How I lost over 27 pounds by focusing on two key factors

I share my system for how I lost over twenty-seven pounds by focusing my efforts on two key factors that contribute to weight loss.

Dear Reader,

I want to share a personal story outlining how I have lost 27 pounds so far in my weight loss journey. I achieved this without feeling particularly motivated to exercise, or change routines I enjoyed such as going out to eat. I am someone who likes to develop systems to improve my life and I have one I’d like to share related to losing weight. While considering strategies to help me shed pounds, I asked myself this question: What if focusing on just one or two key factors could simplify the journey to achieving my weight loss goals? I will share the approach I have used to lose 27 pounds (and counting) by concentrating on two key factors.

Before you dismiss this article, let me share a brief story that relates to my experience.

There is a guy named Kevin Maginnis that made headlines in 2023 for losing over 58 pounds by eating only McDonald’s food. His weight loss journey garnered national media attention, even landing articles in publications like People Magazine and an appearance on the Today show. Why did his story make headlines? He lost a staggering amount of weight while eating fast food.

Kevin’s story resonates with me and it is not just because he lost weight while still enjoying fast food. It is because if you closely examine the details of his plan, there are similarities to how I have successfully lost weight. I have been using what I call a reductionist strategy, which is exactly what Kevin did. He did not completely overhaul his diet, swear off entire food groups, eat nothing but tree leaves, or follow three hundred seventeen strict rules. He made a plan that was as simple as possible, with as few elements as necessary. There were no complicated multi-part steps, no fads, and no popular diet plans.

His secret? Portion control: calories in versus calories out. This is something that I have been practicing, along with adding one other major component to my plan.

Overview

While developing my plan, I decided to choose a set of foundational guidelines that I would use as a filter for my food choices, portion sizes, and more. I decided to make two factors my guiding principles.

1. Reduce portion sizes.

2. Remove one food ingredient.

My plan wasn’t as extreme as Kevin’s, who ate only fast food. I used my guidelines to help me make informed choices about what to eat.

I will share more later in this post about what I did and am doing regarding portion sizes and the ingredient I eliminated. First, I want to explain my thought process that went into creating my plan.

Why This Works

I want to share why this kind of plan works. I drew from what I learned from various disciplines, including psychology, philosophy, nutrition, and behavioral science. Here’s how my two-component plan set me up to succeed:

- Simplifying choices: Weight loss diets often fail because they are too complicated, involving strict calorie counting, complex meal prep, and more. This leads to frustration and eventual abandonment of the plan. I broke down a complex system (my overall diet) into simpler, more manageable components.

- Focus on Key Factors: By choosing two key factors, I reduced complexity and made it easier to manage my plan and make healthier choices. I didn’t change my entire diet; I concentrated on portion sizes and the elimination of one ingredient. I mentioned earlier that I employed what I call a reductionist strategy. When faced with fewer variables, it can be easier to stick to a plan and see results.

- Behavioral Change: This aligns with choosing specific factors to target. Instead of trying to change everything at once, I selected components that helped address specific behaviors related to weight management. I knew that going “cold-turkey” with anything does not work. Abruptly, immediately ceasing a habit or behavior without gradual reduction does not work.

Going back to Kevin for a moment, he lost weight while eating junk food. This led me to consider that eating only healthy food may not be the critical piece of the puzzle for achieving weight loss. The man ate hamburgers and fries and still lost weight.

I learned that the critical key to losing weight is taking in fewer calories than you burn. Energy (calories) in versus energy (calories) out.

If you do not believe me, let me refer to someone much smarter and more educated on this subject than I am. Dr. Layne Norton, a PhD nutrition scientist, wrote a book titled Fat Loss Forever. He states:

“What ultimately determines weight loss is how much energy you consume versus how much energy you expend.”

He also writes:

“It is impossible to gain weight in a caloric deficit.”

I chose to include portion control as part of my plan because of what I learned from various sources about maintaining a caloric deficit.

Regarding the second element of my plan, eliminating a specific food ingredient was a choice I made to help me lose weight and eat healthier. I knew that completely overhauling my diet wouldn’t work, and I wanted to maintain enjoyable routines like eating out.

Plan In Practice

I promised earlier that I would get into the specific details of what I am doing and how I am following the two principles I chose: Elimination of one ingredient and portion control. I did this while figuring out ways to be the least disruptive as possible with my current habits. For example, I mentioned that I did not want to give up going out to eat. I have a habit of eating lunch at various restaurants during my work week. I wanted to figure out, how can I still visit restaurants I like and lose weight while doing it?

Eliminated Ingredient

What ingredient did I decide to eliminate from my diet? Wheat. Why? I chose wheat because it is found in so much junk food. Pizza, hamburger buns, hotdog buns, fried chicken, the list seems endless.

By choosing to eliminate ONE ingredient that is everywhere in food, my downstream choices about what to eat and where to eat have flowed from that principle.

If a restaurant has fried chicken, I will order grilled chicken instead. I began ordering meat from the menu that isn’t served in sandwich form at a BBQ joint I often visit. I have basically stopped going to almost every fast food restaurant because of my decision to eliminate wheat.

