I had found my weight crept up over a number of years, to get over 250 lbs. It was going to spiral even worse out of control, as I was looking at approaching 300 lbs if I didn't make changes. I did. I am now below 190 lbs. I am looking to get around 175 lbs that I was around high school. I am going on about a year down from my top weight. I started partly late September 2018 and kicked in the full process close to November 2018. I should naturally be thin. When I was in the Army, by weight got below 150 lbs and didn't put on muscle. How I put on that much weight is a mystery. I should be thin.
I did not work out at all or go to a gym. I did a bit of walking. I am now walking several miles home from work during week days. The basis of what I did is following:
* The basic premise of what I did that works is that you eat carb level to match your lifestyle and less if you need to lose weight. If you work out more, eat more carbs. Eat sufficient protein. It is Ketoish. Where I am now, I am having more carbs, but trying to eat the right types. I walk miles so I can afford it.
* I did mostly Keto, with some differences. I ended up eating pro-Keto food, and restricted food that wasn't Keto. In this, it was meat and green vegetables, but low in starches. It was also avoiding eating sweets in there. I did ketosis and had to manage it. Rather than percentages of this or that, I just restricted foods. I also had a focus on not eating sweet tasting anything and eating more bitter. I found my issues with weight loss came from what I didn't like to eat as much as I do. Having a sweet tooth is a problem.
* I also went nearly Vegan for Lent and had to shift. I still tried to avoid sweets, and wanted to find plant protein. I did still lose weight that way, but now I am off it again.
* Where I am now is to try to eat complex carbs to some degree, but restrict sweets. I will do cold black decaf coffee, for example. I eat bitter. My results are based around taste of food and the scientific fact if you eat food you find yucky, you will eat less of it.
Your mileage may vary on this. I still have more to go. It is a challenge. Congrats on your weight loss. Roll with it more. Expect setbacks.
This is also something for people to watch out for if you diet and end up restricting like fats or carbs or whatever. I cut out grains and wheat. I found I had problems processing gluten for awhile. Vegans will find they have problems processing animal products. If you leave anything out for awhile, your body has to get acclimated again.
