40 lb weight loss goal, down 20 in 3 months, heres my strategy.

mkohler2

5"8 220lb male. Committed to losing 40lbs over 6 months. Started Jan 8th. Down 21 lbs so far.
Journaling calories/macros every day. avg daily net calories 1701
Scanning labels with MFP app has been a huge tool

Diet consisting of coffee am (using protein shake mix as creamer to boost protein instead of milk)
A little more expensive but working.
Wife and I buy 5 lbs of chicken a week, cook all at once and use for meals throughout the week.
My go to meal often is chicken with rice soup (about 160 cal) with 3 oz of cubed chicken added, plus some parmesan cheese for taste. Very filling and keeps me going for hours and a huge shot of protein.

Not giving up pizza but we'll order a pizza a week, eat a couple slices and freeze the remaining. Pulling out and nuking a slice when craving. Works very good without sacrificing much.
We have a freezer full of low cal frozen dinner options ranging from 280 to 340 calories. Sometimes I'll doctor these up and add stuff to make them more filling. But chicken parm and spaghetti for 320 cals is a win all day. Pretty much eliminated the majority of junk food. My personal addiction is Lindys water ice (100 calories of pure sugar) Luckily with the rest of my diet on point, I can work these in without much damage. Also high quality protein bars are great to fill in the gaps. About 180 to 200 calories with 20 grams of protein which is quite a hit.

I've been able to work in the occasional cheeseburger, cheesesteak, etc here and there but no more than 1x per week. Usually skip the fries. Havent eaten any ice cream so far this year.

My other go to move is Chobani style greek yogurts. They taste decent. About 80 cal and 12 grams protein. Effective for curbing hunger when I don't know what I want. We keep stocked on these. As far as snacking, I've been eating Rold gold pretzel sticks with mustard. About 110 cals per serving. You can only eat so many pretzels before you just get tired of eating. lol. Anyway, it's working especially late at night.

I do eat my fair share of vegetables, salads with light balsalmic. I'll cook up onions and peppers in bulk (a personal favorite) and mix them with chicken and soy sauce for a low cal stir fry. Sometimes I'll add some rice to bulk it out a little. Very cheap, very low cal and you can make in bulk for a few meals. I do the same with sausage peppers and onions. Also a very filling meal.

I like to eat at night so I pay particular attention to calories taken in during the day to leave room. But sometimes if I have a lot of remaining calories, I don't like giving them back after working at diet all day.

I'm no gym rat but we do hit the gym 3x per week. I'll do some leg work (bad knees) and then walk treadmill at 3 mph on a 5 to 10 degree incline. Usually burn 200-300 calories. Also take 1 mile walks on off days just to keep moving. I play drums also so sometimes I'll play thru a playlist for an hour. This will burn 300-500 calories and is amazing fun to do. Havent picked up a weight yet this year since just focusing on losing fat for now.

My main goal in weight loss is to relieve pressure on the joints. I played baseball until I was 47 and have the knee problems to prove it (catcher) so at 53, these issues are setting in. Time to do something about them. I also play golf, and although most people don't consider golf any sort of major exercise (which it is) You can burn over 1000 calories playing a round of golf. So looking forward to warm weather and working this into my exercise program.

So if you've come this far, thank you for reading. Please feel free to share your input or your own dieting experiences. I've been a yo-yo dieter for a long time. Drop 20 put them back on. This time I'm going to keep going!

cugogirl2017

@mkohler2 I think you have really found a way to make this work for you. You have had an impressive weight loss so far. Keep going! I really think it is wonderful that you and your wife are doing this together, that will really help and you'll both see health benefits. I am not a golfer, although my dad played his entire life until just shy of 90 and he didn't use a golf cart until his final 2 years so he logged miles walking and pulling his clubs. He was slim and healthy his whole life and on no meds, so golf is a sport. Yours was a no nonsense and very inspirational post. Keep us posted on your progress. Good luck.