M | 41 | 6’2 (188cm) | 325lbs --> 189lbs --> 192lbs (147.5kg --> 85.75 --> 87). I’m not educated on the matter or an expert but can share from my experience.

I am a spreadsheet nerd and get a lot of satisfaction knowing that I’m tracking and working with good data, regardless of what I’m doing. So I weigh myself daily at the same time (morning after I use the restroom but before I eat/drink anything or get dressed), weigh and track my food (Cronometer is my app of choice), and I use weekly averages to observe trends and adjust calorie intake. That’s only part of it though.

I had to address why and how I became overweight myself. I was binge eating to help calm myself down, mostly from stress and anxiety. I reduced the stress (different job), went to counseling, and looked what I was binge eating. It was always sweets. I haven’t had anything with more than 1-2g of added sugar in several years now - I just don’t do it. That’s the only thing in my diet that’s off-limits at this point, and it’s just going to stay that way.

I started weight loss pretty extreme by cutting all carbs and just having lean meat with some green veggies for two weeks. I wanted to kill the sweet tooth, and I did. I slowly reintroduced carbs. I added an apple a day, then a second apple, then wild rice, and so forth - always healthy carbs. I started reintroducing fats in the form of largely unsaturated fats with peanut butter and nuts. I do consume dairy as well and have no digestive issues with that, but I do so in more moderation. I reintroduced these types of foods over the course of ~1-1.5 years.

I also started exercising after losing the first 40lbs (18kg). I haven’t found cardio I like enough to program regularly (not that I skip it entirely), but I love weightlifting, so I focus on that. I started with Starting Strength for a few months, moved onto 5/3/1 (several variations of this - I bought his books) for a couple years, and now that I can handle more volume, I do PPL/UL (push, pull, leg, upper, lower) each week. I’ve tried to do PPL six days a week, but every time I try to add that extra day, my body complains about the volume, so I move back to PPL/UL.

I’m at the point where I’m actually trying to lean-gain, which is freaking terrifying after walking around overweight for so many years. Even a 200 calorie surplus makes me feel more nervous than it should, but I’m sticking to it for the fall, winter, and spring to see if that + the work in the gym will help me gain a little muscle mass. If not, I’ll just cut a little to get back to the ~14% body fat I was at, and maintain there. I think of food as fuel now and don’t really care what I eat as long as it’s good, whole food. I don’t really eat out and prepare all my own food, including meal prep for work lunches. Cooking has kind of become a hobby. Figuring out flavor/seasoning and making my own sauces is kind of fun.