this is waaaay harder than I thought.

It is not about deprivation but balance. Making better choices but still enjoying your food. You can do this....

hey man.
I have lost more than 100 lbs, and kept it off for over 3 years.

I also love to cook. This is actually a great advantage for you. With some effort you can learn to make great tasting food that is healthy for you. See it as a challenge to learn to use new ingredients. Also learn to go easy with the olive oil / butter (I used to have a heavy hand with that when I cooked).

I still occasionally indulge in some high calorie foods. Only after an unusually large workout. Beer that is a rare thing for me nowadays. It is not good for the wasteline

Good luck

It's really hard, but you will find it's definitely worth it! I have twice the energy that I used to! You find ways to get creative in the cooking department. I'm sorry about the beer, but, everything in moderation!!

Hi Eric. Beer is a huge part of my weekends (I only like beer, no other alcohol). I've decided that beer is too big a part of my weekends and is a large contributing factor to my weight gain as I feel so happy and relaxed after a few beers that I "forget" about my long term goals of achieving health and weight loss. For me, I am giving up beer for now and maybe forever. There are other people who can drink beer/alcohol and count the calories and lose weight, but I need to break some life habits. Sandy

Hi everybody, I'm Eric, I'm 37, and I could use some help losing weight. I am a stay-at-home dad who is in desperate need of dropping about 50 pounds. Here is my problem. I'm a good cook and I like beer. I fear that my days of great food and great beer are behind me.

Great food is certainly not behind you. I would recommend you purchase three books: Clean Eating, Clean Eating 2 and Clean Eating 3. I got them on Amazon for roughly US$50 plus US$20 shipping to Australia. They have some recipes that taste amazing but are healthy at the same time!

Regarding beer, well yes that's going to have to go. Just depends on what's more important - beer or losing that 50 pounds

I like beer and I like to cook and eat. That being said, I have found that I get to enjoy all of that. I just eat smaller portions. Strangely, the portion control thing seems to work. If you want a beer, drink a (1) beer. If you want a steak eat 4 or 6 ounces vice 8 or more. Still get the flavor at a fraction of the cals. For me, portion control was the easiest way to not give up on all the things I wanted to eat.

The other option is to runn your *kitten* off so you can eat what you want.

In the UK we have two chefs called the Hairy Bikers, who have a book on good food, that's low in fat and calories. They do diet lasagne, sweet and sour chicken and chicken korma, to name a few... their recipes are amazing!

(Low fat? Why? Why why why??? Fat is delicious.)

OP, you can do this and still enjoy the foods you love. The trick is to start by decreasing your net calories to an appropriate amount, ensuring you are getting adequate nutrition from the foods you are eating, and finding days where you can enjoy your favorite food and drink while still meeting the first two objectives. The best way to do this is to track everything you eat/drink and exercise.

It is much easier to eat 1500 calories worth of calorie light food, like green vegetables, steamed rice, any piece of meat you can find, potatoes, baked fish...

When 1600 calories is the caloric cost of a McDonalds Angus Bacon Cheeseburger, Large fries, and a Large Coke, You can sort of see how total food volume can come into play here. 1600 calories of healthy food would be TEN 4 ounce portions of baked chicken breast PLUS six cups of steamed broccoli. I don't know about you, but given an entire DAY I don't think I could eat that much.

When we eat less, our body makes up for the calorie deficit by chaining fatty acids together with amino acids... from stored fat and stored protein. If we eat enough protein in our diet, then stored protein (muscle) won’t be used. That’s why you see people lose muscle mass when they diet, glucogenesis requires protein from somewhere, and the body doesn’t care where it comes from.

So, keep your beer, limit it to once or twice a week, or fit it into your macros.. If at all possible embrace the 55 calorie beer, I have made the switch, and All I really enjoyed about beer was the flavor and the way you can enjoy brewskis with others.. Just drink yours from a glass from now on if they give you trouble about it.

Eat, MOAR, MEAT! seriously, protein is a man's saving grace. If you eat your daily recommended allotment of 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, or for a 200 pound man, somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 calories worth of protein (protein = 4 calories per gram).

When you eat that much protein, and add in green fibrous vegetables, you will feel more full than ever. The only meats that are even remotely off limits for people trying to cut fat are high fat meats like ground beef, which can be 20% fat.. if you want lean ground beef, have the butcher grind a lean roast for you, I HATE how they add in fat to give it more weight.

Lean ground turkey is good, chicken breast, lean cuts of pork, less bratwurst. Bacon is ok if you limit it to once or twice a week. Center cut Oscar Mayer bacon is good stuff, not too fatty and plenty of protein in it. Any. Kind. OF FISH. shrimp, tilapia, salmon is full of good fats, scallops, lobster and crab if you want to go fancy, fake crab is a PERFECT snack, it's actually made out of pollock.

Seriously, go crazy on meat, and cut out the snack food, you really shouldn't have to watch too terribly closely if you stay away from hundred calorie handfuls of junk.

I've found that I can modify some of my favorite recipes to be more calorie friendly. Some of my favorite foods (mainly pizza and pasta) I still have, but not as often as I used to. The good thing is you like to cook so you know exactly what's going into your food. I like finding creative ways to make a recipe healthier. There are also really good healthy recipes out there! Try skinnytaste.com. You have to establish a plan for yourself that you can follow long term. There's give and take.

I have the same problem. Beer wine and spirits isn't just something "I drink" but really a hobby and passion. I'm a homebrewer, wine maker and even built my own Irish pub in my basement-3/tap-8 keg capacity fully stocked.
But I decided that I wouldn't have any alcohol for a month and reward myself when I go to beer festivals...which are about every 2 months.
I have to lose the weight and get my body moving again.

Cooking is a huge advantage. It's just as easy to whip out a healthy menu as an unhealthy one. Get some new cookbooks.

As far as beer, enjoy. As long as it fits into your calorie plan, no harm done. Maybe you'll have to put in an extra half hour of exercise for it, but it's totally worth it - right?

Being a good cook is your first advantage. You just need to find some good healthy recipes and train yourself to enjoy the flavors of fresh fruits and veges instead of sugars and fats. It not as hard as it sounds, I've done just that over the past few weeks.
Being a stay at home dad is your second, assuming it means you are in control of the weekly grocery shop.

To save myself from repetition and becoming a bore, I'll point you toward another post where I laid out how I changed my lifestyle. Everyone's different though, so I'm not saying it will work for you, just that it did for me.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/835891-oh-dear?page=1#posts-12554093

I have been drinking beer along my journey because I love it (and wine) and while I do think it has slowed me down a bit, it is still possible. I don't have it every day, nor do I have six at a time, but one or two once a week is acceptable. Keep it within my calories and macros.

This is totally possible!!

I was the exact same way man. It's HARD to get going. Period.

But once you get on track and starting feeling results its awesome. Especially for your family. Sounds like you are getting committed. Good luck!