Calorie counting + weekly weigh-ins. Keeping a food diary, journaling or full-on counting is repeatedly shown to be among the best long-term weight loss and mai

Calorie counting + weekly weigh-ins. Keeping a food diary, journaling or full-on counting is repeatedly shown to be among the best long-term weight loss and maintenance. It does not require substantial alteration to the diet, just portions. There are no prohibitions and you can eat out and about with your social groups as normal, making compliance pretty high. For most people, exercise is useless for weight loss[1]. The educational impact of complying with a calorie counting program can have lasting effects on food choices even if the person stops adhering to the program as rigorously. Example: a bowl of strawberries has fewer calories than a slice of cheese. If you get in the right mindset of optimizing the 'yum' and the fullness per calorie, it impacts you even on 'cheat' days. 1: It is incredibly easy to out-eat any moderate exercise regime; a single soda can undo a half hour of running. I suspect that most people who are in the obese and overweight zones do not have the cardiovascular or muscular fitness to make any meaningful dent in their caloric budget. That being said, fitness is important for general health and there is definitely a range of BF% where exercise goes from inconsequential to critical for body composition purposes. Calories in / calories out is NOT the whole story. But it is enough of the story and compliance is easy enough that it has the best results in the long term.