LogFAQs > #896761770

Specific diets like keto can help, and setting up exercise regiments can help. But ultimately the thing that drives weight loss is CICO: Calories In and Calories Out.

If the Calories In exceed the Calories Out, you gain weight.

If the Calories Out exceed Calories In, you lose weight.

If they are about even, then you stay even. It's just math.

If you are doing a diet that focuses on certain healthy food types, it can help if the portions are low enough that you would be eating less calories. But if you eat large portions, the Calories In will still be high. No diet helps you lose weight if you are still eating until long after you are satisfied, even if the food types are technically healthier and more nutritious. On the flipside, if you eat relatively unhealthy foods but tone down how much of it you are eating, it can still help you lose weight (though you might suffer from poor nutrition in other ways).

To help track the amount of Calories In every day, I highly recommend you use the app MyFitnessPal (or something like it) which helps you very easily track how much food you are eating. You can search most foods and they come up very quickly, or you can scan the barcode on something you've bought and it'll come up with how much calories it has. It becomes very apparent where extra calories are coming from. Even if you still choose to eat out for example, if you just cut out that large soda from the combo meal you'll instantly save like 150 calories for the day. When you are forced to look at how much everything adds up to, it makes it way easier to just say "yeah i actually don't need that".

The general rule of thumb I think to lose weight is to consume under 2000 calories a day. This can vary based on your goals but the normal metabolism just for your body to live is supposedly around 2000, which is why you shoot for under that number.

You can do exercises every day which helps increase the Calories Out by expending energy during a workout, but if you don't keep your diet relatively under control, you probably still won't beat Calories In. Exercise can help your body get more in shape in general but weightloss wise it mostly just helps and accelerates the gain you get from keeping your diet under control.

You are a super methodical guy so I think approaching any changes you make in terms of CICO will help you a lot. No matter what diet you choose to take, try to apply CICO to it to make sure your calorie deficit is actually benefiting from it.
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