18 Month Healthy Body Recomp Project.

[arakboss]

Are you interested in input or just wanting to share your progress ?

Input is great. Could be motivation.

 

[Forester]

Input is great. Could be motivation.

I ask because I try to not give unsolicited advice. I started a similar journey at the same time as you. Started at 230. Dropped 45 lbs in about 9 months.
Avoided nearly all sugar
Almost no grains and very little processed foods.
Ate only when hungry. Not from boredom or for pleasure.
I never go hungry
Eat as much as I want, but only till I am full.
I don't change habits based on my day or activity level. If I need more energy then I eat more.
A couple things I have learned. We cannot out work a bad diet
We are a result of our habits. Not our moments.
Don't start something that I'm not willing to do indefinitely.
No hacks or shortcuts. Just simple accountability and maintain a process.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[AshWilliams]

I ask because I try to not give unsolicited advice. I started a similar journey at the same time as you. Started at 230. Dropped 45 lbs in about 9 months.
Avoided nearly all sugar
Almost no grains and very little processed foods.
Ate only when hungry. Not from boredom or for pleasure.
I never go hungry
Eat as much as I want, but only till I am full.
I don't change habits based on my day or activity level. If I need more energy then I eat more.
A couple things I have learned. We cannot out work a bad diet
We are a result of our habits. Not our moments.
Don't start something that I'm not willing to do indefinitely.
No hacks or shortcuts. Just simple accountability and maintain a process.

Hope some of this helps.

Spot on.

 

[arakboss]

I ask because I try to not give unsolicited advice. I started a similar journey at the same time as you. Started at 230. Dropped 45 lbs in about 9 months.
Avoided nearly all sugar
Almost no grains and very little processed foods.
Ate only when hungry. Not from boredom or for pleasure.
I never go hungry
Eat as much as I want, but only till I am full.
I don't change habits based on my day or activity level. If I need more energy then I eat more.
A couple things I have learned. We cannot out work a bad diet
We are a result of our habits. Not our moments.
Don't start something that I'm not willing to do indefinitely.
No hacks or shortcuts. Just simple accountability and maintain a process.

Hope some of this helps.

Congrats on your success. I agree you can't out work excess calories.

As for doing something indefinitely, I haven't found that diet yet. I am more like a bear. Put some weight on and then take it off, rinse and repeat.

 

[arakboss]

My weight stayed about the same over the past week, down a 1/5th of a pound.



I am going to start reintroducing food groups back into my diet on Labor Day. I will take about three days per food group. If a food group doesn't give me any grief, I will keep it in my diet and move on to the next food group.

By the end of September, I should be back to eating many of the foods I have missed. I am hopeful that my energy levels will have recovered as well.

Here are the first nine food groups I will be adding and in this order.

Cheese

Wheat

Corn

Potatoes

Rice

Sugar

Beans

Milk

Lentils

 

[WillametteWill]

I ask because I try to not give unsolicited advice. I started a similar journey at the same time as you. Started at 230. Dropped 45 lbs in about 9 months.
Avoided nearly all sugar
Almost no grains and very little processed foods.
Ate only when hungry. Not from boredom or for pleasure.
I never go hungry
Eat as much as I want, but only till I am full.
I don't change habits based on my day or activity level. If I need more energy then I eat more.
A couple things I have learned. We cannot out work a bad diet
We are a result of our habits. Not our moments.
Don't start something that I'm not willing to do indefinitely.
No hacks or shortcuts. Just simple accountability and maintain a process.

Hope some of this helps.

This is about as textbook of a program as you can get and will work with nearly everyone who is willing to do it. Add some resistance training to build muscle (which helps burn calories) and keep moving and you create a perfect storm of fitness. Simple, but not easy for most.

 

[arakboss]

I am looking forward to October when I will be back to eating a more well rounded diet and hopefully have all my energy back.

My wife's doctor wants her to eat a Mediterranean style diet which she says she will try. I suggested she try some light duty intermittent fasting a few days a week which she is also going to try.

To encourage her along, I will dabble in both of these things as well. I started a 12/12 intermittent fasting routine on Tuesday and will continue with that effort on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for the next few months.

Once I have introduced most of the eliminated food types back into my diet (probably October), I will try doing the Mediterranean style of eating on Sundays Mondays and Fridays. Saturdays will be a relaxed eating day without restrictions.

Exercise will begin again once my energy levels have been restored.

 

[Forester]

The link below takes you to a podcast that discusses the plans you mentioned

1139: Fad Diets | Skeptical Sunday

Podcast Episode · The Jordan Harbinger Show · April 13, 2025 · 57m

podcasts.apple.com

 

[arakboss]

I ask because I try to not give unsolicited advice. I started a similar journey at the same time as you. Started at 230. Dropped 45 lbs in about 9 months.
Avoided nearly all sugar
Almost no grains and very little processed foods.
Ate only when hungry. Not from boredom or for pleasure.
I never go hungry
Eat as much as I want, but only till I am full.
I don't change habits based on my day or activity level. If I need more energy then I eat more.
A couple things I have learned. We cannot out work a bad diet
We are a result of our habits. Not our moments.
Don't start something that I'm not willing to do indefinitely.
No hacks or shortcuts. Just simple accountability and maintain a process.

Hope some of this helps.

"Eat as much as I want, but only till I am full."

"If I need more energy then I eat more."

I will give these tips a try.

I am going to hop off the yo yo diet train and focus on eating better food and not worry about trying to get a lower scale weight after Sunday.

