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Discipline for losing weight.

Anything related to matters of the mind

heavy_industry

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Calories are a stupid and dysfunctional model for estimating energy intake.

The goal is to fix your metabolism so that your natural satiety signaling works properly. You do that by removing carbs and eating less frequently (1-2 meals a day max). You will gradually become less and less hungry, and your body will naturally adjust to the new standard.

And when it comes to discipline, the only long term solution is to throw away all the garbage food in your house. Stop making choices, stop giving yourself the opportunity to cheat.

Fixing your environment and habits are what will enable you to get lean and stay lean for the rest of your life.
 

Kak

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What is your best advice for getting and staying disciplined when it comes to losing weight?
Know that weight loss is controlled starvation. There are 7 billion ways everyone tries to lose weight and 5 billion of them might work, but they ALL have starvation in common.

It is simple. To not be fat, you need to not eat enough food to stay fat.

I am an all or nothing, black and white guy. Fasting is my favorite. The way I look at it, if I can go 48 hours without food, I can be any weight I want to be.

That said, drink a bunch of natural electrolytes without sugar or sweetener. It will help you not feel like crap.

Now go starve yourself!
 

Matt Lee

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Here's what has worked for me. Go find a few pictures of guys or people that have the body you want and look up to. For me, these were the ones.

Brad-Pitt-Fight-Club-Workout.jpghercules.jpghercules back.pngbaki.jpg

This plants an idea and goal you want to achieve. YOU MUST HAVE A CLEAR DESTINATION or A GOAL. Or else you'll always say "I'll do it tomorrow".

After knowing where you want to go, take a picture of how you currently look.

Ask yourself: what does it take for me to look like these people? What am I doing that puts me further from them?

Now realize every single time you can't be disciplined enough to lose weight ask: will the people I look up to make this choice?

If you want to become like them, then don't make a choice they wouldn't make.

The formula is simple.

First, you become the person that has the result you want. You must think and do things as they would. And then sooner or later you become them.

Here's proof of the concept.

For me I was skinny fat and didn't have any muscle. I had to bulk up. That's what the guys in the pictures above would do. I've been bulking ever since I got the images above glued in my head(a little over a year ago). Left side I was at 140 lbs. Right side I'm at 175 lbs. A few months from now, I'll be down by 20-25 lbs. 8-10% body fat. I'll be where I envision myself to be. The Greek statues. The Brad Pitt from fight club and troy. The Baki.

fat.pngworks.png

Oh yeah. The formula above works with every goal not just weight loss.
 
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Johnny boy

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Discipline actually doesn’t lose weight.

You can track every bite, step, never stray from your diet, and still get fat…if your plan sucks.

The only thing that matters is the effect of what you’re doing. It’s not emotional. Someone could ACCIDENTALLY lose 30 lbs. Maybe they move to a place and get a job that forces them to walk a few extra miles a day and the only convenient place to get lunch serves only salads. He doesn’t live with anyone so his breakfasts are a protein shake and that’s it. His dinner is a McDonald’s burger but by the end of the day he has walked 5 miles, and only ate 1800 calories. He’s going to be in shape.

Compared to the guy who wants to get in shape. He wants it so bad. He hates being fat. He’s so focused on getting in shape and all he wants is to lose 30 lbs more than anything in life. He reads all day about how to do it effectively. He settles on a Keto diet. He buys all the Keto ingredients, the special artificial sweeteners, the cauliflower pizza crust, the whole works. He eats his super high fat cheese soaked with butter and high fat meat. He gobbles down bricks of cheese for lunch. He wants a cracker but denies himself, “no carbs”. He eats 2800 calories a day and thinks he followed all the rules and wonders why he is still chubby.

I don’t try to have much discipline.

I don’t buy the bad food in the first place so it’s not tempting.

I have cheat days on Saturday so it’s easy to not break the diet since I only tell myself “I’m gonna eat it in a few days, just not today”.

I repeat my meals so they become a habit just like brushing my teeth.

I get as much food delivered as possible so I’m not at the store as much. Only to buy steaks, salsa, coffee and extra stuff like seasoning and oils, and everything else is delivered.

