What is the best way to lose weight?

[DimPrawn]

Man this weight loss thing winds me up! It's not ****ing rocket science people: calories in - calories out = weight gain/loss. Burn more than you eat and you'll lose weight. Eat more than you burn and you put it on. Eat enough and you'll get fat.

Personally I think people put way too much stock into dieting as a way of losing weight because they think it's easier (more convenient?) than exercise, but the truth is that drastic calorie deficit leaves you with less energy making you less active, and causes hunger craving making you more likely to snack. Yes cut down on the full-fat fizzy drinks, syrup-filled lattés, chips, sweets, beer, wine, spirits etc but don't stop them if it helps you live a happy life. Much easier to get off your arse and go for a run/cycle/swim/gym session and burn the calories off. You'll feel better for it.

Nailed it.

Cut down on the crap, eat more protein, eat less carbs, eat more fibre.

People who pay someone to do all the housework, get their shopping delivered because they can't be bothered to walk round a shop, pay a gardener to mow the lawn and do all the gardening, pay someone to wash the cars, pay for a takeaway and have it delivered, then moan they are fat.

Exercise, move about abit FFS.

It's pretty easy!

[MrMarkyMark]

Nailed it.

Cut down on the crap, eat more protein, eat less carbs, eat more fibre.

People who pay someone to do all the housework, get their shopping delivered because they can't be bothered to walk round a shop, pay a gardener to mow the lawn and do all the gardening, pay someone to wash the cars, pay for a takeaway and have it delivered, then moan they are fat.

Exercise, move about abit FFS.

It's pretty easy!

Sounds like a few on here

[OwlHoot]

drastic calorie deficit leaves you with less energy making you less active, and causes hunger craving making you more likely to snack. ..

Absolutely. Also, it can make your body flip into "high metabolic efficiency" mode where more of the calories you do eat are maintained.

Perhaps the best diet, foodwise, is to eat modestly most of the time, but have a weekly pig out such as a sunday roast or large pizza.

[Bee]

You can eat anything you want during the day and just a soup at dinner, the most important, don't eat after 7 PM. Easy

[Old Greg]

After a meal, think back to Neil Kinnock shouting, "We're all right" at the 1992 Sheffield election rally. You'll soon be burning up those calories in embarrassment.

[Willapp]

This is the twaddle that got the US (and now us) into so much trouble.

Your body does not 'burn' anything. Just because if you set fire to fat and it produces x amount energy (Kilocalories) does not mean that that is what your body does with it. My 'O' level biology course had a nutrition module. The 'formula for life' (the organic chemistry equation) is what actually happens and is based on breaking down carbohydrates.
...
As for the OP - remove carbs from your diet for 5 days. Then only eat in very small quantities (25g/day)

I'm sure what you're saying is right but it doesn't make the calories in-calories out equation wrong at all. I agree there is more to a healthy diet than pure calorie counting, but you then end up getting into the more complex nutrition science which is where most people switch off and pick up another bag of crisps . Fundamentally if you're 'using' more calories than you consume then you simply cannot put on weight. It would be like driving a car with no fuel.

As for removing carbs, it's not something I would advocate *unless* you don't do any physical exercise. You point out that carbs are the body's energy source so you do need them if you want to have any feeling of energy to do useful activities.

[NotAllThere]

When not WFH, I don't have breakfast, small sarnie for lunch, nice meal in the evening, and walk about 6000-7000 steps during the day. WFH, breakfast, rather more for lunch, the same as usual in the evening and < 2000 steps.

Since I'm now WFH more often, I have to change my "at home" habits so I eat less and do more exercise.

[Old Greg]

When not WFH, I don't have breakfast, small sarnie for lunch, nice meal in the evening, and walk about 6000-7000 steps during the day. WFH, breakfast, rather more for lunch, the same as usual in the evening and < 2000 steps.

Since I'm now WFH more often, I have to change my "at home" habits so I eat less and do more exercise.

When I WFH - not so often nowadays - I'll do a brisk 1 mile walk in the morning to a coffee shop, work their for a while and then walk home.

[NigelJK]

calories in-calories out equation wrong at all

The problem with 'Calories' is that they are a false estimate of how much energy your body can extract from what you eat. We need a better marker for 'energy quality' to go with calories where carbs are almost 100% convertible and fat is around 40% convertible. When calculating the 'calories in' you work the carbs + alcohol first then add in the fat. That's what your body does.

On another note regarding the 'bag of crisps'. One of the chapters in Dr. Atkins book (called 'Dying for a pizza) shows just how 'class a' carbohydrates are , where the case study subject ends up dying of a heart attack because he could not give up pizzas even when told he would shortly die. It's worth mentioning that Dr. Atkins (a US citizen) was a cardiac surgeon who was losing significant income due to the fact that he could not operate on his patients because they were clinically obese, this was in the 60's and the situation is far worse now and about the same here now. So his motivation was some what different to the z-list celebs churning out fitness dvd's. His is also a Diet where this is how you will eat for the rest of your days, not a quick weight loss regime. Considering the book was written in the 60's you'd think it would have more traction, but again I'd have to point out the power of the 'food lobby'. It's about time there was some decent peer reviewed science done on this this as it's not simply 'calories in - energy out'.

[LondonManc]

The opposite of increasing profits - less incomings more outgoings.