The majority of info on the net seems to indicate that weight cycling is worse than continuously gaining and carrying weight. That defies logic for me but I am not a scientist. I have gained and lost several hundred pounds over the last 3+ decades. It's hard to imagine I would be better off continuously carrying all those extra pounds instead of gaining and losing them?

The more I look into the Mediterranean type of diet, the more sustainable it looks. Not sure how it will impact my weight or body composition but supposedly it will help me to live longer?

 

[arakboss]

The link below takes you to a podcast that discusses the plans you mentioned

1139: Fad Diets | Skeptical Sunday

Podcast Episode · The Jordan Harbinger Show · April 13, 2025 · 57m

podcasts.apple.com

I'll check it out.

 

[arakboss]

My weight stayed about the same over the past week, down a 1/5th of a pound.

View attachment 2151703

I am going to start reintroducing food groups back into my diet on Labor Day. I will take about three days per food group. If a food group doesn't give me any grief, I will keep it in my diet and move on to the next food group.

By the end of September, I should be back to eating many of the foods I have missed. I am hopeful that my energy levels will have recovered as well.

Here are the first nine food groups I will be adding and in this order.

Cheese

Wheat

Corn

Potatoes

Rice

Sugar

Beans

Milk

Lentils

I modified order of food reintroduction schedule. I'm also starting it today with potatoes. Legumes will start Monday, etc, etc. My energy levels should bounce back in no time.

Here is revised order.

Potatoes

Legumes

Wheat

Corn

Rice

Cheese

Milk

Sugar

 

[Forester]

Just a thought.
Fat loss requires a deficit of calories. Foods that provide high calorie amount, but low nutritional value will not generate fat loss if they collectively contribute to a high daily calorie intake (Potatoes and sugar). Another variable to consider is how sustained a food makes you feel. High protein foods result in a person feeling sustained and full. this results in less consumption.
Processed foods, grains and sugars do not provide the feeling of sustenance, resulting in more consumption to feel full.
concentrating on total calorie intake with foods that provide sustenance generally produce the desired results.
The cost to this approach is that it does not satisfy the cravings for the excluded foods. So, the question becomes which is a higher value to the individual. Satisfying cravings or appropriate caloric intake.

 

[Local Loader]

Just a thought.
Fat loss requires a deficit of calories. Foods that provide high calorie amount, but low nutritional value will not generate fat loss if they collectively contribute to a high daily calorie intake (Potatoes and sugar). Another variable to consider is how sustained a food makes you feel. High protein foods result in a person feeling sustained and full. this results in less consumption.
Processed foods, grains and sugars do not provide the feeling of sustenance, resulting in more consumption to feel full.
concentrating on total calorie intake with foods that provide sustenance generally produce the desired results.
The cost to this approach is that it does not satisfy the cravings for the excluded foods. So, the question becomes which is a higher value to the individual. Satisfying cravings or appropriate caloric intake.

With the exception of the sugar, I see no issues with the foods he listed. Potatoes for example are healthy for you and they can help you feel full without over eating. High protein foods are a good thing to have as well of course, but you need to add the other vitamins & minerals your body needs to function. Personally, I see less benefit in adding corn and sugar than adding fruit and grains, but that's me and my diet. If that's what works for him than great. As for calorie amounts, that's completely based on the individual and their activity level.
I don't know what your diet or eating habits are and that's ok, every person is different. Example, I can eat standard servings of grain items and feel full for hours. As for cravings, that's more a willpower issue. I cut out things I craved but now i don't anymore, giving in to a craving is a choice but I won't discount how hard it can be for people to say no to them, I've been there.

 

[arakboss]

With the exception of the sugar, I see no issues with the foods he listed. Potatoes for example are healthy for you and they can help you feel full without over eating. High protein foods are a good thing to have as well of course, but you need to add the other vitamins & minerals your body needs to function. Personally, I see less benefit in adding corn and sugar than adding fruit and grains, but that's me and my diet. If that's what works for him than great. As for calorie amounts, that's completely based on the individual and their activity level.
I don't know what your diet or eating habits are and that's ok, every person is different. Example, I can eat standard servings of grain items and feel full for hours. As for cravings, that's more a willpower issue. I cut out things I craved but now i don't anymore, giving in to a craving is a choice but I won't discount how hard it can be for people to say no to them, I've been there.

For me protein doesn't provide energy. All the high protein diets I have tried, resulted in me feeling like crap with low energy levels. That is were I am at now. High protein diets have been effective for weightloss and some people may also derive energy from those diets. I am not one of them.

I am moving focus from scale results to restoring energy levels, feeling good overall, increasing longevity and doing all that in an affordable and sustainable manner. Potatoes and grains will part of that as they are in many of the Mediterranean populations.

 

[Nosferatu]

There won't be changes unless they can be found at the bottom of a dented can of refried beans from the dollar store.

 

[arakboss]

My weight stayed about the same over the past week, down a 1/5th of a pound.

View attachment 2151703

I am going to start reintroducing food groups back into my diet on Labor Day. I will take about three days per food group. If a food group doesn't give me any grief, I will keep it in my diet and move on to the next food group.

By the end of September, I should be back to eating many of the foods I have missed. I am hopeful that my energy levels will have recovered as well.

Here are the first nine food groups I will be adding and in this order.

Cheese

Wheat

Corn

Potatoes

Rice

Sugar

Beans

Milk

Lentils

I lost another 4/10ths of a pound over the past week.



I will be happy if I can maintain around this weight. Focus now is to restore my energy levels and rebuild my glycogen stores so I can't get back to exercising again.