The diet focuses on only having carbs from “slow carb” sources that don’t spike insulin and result in storing fat. So eating things like beans and veggies is perfect for carbs. Then I eat protein. There’s no alcohol, sugar, bread, potatoes, rice, oats, dairy.

I eat eggs, meat, veggies, beans, salsa, salads, etc. breakfast is eggs beans meat and salsa. Lunch is salad. Dinner is meat and veggies. I love it. I don’t need much discipline. I eat 3-4 times a day but the meals are small like 400 calories each or something.

Small meals will shrink your stomach and make you full from less and less food. That’s why I didn’t like intermittent fasting. I was STARVING all the time and eating big meals meant any future meals I would stuff tons of food in without being full, and I got a loud growling stomach for half the day before my meals.

Go buy the 4-hr body by tim Ferris, lots of good stuff in there
 

Panos Daras

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Willpower is a finite source. If you ask this question you have already lost and you do not know it.

My advice would be to 1) Get educated on how satiety and the CICO model works 2) Make changes in your environment so that you have a fighting chance 3) Start with one good habit at a time.

People that lost weight and kept it off forever have 3 characteristics 1) They weigh themselves almost daily 2) They exercise 3) They do portion control.

Your goal is to find a diet that works for you, for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. The forever diet. No yo-yo dieting.
 

Antifragile

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I recall @Antifragile dropped some weight by changing his habits without necessarily starving. Maybe he can chime in.

Thanks for the tag.

A few things:
  • Short fasts are good to clear my head. But not for weight loss... and I don't like long fasts (feels too painful to me, maybe I am doing it wrong)
  • Exercise doing something you fall in love with doing. This way, you can do a lot of it. At my peak, I would clock in 13 hours per week on swim/bike/run training.
  • Eat well. What does that mean? I believe that our body is far more intelligent than we care to admit. For example: sweet cookie in the morning for breakfast = insta extra fat. Sweet pure sugar snack while going on a long bike ride is just pure fuel/energy.

I lost weight eating well & exercising a lot. Kept it off, by continuing to live healthy life without overthinking it.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Sorry I won't post anymore

Post when you've actually done something with the advice that has been repeatedly been given to you.

ACT.

You continually ASK, but continually fail to ACT.

Your idea of ACTING is to ask the same question, over, and over, and over. This accomplishes nothing.

Do something.


And then give yourself a pat on the back, regardless of the results.
 

Len_1590

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This may be the first post I feel I have experience with on this forum (see my progress photo below).

Exercise - while great for all around health, and it's a love of mine, doesn't equal weight loss. I run ultra marathons and despite during my peak running 100+ miles per week I gain weight if I don't keep track of my nutrition (note: nutrition rather than diet because diet to me means I'll stop at some point).

Nutrition - it's hard because you need to be in calorie deficit. There are loads of ways to do this, either by food restriction diets (e.g. keto, low-carb), fasting (e.g. 5:2 or 16:8) or just old fashioned calorie counting. Find what works for you (making sure you're not going to an extreme and it's in line with any medical advice/conditions) both in terms of keeping you in a deficit but also makes you feel good (energy levels, sleep etc) when you've done it for over two weeks.

If you want discipline and to stick to it you need to find the right mindset for you. I ended up in the shape in the image on the right by yoyo-ing and relapsing with the goal of "getting beach body ready". I got to the place on the left by focussing on feeling good and being able to perform in all areas of my life (sport, socially and at work) - if I felt sh*t it's was because of bad nutrition and that's on me (usually excess alcohol).

It'll take time, the below took me a couple of years and was by no means linear, but because it took so long, while not looking like that all the time I don't stray too far from it. Remember - it's all nutrition for weight loss!

IMG-20200415-WA0013.jpg The one on the left is the new one
 
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WillHurtDontCare

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weigh yourself daily and record it in a spreadsheet

track your all of your calories in excel spreadsheet. ignorance is a big reason for weight gain - sometimes you won't understand how much you're really eating until you tally up your daily calories
 

Happyheart

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What is your best advice for getting and staying disciplined when it comes to losing weight?
1. Don't have anything in the house that is not healthy.
2. Do sports in a team/group or take lessons so that you are forced to go.
3. Only take cash when you go shopping, or let others do the shopping for you.

