There are so many options of information, fad diets, fasting, and places to reach out for help that it can make starting a diet change extremely difficult. Start small and start sensible. If you haven't dialed in these 3 things, start here: 1) Water Intake - The common adage "8, 8oz glasses per day" simply isn't cutting it. Start with determining a realistic "goal weight". Your water intake should be AT LEAST 80% of that goal weight in ounces. For a male of 200lbs and a goal of 180lbs, he would have a goal to drink 144oz of water, Or more. For a female of 170lbs and a goal of 130lbs, she would have a goal to drink 104oz of water, or more. We are 60-70% water, it is the single most important substance in our bodies. Give your body what it needs to maintain itself, more water. 2) Lean Protein - Lean protein (roughly 10% fat or less) is essential to building muscle mass efficiently. Muscle is the organ of burning fuel and longevity. The more muscle you carry, the higher your metabolism will be, leading to increased fat loss. The more muscle you put on now, the more muscle you will have as you age. This might not seem important until you're struggling to put your own shoes on and the set of stairs in your house causes you to lose your breath. Prioritizing lean protein sources will naturally cut back on the amount of calories you consume daily. As an adult, aim for a bare minimum of 100g of protein/day. Increase this based on your size, I wouldn't recommend exceeding 270-280g of protein/day. 3) Habit of Tracking - This seems ridiculous, but this is the most effective first step in losing body fat. When you add in the additional action of writing (or tracking digitally) every piece of food you eat, it puts your decisions in front of you to read. From portion sizes to food quality, people naturally start to eat a bit cleaner, as long as they're being honest with their tracking. It will also allow you to notice patterns, adjust your eating appropriately, and give you a visual representation of all the work you've done. Nutrition change is something you normally won't see physical change from for a few months. So attaching a habit that allows you to see the little wins can be really beneficial to staying consistent with your goal.

A common question that gets a lot of unnecessary focus (in my opinion). Tracking calories can be a complex process, adding every food you eat into MyFitnessPal can be a lot of work, and often we lie to ourselves on portion sizes to help feel good. Whatever your goal weight is, try to get that amount of protein in daily. For me, I'm relatively stable around 145-155 pounds. So, I try to focus on getting 155g of protein daily. For many, this seems intense and far outside of what they currently are consuming. If it's too much of a change to start, just get to a minimum of 100g of protein a day! You can always adjust as you go. There's a few reasons to focus on protein over calories. - A transformation is often based around the ratio of body fat to muscle mass. More muscle equals a faster metabolism. The fastest (and often healthiest) way to increase muscle mass is to increase your protein intake. - Protein is also the slowest digesting macromolecule (carbs, fats, protein) therefore it keeps you fuller longer and decreases the temptation to overeat. - It will also aid in recovering from the exercise you endure throughout the week. There are more reasons, but I'll let you explore the link below to see more benefits. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-reasons-to-eat-more-protein#TOC_TITLE_HDR_10