I’ve been dieting. But now I’m not dieting. I have a “diet”, which is just a list of foods that I keep on hand at my house. More importantly, there is a list of foods that I don’t need to buy and aren’t welcome at my house. The list below summarizes most of my choices.

I’ve read about the carnivore diet quite a bit, so I don’t think I quite meet the standard of steak, eggs, and butter only, but I do think I have incorporated many of the principles of carnivore. I went through a phase where I had a dinner salad every day, but have dropped that because it was inefficient, especially out of season for fresh veggies.

The removal of almost all processed food has been a primary key to success. Shopping now is easy, and the label reading really amounts to making sure there aren’t additives in any food with a label, especially all of the many forms of added sugar and engineered sugars. I have a general understanding of the nutritional values and portions sizes of the foods I am choosing, so I don’t have to repeatedly count calories or do the math. I meal prep chicken and beef so that if I am hungry, my snack will be a few ounces of chicken and water. The simplicity of this process has removed almost all “eating due to boredom”.

I have been following @fitfounder (Dan Go on X), who regularly posts reminders in a nicely condensed form. An example:

A simple formula to lose belly fat

• Get 8 hours of sleep

• Walk 10k steps daily

• Drink primarily water

• Lift weights 3x a week

• Eat single ingredient nutrient dense foods in a caloric deficit

To quantify success, I have a couple weigh-ins a month. Weight loss has averaged about 4.5 pounds per month. As of Feb 10, I am 30 pounds lighter than mid Summer 2023. I am pretty sure I can lose 5-10 more pounds on the same schedule. Then I will re-evaluate next steps for the nicer weather season, with a fresh set of fitness goals to take advantage of being lighter, whether that be cycling or running.

I’ve stopped calling this a diet; it is now just my healthy lifestyle.