In short: don't rely on your self-control, until you are in the habit of eating healthy and exercising.
 

Subsonic

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What is your best advice for getting and staying disciplined when it comes to losing weight?
To me it helped to make it easy for the brain -> as little rules as possible.

When I was so overweight that I had liver problems, I made 3 commitments and have stuck with them for over a year now.

1. No Food before 1pm
2. Some exercise every single day
3. Only eat low calorie unprocessed foods.


At some point I started counting calories as well but realistically, you won't overeat with 2 low calorie meals a day.
 

AmazingLarry

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Your goal is to find a diet that works for you, for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. The forever diet. No yo-yo dieting.
This is critical. When they study long term weight loss, the #1 factor is whether or not the person continued to follow their diet over time, NOT the specific diet they did.

There is no magic bullet, and all diets essentially work in the same way be reducing calories consumed. Take the time to find what you can be consistent with.
 
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S.Y.

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A lot of valuable information is shared here.

At the core, weight loss comes down to eating fewer calories than you burn. I can't give much in terms of how to become disciplined.

You can't out-exercise a bad diet. A base hour-long run burns about 800-900 calories (for me). You can consume that very easily. Nutrition for weight loss. Exercise for strength, cardio for heart health and endurance.

Find a way of eating that YOU can sustain for the long run. Otherwise, that weight will come back. I am completely against counting calories and weighting your food unless if you plan to do it for the rest of your life. If not, it is more logical for me to build the proper habits.

Be careful with fasting, pay attention to your muscle mass. I don't know your starting point. But assuming you want to be healthy, lean body mass is important. I was a big fan of long fasts (48h-72h) and have done many regularly. But I changed my mind about fasting recently. Muscle mass is very important for metabolic health and fasts can make you lose muscle. Keep that in mind when fasting.

Be patient and play the long game.

I recall @Antifragile dropped some weight by changing his habits without necessarily starving. Maybe he can chime in.
 

mav55339

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What is your best advice for getting and staying disciplined when it comes to losing weight?
 
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NathanN

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What is your best advice for getting and staying disciplined when it comes to losing weight?
The environment is the first thing you can control, maximizing your environment for results. If you live in a house with snacks and such it's almost game over, it all starts at the grocery store while putting them in your cart.

When it comes to exercise its all about consistency. Set a time you will work out every day and stick to that, even if it's a quick one. Eventually, you will build the habit of doing it automatically, and make it part of your daily life.
 
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Panos Daras

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This is critical. When they study long term weight loss, the #1 factor is whether or not the person continued to follow their diet over time, NOT the specific diet they did.

There is no magic bullet, and all diets essentially work in the same way be reducing calories consumed. Take the time to find what you can be consistent with.
I agree there is no magic bullet. That does not mean that you have to suffer though. For example, you can save some calories by reducing the amount of olive oil you put in the food you cook. This way you save let's say 120 calories with the same portion size. This means that your satiety remains the same and you get to enjoy your favorite food without a sacrifice in taste.
 

mav55339

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Discipline actually doesn’t lose weight.

You can track every bite, step, never stray from your diet, and still get fat…if your plan sucks.

The only thing that matters is the effect of what you’re doing. It’s not emotional. Someone could ACCIDENTALLY lose 30 lbs. Maybe they move to a place and get a job that forces them to walk a few extra miles a day and the only convenient place to get lunch serves only salads. He doesn’t live with anyone so his breakfasts are a protein shake and that’s it. His dinner is a McDonald’s burger but by the end of the day he has walked 5 miles, and only ate 1800 calories. He’s going to be in shape.

Compared to the guy who wants to get in shape. He wants it so bad. He hates being fat. He’s so focused on getting in shape and all he wants is to lose 30 lbs more than anything in life. He reads all day about how to do it effectively. He settles on a Keto diet. He buys all the Keto ingredients, the special artificial sweeteners, the cauliflower pizza crust, the whole works. He eats his super high fat cheese soaked with butter and high fat meat. He gobbles down bricks of cheese for lunch. He wants a cracker but denies himself, “no carbs”. He eats 2800 calories a day and thinks he followed all the rules and wonders why he is still chubby.

I don’t try to have much discipline.

