This is how I lose (and maintain) weight.


Advantages:
  • If you stick to it, it works. Reliably.
  • Spreadsheet tells me when I can eat, how much I can eat, and how much protein I should get in the near future.
  • It helps me follow a nutrition plan where I eat 20 or more grams of protein in every 3 hour window, and 130-160 grams of protein every day. This means I actually lose fat, instead of muscle, and keep most of my muscle mass.

Disadvantages:
  • Requires an aptitude for numbers.
  • Requires food with nutritional information, and/or constant look-ups on a site like TheCalorieCounter.com.
  • Requires weighing most items you consume, i.e. all items where the nutritional information is not framed for a practical, reliable serving.
  • For meals consisting of multiple ingredients, requires a cook willing to weigh every single ingredient, as well as the end result.
  • Some exercise is still necessary. You don't get any protein while you sleep. Muscle will atrophy if unused.

I've been using this system for 6 years. It has evolved from pen and paper to the spreadsheet on the screenshot.

It's a demanding system. However, if you aren't genetically gifted, in my opinion it's the only way to reliably lose weight, short of surgery.

My natural appetite is high; I'm attracted to low protein food high in sugar. If I stop sticking to the system for a period of several months, I lose all sense of how much calories is what, and find myself eating servings double the size I should be.

If you want to lose weight, hit the gym, lift weights, build muscle, and stick to this system.