It has been eye-opening to learn how much food in America contains wheat. It’s seemingly in everything. Even ice cream has wheat in it if it contains certain ingredients like cookie pieces or certain additives.

Portion Control

Portion control is another key component of my two-part plan. One tactic I use is to eat half of what I’m served. Portions in restaurants in America are typically huge, often enough for multiple people. I also employ substitutions to reduce the number of calories I am consuming while making healthier food choices. For example, I will choose green beans instead of fries as a side.

Here’s a more comprehensive example of how I go about choosing food to eat.

There is an Asian restaurant I frequent for lunch during workdays. It serves a mix of Thai, Vietnamese, and other dishes from Southeast Asia. This is a local gem, a quality sit-down restaurant. The owner partners with local farms and health food stores. It is not your typical fast-food Chinese takeout joint.

The portions they serve at this restaurant are very generous, enough for 2-3 people. Following my principle of portion control, I started eating half of my order and taking the rest to go. In conjunction with my other key factor of no wheat, I stopped ordering menu items like Thai fried chicken.

This example illustrates that I did not completely overhaul my daily routine or stop going to favorite restaurants, like the Asian place I mentioned. I still visit, and filter my food choices through the two principles I chose. I select a menu item without wheat and eat half of it.

I also apply my criteria at the grocery store. While walking the aisles, I use my chosen ingredient as a filter to eliminate what I put in my shopping cart. There are entire aisles I skip, such as the frozen food section, except for frozen vegetables.

Additional Choices Within My Framework

While my weight loss plan primarily relies on the two key factors of portion control and eliminating one specific ingredient, I do want to be upfront with you that I make additional choices that support my overall goals. However, it is important to emphasize that these choices are not arbitrary; they are always filtered through the lens of my two guiding principles.

For instance, I might choose to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my meals, but I do so with the understanding that I still need to manage portion sizes. Those fruits and vegetables might also act as substitutes to food that contains wheat. I focus on filling my plate with nutrient-dense foods that align with my goal of maintaining a caloric deficit. This approach allows me to enjoy a variety of foods without straying from my core principles.

I also consider the quality of the foods I consume. While I may occasionally indulge in a treat, I ensure that it fits within my overall strategy of portion control and ingredient elimination. This means that if I decide to have dessert, I will opt for a smaller portion and choose something that does not contain wheat.

By keeping my plan centered on these two key factors, I avoid the overwhelm that often comes with trying to follow a long list of rules or restrictions. This simplicity not only makes it easier to stick to my plan but also allows me to enjoy the process of making healthier choices without feeling deprived.

Feedback Loop

I want to emphasize the importance of a feedback loop as part of my plan in practice. A feedback loop is crucial to reaching goals such as losing weight. While I cannot avoid tracking my progress, I do limit the complexity of how I approach it. I do not count calories. At least not in the sense that I track that I am consuming, say, 2100 calories each day.

I believe counting calories adds unnecessary complexity and can make it more frustrating to stick with my plan. Instead, I take a more strategic, high-level, approach to tracking, focusing on whether my weight trend is down, flat, or up.

I am not perfect in terms of following my plan. For example, there have been times I have eaten a whole meal I ordered at a restaurant instead of taking half to go, followed by an ice cream binge. However, I monitor my trends and make adjustments as needed. If my choices lead to an increase in weight, I reassess and modify my decisions accordingly.

Challenges

Going on ice cream binges is not the only challenge I face. I want to share a selection of challenges I have faced during my weight-loss journey. This hasn’t been easy. My goal in addition to weight loss has been to make this effort less difficult, avoid unnecessary complexity, rules, and so forth.

I have encountered frustrations, such as my weight trending flat or even starting to increase. I discovered that the human body’s metabolism changes and becomes more efficient as you lose weight. This means that, in an effort to avoid starvation, your body recognizes that you are eating less food and adjusts by becoming more efficient with how much energy it burns. By the way, how and what the body does to fight against weight loss could be a whole article in itself.

By eliminating wheat, I am not consuming bread, even whole wheat bread. If it contains wheat, it does not go on my plate. I mentioned earlier that I have discovered how much food has wheat in it, even items you might not initially consider. I have not and am not on a gluten-free diet; my strategy is to screen out at least most of the “big ticket” items. I have not eaten pizza in months, for example.

I still want to include grains in my diet, but I have had to work around my “no wheat” rule. I have found it very eye-opening that nearly every rye bread on the shelves at my local stores are not pure rye; they are mixed with wheat. What I have been going with is rye crispbread I order online. This has been helping me keep grains as part of my diet.

Conclusion

I wrote this post to share how I systematized my weight loss journey. I read somewhere that goals tell you where you want to go while a system is what gets you there. Wanting to lose weight is a goal. My plan serves as an example of a system that I (and you!) can implement daily to help achieve that weight-loss goal.

I understand that food, the habits surrounding it, and the process of losing weight can be highly personalized, and what works for me may not work for everyone. Keeping plans as simple as possible can be used as a principle, along with the approach of making gradual changes. I began with dropping specific items like fast food, and today I’m making even healthier choices like eating more fruits and vegetables and consuming less sugar. I hope what I’ve shared offers some inspiration for any goals you may have related to this subject.