I don’t buy the bad food in the first place so it’s not tempting.

I have cheat days on Saturday so it’s easy to not break the diet since I only tell myself “I’m gonna eat it in a few days, just not today”.

I repeat my meals so they become a habit just like brushing my teeth.

I get as much food delivered as possible so I’m not at the store as much. Only to buy steaks, salsa, coffee and extra stuff like seasoning and oils, and everything else is delivered.

The diet focuses on only having carbs from “slow carb” sources that don’t spike insulin and result in storing fat. So eating things like beans and veggies is perfect for carbs. Then I eat protein. There’s no alcohol, sugar, bread, potatoes, rice, oats, dairy.

I eat eggs, meat, veggies, beans, salsa, salads, etc. breakfast is eggs beans meat and salsa. Lunch is salad. Dinner is meat and veggies. I love it. I don’t need much discipline. I eat 3-4 times a day but the meals are small like 400 calories each or something.

Small meals will shrink your stomach and make you full from less and less food. That’s why I didn’t like intermittent fasting. I was STARVING all the time and eating big meals meant any future meals I would stuff tons of food in without being full, and I got a loud growling stomach for half the day before my meals.

Go buy the 4-hr body by tim Ferris, lots of good stuff in there
Thanks
 
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EngineerThis

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What is your best advice for getting and staying disciplined when it comes to losing weight?
Routine... I ate one steak a day, with a side of veggies for dinner... That's all I ate. I felt awesome and dropped 60lbs in 2 months. Now I eat mostly keto, my weight has stabilized at 165 and feel amazing. Start out with a 3 day water fast challenge. It's easier than you think.
 
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EngineerThis

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Awesome progress!
Fyi the chuck roasts are very cheap cuts, and are large. I'd cut them in half. So basically I'd get 4 steaks for the price of 1 NY strip... Just grill em, add some butter... And they taste fantastic. Just slightly tougher.
 

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mav55339

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Set daily habits to hit, rather than goals.
Use a habit tracker.
Eg, eat 200g protein today
Go for a 30min walk today

Think of all the ways you would do to GAIN weight. Then do the opposite actions.

Don't focus on your weight or measurements etc
Thanks
 
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Matte

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What is your best advice for getting and staying disciplined when it comes to losing weight?
When I go to buy food, I only buy healthy foods and no junk food, that way when I'm home and I want to eat I have no options but to eat healthy food.

Also I try to walk instead of taking the car as much as possible.
 
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mav55339

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When I go to buy food, I only buy healthy foods and no junk food, that way when I'm home and I want to eat I have no options but to eat healthy food.

Also I try to walk instead of taking the car as much as possible.
Thanks
 

Jon822

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First, I'd like to preface that food should not only be looked at for it's macros and calorie content, but also its micro-nutrients and other health benefits.

With that said, weight loss is simple but not easy. One thing I would say that helps drastically in the way you look at everything you consume is to translate it to hours spent exercising. It's analogous to money - how you value money is indirectly proportional to how much time you have to trade to make each dollar. This is why children can spend large amounts of money on really dumb shit - they haven't had to trade their time for money so from their point of view, money is a free-flowing resource that constantly replaces itself immediately after it's spent.

So instead of looking at a donut as a tasty, convenient snack -- look at it for what it truly is: empty calories that give your body nothing of value and you'll have to walk for an hour to negate the caloric intake. Healthy foods are not only healthy because they have essential nutrients, they are also healthy because they allow our evolutionary hunger control to do its job (there's a reason the only overweight tigers you'll find are in zoos). We've gotten really good at manufacturing great tasting, calorie dense foods. While it's possible to lose weight eating anything, the more manufactured garbage you eat means it will become more important to track calories, you will have to cut yourself off earlier, and you will feel hungry for longer.

