I retired about 18 months ago and started losing then, about 40 pounds so far, and I'm now close to my military "fighting weight."
I did several things, according to what I've learned.
1. I started intermittent fasting. For the first year, I ate only between the hours of 5 PM and 8 PM, with absolutely no snacking otherwise, only water or plain tea. Later, I modified that to eating twice a day, at 12 PM and at 6 PM. That is not to reduce calories, but to keep my insulin (fat hormone) level low through most of the day. It is believed that in the first century, people commonly ate only a late breakfast and an evening meal. Hunter-gatherers eat only an evening meal (they do not, as many people erroneously think, "graze" during the day. They collect food during the day and prepare it as a group at the end of the day).
2. I started praying more. That's what is called "meditation" in the secular world. Meditation (prayer) and more sleep reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels through the day. If you're still under stress when you get off your knees in prayer, you're doing it wrong.
So the key to dealing with our demons: Prayer and fasting, just as Jesus recommended.
The body builds fat when insulin and cortisol levels are both high. The very worst thing to do is to eat while stressed...such as at your desk at work, which is what I often did before retiring from my 9-to-5.
I changed my diet substantially:
3. I stopped eating fast foods and highly processed foods completely. All of those are deliberately formulated to make you crave them. I began eating organic and whole foods as much as possible. Heavy chemicalization throws off hormonal balances (which is the reason people get fat) and stresses the liver and kidneys.
4. I stopped eating products made from wheat and corn, in particular, and most grain in general (although I do still eat a bit of organic steel-cut oatmeal). The major problem is the chemicalization of American grains. My wife has learned to make breads with almond flour instead.
5. I stopped eating sugar and products (processed foods) with sugar. I stopped eating practically all sugars, even honey and agave, and most fruit. Fructose is nearly as deleterious to the liver as alcohol...and through the development of "fatty liver disease," can eventually result in cirrhosis of the liver, just like alcohol. I still eat small amounts of low-fructose fruits like blackberries and blueberries.
6. I stopped eating anything cooked in hydrogenated oils, which is basically all vegetable oils except olive and avocado. That's also a reason not to eat any commercial fried foods, which are inevitably cooked in hydrogenated oils. Also, no margarine...real butter instead.
7. It's been discovered that old people actually need to be bodybuilders as a matter of basic lifestyle. We need to work out with weights like bodybuilders and we also need to eat additional protein like bodybuilders. So I eat quite a lot of eggs, beef, chicken, and fish, and supplement that with pea protein.
8. I also eat lots Broccoli, greens, kale, spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts. High-fiber "leaves and stalks" make up practically all the carbohydrates that I eat.
Amazingly to me, I've always thought myself a hard-gainer. For years in my youth, I worked in vain to build muscle. Now, here I am an old retired dude, and I'm building muscle at a rate that would have made me happy 50 years ago. I can do twice the pushups now that I could do 20 years ago. I just hadn't been doing it right all those years ago.
