back to the basics

Eat about 20% fewer calories than you burn, or more like 10% fewer if you're close to goal weight. That's all, if weight loss is the only thing that matters.

If you care about your health, get overall decent nutrition on average; and work your way up to a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate cardiovascular exercise (ideally spread over at least 5 days) or 75 minutes of vigorous CV exercise, or some combination; and do some strength exercise on at least 2 non-consecutive days a week.

Everything else is just details, preferences . . . or maybe folklore.

The biology of it is very simple. Consume less calories than your body uses and you lose weight.

What gets complicated is the infinite number of ways to achieve that calorie deficit. Not every approach is right for everyone, so it sometimes takes patience and trial/error for someone to discover the method that works best for them.

I lost 30-40 Lbs about 10 years ago. I wasn't really on about losing weight as much as I just wanted to be a healthy and fit individual. I knew that losing weight would ultimately have to be a part of that as I was class I obese. But really I just started doing the things I saw healthy and fit people do.

I started eating a more nutritionally sound diet...more whole foods, more fruit and veg, more lean meats and healthy fats. I limited eating out and started cooking and brown bagging my breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. I got active with regular exercise starting with the minimum of 150 minutes per week of light cardio (mostly walking) and then made adjustments from there. I limited snacking by spending downtime doing other things besides watching tv or lounging around. I started taking the stairs anytime I encountered them...because that's what healthy and fit people do right?

I could go on, but really for me it came down to developing the same habits the fit and healthy people i knew did...and voila, the weight part followed. I did count calories for a time as I found it to be very educational and made me more aware and mindful, but calorie counting is just one of many ways to create a deficit. Save for a spot check here and there to make sure my mental awareness is jiving with reality, I haven't counted calories in about a decade.

Any diet or plan you've ever heard of comes down to the same thing...a way of controlling calories. Low carb...can help control calories. IF...eating windows can help you control calories. Don't eat after 6PM...just controlling calories with meal timing, etc, etc, etc

1. Start logging food, start moving more. Walking works
2. After you get the hang of logging and moving, analyze. Where can you painlessly trim calories? Where can you up your satiety so you’re not hungry? How can you increase activity so it’s no big deal? Walking for 10 extra minutes to burn 50 extra calories a day starts to mean something, I promise.
3. Start a regular grocery list and a list of 5-10 quick go-to healthy meals. Keep those ingredients on hand ALWAYS.
4. If you have a big food day, log it anyway (best estimates). Put it to rest and move on to the next meal/day. Look at your nutrition details at the end of the week and REALLY pay attention to what it did to your weekly average. Be a grown up and recognize that there are consequences for every action. You get to decide what’s worth it or not. (I believe cheeseburgers are worth less weight loss some weeks. You get to choose your trade-offs.) Stop making excuses. At least if you log your food, you’ll know why you got whatever consequence on the scale.
5. You don’t have to eat the same number of calories every single day. If your goal is 1600 and you eat 2000, you’re not a bad dieter! You can eat less tomorrow. Or not. Again, your choices, your consequences. So what if you only lose .5 pounds this week instead of .6?
6. It’s not a diet. It’s forever. Form habits by repetition.

People lost weight before the internet and didn't have to log it.