The more healthy foods you eat, the less you will have to concern yourself with counting calories and the better you will feel. Make it as simple and easy as possible and you will maximize your chances of adherence. Don't shoot yourself in the foot then expect to run a marathon.
 

quazimodo

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What is your best advice for getting and staying disciplined when it comes to losing weight?
Hello, will share my experience.
* Starting point: age 49, male, weight 107kg or 242 pounds. Diets, such as low GI, that used to work 20 years ago had no effect. Doctor on yearly check up said that now I am in risk zone for type 2 diabetes, message heard for the last 3 years. Nearly accepted, that I will be obese for the rest of my life.
* What I did - took it literally event/process dichotomy from UNSCRIPETED
1. Intelligent awareness: I am action faker of highest sort, need discipline with eating and exercising and this needs to be on regular basis. Starting date happened to be September 1, 2021.
2. Modify Expectations/Realign Difficulty - it will not be easy, but without difficulty there will be no result. It will take time and process.
3. Identify and Visualize the Change Target - 2021 December 1 weight 95 kg or 209 pounds, jeans and trousers that I regularly wear not tight and a bit loose.
4. Apply Mathematics to the Goal - need to loose 5kg or 11 pounds per month
5. Segment Goal into Its Daily Action - created daily process to follow with tracking of 5 points in excel: First meal KETO, Second meal KETO, no snacks in between, min 16 hours without eating per 24hours, 5km walk. Additional conditions - cannot check weight on scales during this 3 month period, only on the last target day of Dec 1.
6. Identify Threats to the Target - Alcohol, not suitable with KETO, makes me snack on bad food. Do not purchase food not suitable for KETO.
7. Identify the Right Battle - do not go to parties where it is usual to drink, exercise extra instead, e.g. walk 10 or 15 km instead of 5.
8. Attack Bad Habits with Inconvenience/Pain - No alcohol at home, do not purchase food not suitable for KETO.
9. Act until Echo - stick to defined above process till people will start to notice and compliment that I have lost weight.
Result:
* Accuracy of sticking to process of 5 steps marked in excell daily was 97% during those 3 month.
* Finally - EVENT - climbing on the scale to weight myself on December 1, 2021. Weight 87kg or 192 pounds. In 3 month lost 22kg or 48 pounds.
Covid restrictions ended, showed up in public and ECHOS were numerous (people commenting, complimenting, worried)
Today: 85kg or 187 pounds - still sticking to this process, modified it to include more exercises and now target defined as long term negative trend in weight and certain body fat percentage. Updated wardrobe with better fitting clothing - echoes continuing.
Conclusions for myself - I am not completely hopeless action faker, I can follow process. Several month ago created process to start my own CENTS business, after several adjustments still completing daily actions of process. Still far away from echoes, but I am sticking to the process.
 

lupulin

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The real goal is to eat less.

There are only 3 ways to do it:
  1. Calorie Restriction
  2. Time Restriction
  3. Macro Restriction
Calorie Restriction means you count calories.

Time Restriction means you restrict what you eat within a certain amount of time.

Macro Restriction means to limit or eliminate entire food groups (carbs, or fats)

I find calorie counting to be difficult because figuring out how much calories something has is work if it's not written on a box and you don't have a scale.

Time Restricted Eating works best for me as long as I don't constantly eat during my feeding window. That usually means 1-2 actual means with no snacks.

Macro Restriction can be important if you have issues with certain macros. If you are pre-diabetic or diabetic, you may need to remove carbs. If you are one of the people that has lipid issues with more fat in your diet, you may need to lower your fat intake (or try vegetarian)

Macro Restriction is important too because if you're not restricting something... you're probably eating the Standard American Diet (processed shit). If you don't get rid of processed crap in your diet, you're going to have a rough time losing weight and getting healthy.

You can also mix and match. I try to limit my carb intake and I also skip breakfast. If I'm with family and I'm not able to make my own meals, I'll limit how much I put on my plate...

YMMV... Good luck

BTW:

Protein is the most important macro nutrient because it's also the more satiating. So, increase the protein and you'll find you naturally start to eat less.

Get the book "P:E Diet" by Ted Naiman (and follow him on Twitter)
 
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Chap

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Learn to cook

My working theory is that obesity is basically the ‘developed’ worlds malnutrition.

