Don't overcomplicate it. If your calorific intake is less than your calorific expenditure, you will tend to lose weight. If it's more, you will tend to gain wei

Don't overcomplicate it. If your calorific intake is less than your calorific expenditure, you will tend to lose weight. If it's more, you will tend to gain weight. That's it. Here are some steps to get there. 1. Figure out your relationship with food. This is the most important thing. People eat for a variety of reasons. You could be bored or anxious or treat food like a reward or simply a sense of comfort. Whatever it is you need to adjust your thinking to view food as nothing more than fuel. Whatever you do, you are doomed to failure if you don't figure out your own motivations for eating; 2. A lot of people (myself included) find a lot of value in intermittent fasting. There are many forms of this. I started just eating lunch and dinner. Now it's just dinner. You realize how much of eating is just habit not need. You certainly don't need to be eating 3+ times a day. This will actually save you both time and money too; 3. Get sufficient nutrition. The main thing here is actually protein. Protein shakes are convenient as a supplement to your main meal(s). Other than that, don't worry about it too much. You can theoretically lose weight just eating cupcakes if they're under your calories; 4. Exercise has little to no impact on weight loss. You see this once you start looking at the calorific value of foods and the calorific expenditure of certain activities. Compare a Big Mac to how long you need to run for and you realize very quickly not eating the Big Mac is WAY easier. Exercise is for your health and wellbeing only. Walk half an hour every day; 5. Particular diets don't matter. Assuming sufficient nutrtion, the only thing that matters is managing appetite; 6. If this is a factor for you make it require effort to eat. This means where possible don't have junk food or snack food in easy reach. The effort required to leave your house and get chips and salsa (for example) vs just getting it from your kitchen makes a difference; and 7. Don't view the weight loss as a goal. That's a daunting long-term goal. View this as a permanent lifestyle and attitude change. Good luck.