[jarnagin]

Here’s a reasonable way to maintain your weight: 1. Limit added sugar to an absolute minimum. Fruit is fine. Go crazy. 2. Avoid processed foods like chips and other things that have lots of preservatives. 3. Limit breads and starches to no more than 35-40% of your diet. 4. No restrictions on fat and protein. Go crazy, you glutton. 5. Stop eating at least five hours before bed. You don’t want to be digesting while sleeping and this is a reasonable amount of time to avoid that. 6. Sleep enough. 7. Try to keep a 12-14 hour stretch where you don’t eat. Do 5 and 6 and this will take care of itself. 8. Walk 3-5 miles per day. 9. Limit drinking to 1-2 days per week. 10. Critical: Avoid snacking too much, and stop eating when you’re full. You know when that last helping is more than you really need. Just don’t eat it.

That’s it. The boring diet. It won’t win any awards, but you’ll be healthy enough and that’s what matters.

[the_watcher]

Minimizing added sugar/processed carbs while at home (mostly ate what I wanted when out to eat with spouse, made slightly healthier choices with friends), stopping all drinking outside of special occasions (weddings, anniversary's, birthdays), and exercising 3x/week (using Fitbod) led me to lose 25 pounds in ~8 weeks. My main cheats were dark chocolate and a weekly trip to In-N-Out.

I didn't need to lose a ton of weight but I had some elevated liver enzymes and my doctor was mildly concerned about fatty liver disease so I looked for the easiest changes for me to make. The biggest lifestyle changes were no more almond lattes (almost all non-dairy options are sweetened) and eating a ton of eggs instead of a daily breakfast sandwich.

[andreyk]

Good advice, but if you go crazy with fruit and fats you can easily still gain weight. Here's my boring diet for weight maintenance: consume about the same or fewer calories than you burn. Of course, you want a diet that's not just about weight, but also nutrition.

[commoner]

I agree that monitoring calorie intake is the best way to control weight. Bryan from the article is comfortable with intermittent fasting, and that's one of many valid ways to reduce calorie intake. Some people like low-carbohydrate diets because they are less tempted to overeat fats and proteins. Others prefer low-fat diets since fat intake is a greater factor in their calorie count. And some people look at calories in general instead of focusing on any single macronutrient. Any of these strategies can help a person control their calorie intake, just pick the ones that work for you.

However, most whole fruits (and vegetables) have high fiber, high water content, and low calorie density. This means a person would gain less weight by eating whole fruits and vegetables than by eating many other types of food to the same level of satiation. (Fruit juices have little to no fiber, and are not considered whole fruits.) Whole fruits and vegetables are also healthy because they have high nutrient density.

From a 2005 study:

> As expected, we found that fruits and vegetables were nutrient-dense in relation to their energy content.

> Because of their low energy density, the energy cost of vegetables and fruits was higher relative to other foods.

> However, the data unambiguously showed that fruits and vegetables were nutrient-rich in relation to the little energy that they provide. Although fruits and vegetables suffer when assessed on the calories/price ratio, they represent extremely good value when assessed using the nutrient density score and the nutrient to price ratio.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7446672_A_Nutrient_...

[the_watcher]

Yea, the first thing I learned was that nuts are an excellent snack if you stick to the serving size, but the serving size is shockingly small and easy to _blow_ past. I ended up just not buying them anymore, too easy to eat half a bag as a snack.

[jarnagin]

Good point. How could I have forgotten? Added a bullet (11) at the end.

[tarboreus]

This is what I do and I've been a reasonable weight my whole life. People sometimes wonder aloud why I'm so thin while apparently eating like a pig whenever they see me. Could just be genetics or something, though.

[iscrewyou]

Frozen fruit is an excellent alternative to dessert and other sweets. Costco has plenty of options of good quality frozen fruits.

[saltyoutburst]

#6 is missing. Are 7-11 off by 1?

[jarnagin]

Fixed, thanks.