Background:

Many years ago, at the tender age of 18, I was penetrated by an overweight Texan (predictably called JR). Penetrated by his knowledge I mean. Over a well thumbed copy of Men’s Health magazine, this land whale introduced me to the terms “carbs” and “insulin” and explained how they were key in unlocking a lean physique. Obviously this bleeding edge knowledge is all old hat now but he set me on the path a little earlier than many and if I could, I would go back in time.

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And stab him in the eye.

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Because the endless search to “hack” my body and “stoke metabolic furnaces” and whatnot set me back years.

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Now countless diets later and after a journey from 140 to 210lbs, back and around, finally settling at a lean 170-180lbs year round, and as promised, I could fit the worthwhile knowledge on the back a postage stamp.

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It would read simply:

Count calories

Written in tiny but legible letters.

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And there is already a fantastic write up in the sidebar.

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If this post does nothing more than put it on (or back on) your Radar then I consider it a success. The rest is just the icing on the cake.

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That being said, I have used the precise approach outlined in that post since 2014 and can share some tips. There is plenty of overlap but I have tried to sort them somewhat logically:

  • Part 1 ha some tips to make counting calories as obvious and painless as possible;
  • Part 2 has a few variables that will increase your fat loss and;
  • Part 3 is solely for those that have quite a bit of weight to lose.

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I will try and avoid speculating on the underlying mechanisms as this is more a “how to” than a “why” but sometimes words are required so please forgive a humble bro-scientist any murdered terms.

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Part 1

Hail to the King (again)

As stated, calories are king and you should count them. /u/Redneck001 covers the method in detail. There is also a great write-up here if you don’t know where to start.

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My thoughts are simply: multiply your weight in pounds by 13 to get your likely daily requirement e.g.

I weigh 180lbs, 180 x 13 = 2,400

I need to eat less than that, per day, to lose weight. Simple.

A pound of fat = 3,500kcal

Every time my running deficit accumulates another multiple of that figure, I've lost a pound. Even simpler.

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Meal prep for Lazy Bastards

Personally I do not weigh things. I just eat pre-measured packages. And my wife and I both pretty much cook meat and veggies.

So my summer cut is just going to be pots of Greek yogurt, chocolate milk and meat+veggie meals I’ll either count as best I can or just log as 600kcal or so.

Why eat anything else?

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In fact, as in that linked post, I strongly recommend you build a few complete daily plans and just rotate them. Limiting food choices is one of the most effective strategies for compliance.

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I’ll buy a tub of whey, a bag of white rice and keep some Greek yogurt in the fridge in case I need to fill in blanks. And probably do eggs at some point too. All I need is a measuring "cup" for the rice.

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They are all in my MFP frequent list, so it's a matter of a few minutes at the start and end of each day to keep track.

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Sure the labeling may be incorrect but since I eat the same thing: it doesn't matter. It does not matter what my "true" calorie expenditure is. It does not matter what the "true" calorific value of greek yogurt is.

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As long as I know what I'm eating and adjust it, I'll lose weight.

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Timing is Everything

If you haven't heard of intermittent fasting then: I don't believe you.

Skip breakfast and drink coffee up until the early afternoon. Then start your mealplan.

It will save you time, energy and hunger and if not now, you will come to love cutting for the extra productivity.

Check out leangains.com if you are really in the dark.

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Socializing

I only really go out Fri/Sat these days.

Friday there’s no reason that anything other than dinner is going to be irregular.

Saturday it is likely to be both lunch and dinner so I might have to keep it a bit cleaner.

There are probably a few larger work and social things over the period too.

I shoot for reasonable. And it is not hard.

If I workout that day, my calorie goal is around 2,400kcal, so unless I go totally nuts I’m not going to dig too far into my 4500kcal deficit for the week. In fact, I would literally have to eat 7000kcal in a single day to not lose weight.

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Martin Berkhan weighs in in more detail:

If at all possible, try to keep it similar to what you normally would be eating. Go for lots of lean meat/protein and filling stuff like veggies, potatoes, and so forth. No, it won't be exact with regards to what you should be eating on your diet, but that's how you have to do it to keep your sanity and not alienate yourself just because you’re on a diet.

Key point is you don’t use the dinner as an excuse to pig out. You know what constitutes good dieting foods, and you know what you should be eating. Adhere to that as good as circumstances allow.

One strategy to use on days with social eating during dieting is to create a buffer for fat and carbs. Depending on how many meals you eat this day, make all meals that are under your influence (i.e the ones before and after the social meal) , high protein, low everything else. This way you create a buffer for the other macros/calories during the dinner.

Think

Meal 1: veggies and lean meat

Meal 2: Dinner

Meal 3: veggies and lean meat or lean protein like cottage cheese etc.

For occasions involving alcohol, use the approach described here if possible:

http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html

Of course, you can also use a more moderate approach. If you have a glass of wine or a beer, just account for it calorically, as usual. Log the calories as carbs.

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That’s the easy stuff.

If you’ve read the linked posts and Part 1 and still can’t count calories: kill yourself.

In the unlikely event that I am at fault, please post questions.

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Next up: I am a 5'9", 180lbs man with a theoretical calorie requirement of 2,400kcal. I'll need to eat less than this but I can also push my calorie requirement up. In fact I intend to hit a 2,900kcal TDEE and we’ll visit how in Part 2.

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Credits: Martin Berkhan, /u/31minutes, /u/redneck001, /u/sepean et al.

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EDIT: added links to additional parts.