I've tried several things, this is what finally worked:
[0] Make it a one year goal.
[1] Track your calories.
[2] Do some exercise.
[3] Weight yourself every Sunday morning.
[4] No other rules. No restriction on quantity or timing or type of food.
1 is important, because you actually know what's going in. There's a ton of useful apps, and there's no need to be extra rigorous, just be consistent in how you estimate. Notice there is no limit, no restriction - eat whatever quantity you want, of whatever you want. Just log it. This is going to be shocking. It will also become automatic, a mindless habit, no effort required.
2 is important because it diminishes cravings. (And it is healthy at any weight). Even just walking 30 minutes every day is enough (a bit more is better though).
3 is for crossing with the calories tracking. After some weeks/months you can tell what your baseline consumption is, whether you lost, gained or maintained weight (specially if you track your exercise, as well, in case it varies.)
Here's the magic:
After some weeks, you will MAGICALLY START CONTROLLING yourself to not go over some values of total calories that puts you at a daily caloric deficit.
Then you will WANT to implement all the other tactics (drinking water, not consuming liquid calories (soda), you will exercise more, you might try some sort of fasting, control your macros (calories, carbs, fat, protein), etc).
The key is that you can now measure whatever you try, you have a budget, a long enough time frame and you are accountable.
[0] Make it a one year goal.
[1] Track your calories.
[2] Do some exercise.
[3] Weight yourself every Sunday morning.
[4] No other rules. No restriction on quantity or timing or type of food.
1 is important, because you actually know what's going in. There's a ton of useful apps, and there's no need to be extra rigorous, just be consistent in how you estimate. Notice there is no limit, no restriction - eat whatever quantity you want, of whatever you want. Just log it. This is going to be shocking. It will also become automatic, a mindless habit, no effort required.
2 is important because it diminishes cravings. (And it is healthy at any weight). Even just walking 30 minutes every day is enough (a bit more is better though).
3 is for crossing with the calories tracking. After some weeks/months you can tell what your baseline consumption is, whether you lost, gained or maintained weight (specially if you track your exercise, as well, in case it varies.)
Here's the magic:
After some weeks, you will MAGICALLY START CONTROLLING yourself to not go over some values of total calories that puts you at a daily caloric deficit. Then you will WANT to implement all the other tactics (drinking water, not consuming liquid calories (soda), you will exercise more, you might try some sort of fasting, control your macros (calories, carbs, fat, protein), etc). The key is that you can now measure whatever you try, you have a budget, a long enough time frame and you are accountable.