4 key points

So much time and effort is spent on things that don't really matter. Eating before or after exercise, eating after a certain hour, workout out fasted, high fat, low carb, artificial sugar vs natural sugar, supplements vs vitamins vs whole foods, blah blah blah. These things matter to 1% of the population, and if you have to ask questions about these topics, you don't fall into that 1%.

Here is what you need to focus on (barring any real dietary/health issues):

1) Calories in vs calories out - If you want to lose weight you need a calorie deficit. If you want to gain you need a calorie surplus.

2) Exercise - While exercise isn't required to lose weight, the benefits of it in all aspects of life are too great to ignore.

3) Effort - Results come from effort. Effort keeping your eating in check. Effort pushing yourself in your workouts. The more effort you give, the more results you'll see.

4) Adherence - If you can't stick to your plan (diet or exercise) long term, then you're doomed to failure (or at the very least yo-yoing). Work on making your diet and exercise plans flexible enough, fun enough, etc that you can stick to them.

If you focus on those 4 points you will see success. Build a diet and exercise routine that works within those principles and you'll be on your way to posting in the Success forum.

Well said! It seems like a lot of folks make this more complicated than it has to be.

Totally. In some cases it's ignorance, in some cases it's lack of perspective... but it really is that simple for that vast majority of people.

So much time and effort is spent on things that don't really matter. Eating before or after exercise, eating after a certain hour, workout out fasted, high fat, low carb, artificial sugar vs natural sugar, supplements vs vitamins vs whole foods, blah blah blah. These things matter to 1% of the population, and if you have to ask questions about these topics, you don't fall into that 1%.

Here is what you need to focus on (barring any real dietary/health issues):

1) Calories in vs calories out - If you want to lose weight you need a calorie deficit. If you want to gain you need a calorie surplus.

2) Exercise - While exercise isn't required to lose weight, the benefits of it in all aspects of life are too great to ignore.

3) Effort - Results come from effort. Effort keeping your eating in check. Effort pushing yourself in your workouts. The more effort you give, the more results you'll see.

4) Adherence - If you can't stick to your plan (diet or exercise) long term, then you're doomed to failure (or at the very least yo-yoing). Work on making your diet and exercise plans flexible enough, fun enough, etc that you can stick to them.

If you focus on those 4 points you will see success. Build a diet and exercise routine that works within those principles and you'll be on your way to posting in the Success forum.

I should probably add a 5th point...

5) Patience - Nothing happens in a day, nothing meaningful happens in a week, and progress isn't linear. You have to see and treat this as a long term process. Don't flip out that the scale is up 2lbs since yesterday, or because you haven't lost any weight this week despite "doing everything right".