As an older guy I've finally figured out weight-loss

What initially worked for me was the 5:2 "diet". Eat for 5 days fast for 2, and i followed it for a couple of years, and in the first 3 months i lost 15kg. After that things kinda "flattened" out, i still stuck to it, but eventually i caved. With 5:2 i would be miserable on fast days. The lack of food didn't bother me, but concentration, feeling cold, and trying to fit into a world that eats dinner at nights eventually got too much.

These days i'm more or less doing the sunrise-sunset routine, which seems more natural to me. I've never been a big breakfast person, and for most of my life i've skipped breakfast. The only thing i've added is skipping lunch, which is also easy in the "work from home" world we currently live in.

My family and i also have different rituals in the morning, so we're usually not up at the same time anyway. So i eat a normal size dinner with the family in the evening, and my "social life" is mostly intact while at the same time cutting calories by 1/4 or more.

The thing is, when you're used to "overeating" you're hungry all the time. Stuffing less food in your stomach causes it to shrink, meaning you'll feel full earlier, so contrary to what many people believe, you don't just consume a full days worth of calories in the evening (assuming you're not eating at McDonalds, which makes it very easy to consume 2500 kcal in one sitting).

In the end, calories is all that matters in weight loss. The less you eat the skinnier you get. There are healthy and unhealthy ways of doing calorie restriction, but if you eat less than your body consumes, you lose weight.

Edit: I should add that another thing i changed was that i'm not "religious" about it. If somebody invites me out for dinner, or the family just gathers for dinner during the weekend, i eat.

I’ve made a SaaS app that essentially automated what the author is describing. In most circles it’s referred to as “flexible eating”.

My wife struggled with keeping weight off and counting macros has been the only effective way to do it, but it’s insanely exhausting, especially with kids who you need to feed too. We worked from a spreadsheet for about a year until I automated everything and now we (and others!) get automated meal plans once a week with genuine, easy recipes that hit your calorie requirement. It’s like EatThisMuch but specifically for Australians and generates much more realistic meal plans. Of course, nothing is ever perfect for everyone, but it’s a great foundation.

My tip is be comfortable with eating MORE sometimes. Going out for dinner with mates? It’s fine, as long as it’s not a regular thing. Movies with popcorn and coke? That’s okay too! “Flexible eating” works well when it becomes a lifestyle, not just an 8 week plan.

>Most studies suggested that for most people, the amount of calories consumed determines your weight. Hormonal factor exist, but they're either negligible or for a very, very, VERY small part of the population. You're likely not it.

And the correlary: "Tons of people will nevertheless protest that that's it their case even when it isn't". It's the "It's not my program, it's a compiler bug" of dieting...

What worked for me, was when I changed my mentality to treat weight loss and keeping weight off as part of my identity and not as a goal I have to work hard towards to. My identity is that I want a healthy life. It is something that I will do for the rest of my life, so falling off the wagon every now and then is not much of a problem, it's normal, I'm human!

Did I overeat one or two days? No regrets. I don't have a goal that now moved further. It is what it is. Today is a new day and I'll do what I normally do. Did I hit a plateau? Well, what can I do? My identity still says I should eat sensibly. I stayed off processed foods this week? Check. Did I consume excess sugar or soda? No. Ate my greens? Yip! So, my lifestyle is healthy no matter what the scale says. Did I go out with friends and overindulged? Hey, that's a healthy lifestyle too! Just don't do it very often.

Sure, I can give more practical advice and do think that OP is way too early to announce victory after just one month, but it's a journey, you have to experience some things on your own.

I'll just comment on calorie counting. Once upon a time I used to count calories to single digit accuracy. It's not needed. Keep a rough track of your macros as some people say (protein and carbs are aroung 4KCal/gram, fat is around 9KCal/gram) and you will be fine.

Keto I found also seems to trick you into feeling less hungry even with reduced caloric intake.

A lot of dietary advice treats the sensation of hunger as some taboo thing to be avoided at all cost. But the body will fight HARD to maintain current balances and hunger is a clear signal that you’ve ingested less calories recently than your norm.

We’re so used to never going hungry that the sensation feels like a serious anomaly, but hunger is not harmful unless it goes on for a protracted period (at least days), it’s just unpleasant.

I’m not advocating for starvation, but I think successful dieting that doesn’t rely on some trickery necessarily involves enduring the sensation of hunger until the body adjusts to a new baseline.

Fronting up in advice to dieters and normalising the idea that it’s ok to feel hungry when adjusting your diet downwards would be hugely beneficial to people’s success in weight management I think.