  • Eat home-cooked meals 80% of the time, inc. snacks.
  • Avoid anything processed first, or packaged second.
  • Be mindful of what you drink: water, coffee, and tea (anything else is included in that 20%)
 
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The-J

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My uneducated review of all the "diets" out there:
  • Slow carb is awesome for people who love beans
  • Paleo is awesome for people who hate beans
  • Carnivore is awesome for people who hate veggies and love organs
  • Vegan is not a F*cking diet
  • Plant-based IS a diet, and awesome for people who hate flavor
  • Low-carb is awesome for people who love artificial sweeteners (but stevia doesn't count, it's natural!)
  • Keto is awesome for people who want to be doing something cooler-sounding than "low carb"
  • Low-GI diets are awesome for disgusting creatures who can somehow tolerate brown rice and whole wheat pasta
  • Mediterranean diets are awesome for people who love olive oil
  • "Clean eating" is awesome for dudes who are totally gonna be Mr. O one day
  • Intermittent fasting is awesome for people who love to binge-eat and get off on being grumpy all day
  • Actual fasting is awesome for people who love that feeling some 36 hours in when you've "beaten hunger" and are willing to suffer for a day to get there
  • Balanced low-calorie diets are awesome for boring people who listen to their schmuck doctor (did you know doctors barely study nutrition at all? Seriously!)
  • Calorie counting is awesome for nerds who wanna Rain Man their diet
  • IIFYM is awesome for people who don't give a shit about hunger but refuse to give up pizza and pop tarts
And... wow holy shit they all work. I can find at least 10 stories from the Internet of people who lose significant amounts of weight from doing every single one of these eating protocols. They ALL work. But the only diet that works is the one you actually stick to long enough to see and maintain your results!

With that said, if you simply record what you eat and weigh yourself (and be honest about both), you'll learn a lot about yourself. You'll learn what works and what doesn't. You'll learn what foods make you sluggish and what foods give you energy throughout the day. You'll learn what makes you bloat. You'll learn what makes you shit uncontrollably. It's useful. Try it!
 
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Modew

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I think people have given very good advice around food, calories, goals, mindset, lifestyle but I would like to add a few things for consideration:

1. If you have a spouse/family then make sure that they are aware and if possible support you, or better yet partake with you [but don't force them] on the journey. If you are easily influenced by their decisions, then there will be habits, hacks you will need to put in place to make sure they don't derail you.

2. Social interactions can be hard at the beginning (I just found newer friends who wanted to live this life style by going to Orange Theory..not saying its the best workout, but its very good, and gives me a community of like minded people). Avoid, go for coffee instead of lunch etc. Family get togethers can be bad, so plan accordingly.

3. Don't go shopping for food (at least on an empty stomach). I found that I ordered groceries online, or went to store when I was full so I didn't make bad choices.

4. Pre-eat/Pre-decide what you are going to get when you go out. Having a plan or not being stupidly hungry when going out to eat helps make better choices.

5. Take progress pictures. The journey has a lot of ups and downs esp after the initial bump. So those pictures of you seeing your own progress helps remind you its your journey.

6. You will have set backs. Somedays you will do something you regret like eat a burger and fries. Its about resetting as quickly as possible and continue on. I think in Unscripted MJ mentions eat 20 good meals out of 21 (or something to that effect). Its what I use as my base, but sometimes it works out 18 good meals out of 21. Just will take me longer to get to my goal and its a heck of a lot better than 1 out of 21.
 

Matt Sun

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Calories are a stupid and dysfunctional model for estimating energy intake.

The goal is to fix your metabolism so that your natural satiety signaling works properly. You do that by removing carbs and eating less frequently (1-2 meals a day max). You will gradually become less and less hungry, and your body will naturally adjust to the new standard.

And when it comes to discipline, the only long term solution is to throw away all the garbage food in your house. Stop making choices, stop giving yourself the opportunity to cheat.

Fixing your environment and habits are what will enable you to get lean and stay lean for the rest of your life.
Totally disagree with the first two paragraphs, totally agree with the rest said.

Last few months I made a habit of weighing my food on a scale daily in order to track calories, also track exercise on an app.

This way I calculate total calorie intake vs usage. I've maintained a 500 calories deficit.

Lo and behold my body fat % has consistently lowered. In just two months went from 18% to like 12-13%

My stomage got flatter. Even my face changed, cheeks thinner, my jaw more visible (wasn't expecting this).

There is more details and nuances to how to make this work, and the place for healthy carbs, but leaving my caloric blindness has work out great for me so far.
 
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