Question about dieting for MEN...

Diet is really important of course but I would say start the weights right away. No need to wait until he has lost some weight. Lifting stuff up and down will help maintain his muscle mass as he loses weight, also muscle helps burn calories so it is important to keep as much of it as possible while dieting.

If it is something that he wants to do and enjoys doing then encourage him to get stuck in right away.

Best of luck :flowerforyou:

A weight lifting regimen can be added on the bat, but of course it would have to be very basic. Breakfast is a personal thing (I don't eat it), but what's more important is getting the right macro/micro nutrients daily and within a calorie restriction.
Do you belong to a gym? If so get a GOOD trainer to help him get started. If not, he can just start with bodyweight exercises (although form is important to pay attention to since doing it by oneself won't give one feedback on it) and walking.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

You said it right here...cut all this stuff out plus no more HFCS(high frutose corn syrup)..."He eats a lot of fried food, candy,chips and sugary drinks". He needs to learn to read labels and talk to his doctor first before starting a cardio and weight training program.
He does all that, he'll do fine. It worked for me.

Please do not take this wrong but why isnt he asking? You can not lose the weight for him nor can you force him to do it. He needs to eat at a sensible calorie deficit. I would agree with Mock_Turtle to have him log everything for a few days without changing a thing , Knowledge is power and just the logging alone could be enough to have him change a few things. If he wants to lift then by all means go lift, there is no reason for him to lose weight first. Best of luck to him and you.

If that's what he likes to eat, then try this.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vq8c6

It's a TV program over here in the UK, and they started off called The Hairy Bikers, focussing on all the foods you have mentioned - meat, pies, bread..... Then they realised they were putting on weight and named themselves The Hairy Dieters and reworked all their recipes to be more diet friendly without sacrificing flavour and, most importantly, menu.

As with all these TV things, they brought a book out which you can buy on-line. I would hope you can get it where you are, if not then shipping to the States shouldn't be a fortune.

I don't have the book myself, and I can't promise that it will solve all his issues, but it could well be a good place to start!

Good luck!

1/ Tracking - will reveal where his excess calories are coming from.

2/ Diet - don't exclude anything to avoid that "I'm on a diet feeling". No fad diets. No "diet" foods. No excluded food groups. Hopefully eating habits will change and improve in response to tracking. Portion size is very important. Don't worry about breakfast - eat it if you want to, don't if you don't want to.

3/ Deficit. A small deficit over a long period through lifestyle changes is perfect.

4/ Exercise. Strength and cardio - both, it shouldn't be one or the other. Start now, absolutely no reason to wait and a very good reason is to maintain muscle mass while dieting. At target weight he will then be closer to his ideal body rather than just a smaller version of a fat and unfit person. Exercise that you enjoy is the key to keeping going.

5/ Take measurements and don't just relate success to a number on the scales. Most men like targets so make some fitness/strength targets as well as pounds lost.

i think a lot of the posters have covered most of the key parts.

just a couple things to add - I agree that breakfast is not necessary. Its true that many studies suggest it is good for you, but that is from people who ignore their hunger signals and skip breakfast - forcing them to over eat at lunch or even dinner. The key is to re-learn the true hunger signals. Eat when you are hungry not because its lunch time or breakfast time and you think you should eat. Stop eating when you are 80% full - not stuffed. This helps to eat less of what ever food he chooses to eat.. be it veggies or meat and potatoes. also if he is resistant to changing his meat and potato ways just change slowly - make managable changes that are easy to keep for life. Use a lower fat coffee cream, choose leaner cuts of beef, try sweet potato fries, and a couple more veggies, try using olive oil instead of butter, whole wheat bread instead of white. Then transition into what ever healthy choices he is comfortable with

edit: where ever i use "you" i meant "he" lol!