Let me explain this from the start. There is no one type of diet that works for everyone, because we are all different, some of us will be able to stick to certain diets such as keto or intermittent fasting better than others will. Having said that, whatever diet you do, if done properly, will work for everyone because all you are doing is creating a calorie deficit. So for the purpose of this article I will assume the main audience reading it are your average male training 3-4 times a week with a desk job currently eating between 2500-2800 calories a day.
First let's look at how fat loss happens.
If you eat more calories than your body needs, you will gain weight. If you eat less calories than your body needs, you will lose weight. That simple. The weight you lose wants to be predominantly fat, not muscle, so dropping your calories slowly and assessing weight loss each week is important. A genuine rule of thumb is that if you aren’t losing weight currently, take 500 calories off your daily total intake. I like to start at 300 to be safe, as you never know where on the maintenance scale you are.
Now as I said before, not one type of diet will fit everyone and as there are many, I will simply be talking about getting the calories in you need to achieve weight loss, not specifying which diet it is you use, that’s for you to decide. You should be tracking the calories regardless of what diet you are on.
Now, food types for weight loss. You may be surprised that I could tell you that if your weight loss calories are 2000, you could eat 2000 worth of calories from chocolate and crisps and lose weight. The down side to this is that your body composition would suffer and you would quickly become ill from lack of proper nutrients, so this isn’t advised. Instead look at foods from the list below:
Proteins.
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Lean cuts of beef
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Tuna
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Cod
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Salmon
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Eggs
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Turkey
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Chicken
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Nuts
Carbohydrates.
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White potato
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Sweet potato
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White or brown rice
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Greens
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Fruits
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Egg noodles
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Brown pasta
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Low fat yoghurt
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Oats
Fats.
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Olive oil
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Avocado
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Egg yolks
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Nuts
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Cheese
So what could these look like in a diet? Below I have outlined a sample diet at around 2300 calories which is a good place to start if you are currently eating around 2500-2800 calories a day. If you don’t like any of the meats or prefer a different carb or fat source than you can swap them, just be aware of the change of calories it may produce.
Breakfast
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Brown bread, 2 slices – 146 calories
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2 large eggs – 158 calories
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Low fat butter, 10g – 54 calories
Snack
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Whey protein shake, 50g – 206 calories
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3 rice cakes with chocolate coating – 243 calories.
Lunch
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Chicken breast, 200g – 212 calories
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Fresh lettuce, 40g – 6 calories
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Half a large avocado, 50g – 212 calories
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Sweet potato, 60g – 157 calories.
Snack
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Cashews, 50g – 293 calories
Dinner
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Rump steak, 225g – 281 calories
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Mixed veg, 100g – 104 calories
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White rice – 100g – 97 calories
Snack
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Cottage cheese, 100g – 103 calories
Total calories – 2272
So there you have it, if you currently have no diet and don’t know what calories you are eating, this is a good starting point. As I said you can swap some foods around just be wary of the calorie differences.
Another important factor to consider is this calorie range won't work for everyone or for a prolonged period of time. If you try this diet and don’t lose weight, you need to lower the calories further. If you are losing more than 2 or 3 pounds a week, the calories are too low and need increasing. However if the amount is perfect, track your average weight weekly and once you stop losing 1-2 pounds a week, lower the amount of calories further by 200-300 and keep monitoring weight loss.
