carbs and snacks. That's it.

It doesn't try to set up weird rules or "superfoods". It's simple and straight-forward, which makes it much easier to adhere to. It's not a diet, it's a permanent lifestyle change.