For some reason a lot of people find it tough to cut down on a slight bit of weight. Usually people with just some minor belly fat, which isn't that much of an issue(until your pants don't fit anymore LOL) losing that extra bit of fat from the belly, maybe a bit of double chin doesn't require much effort. The issue is that 9 out of 10 people have the wrong idea or mindset when it comes to losing weight. You talk to someone who's trying to lose weight, you'll always see them talk about exercising, gyms, running and so on. Even though these are beneficial and helps speed up the process, the main problem lies within our diet, starting at home for most of us South East Asians. We consume A LOT of oily, greasy and fried items, also our daily diet is mostly filled with carbs, taking up 60% to 70% of our calories. So, there's absolutely no signs of balance, no signs of calorie control or tracking. Therefore we should be focusing on our diet first, balancing it, tracking it, making it healthy and being on a caloric deficit is where it should all start, when it comes to losing weight. After we have adapted to a balanced diet and a caloric deficit, we can put the rest of our focus and time on working out to make further progress.
Here's a few very basic and straight up tips about diet(trying not to bombard you all with in-depth details) cut down on calories, taking down the amount of food consumed daily. Start eating less, not decreasing by a lot instantly but doing it slowly, by small portions. Maybe cut out the snacks or just reduce the amount of food you eat per meal, just take out a few items here and there. Eating clean, less greasy/oily foods, go a bit low and moderate on the carbs and please avoid unhealthy fats. Increase protein intake in every meal or at least two meals. Make sure to have a well rounded and big breakfast full of protein and fibre, bit of healthy fats and carbs too. Lunch will be quite the same in amount, just different types of food instead, try to add in some veggies for lunch and dinner. Just for dinner make sure you're not eating too much and stay low on the carbs, more meat, more fish and veggies please. Eat lots of fresh fruits for snacks, cut down on the junk food and try to add more spice to your meals whenever possible, the goal is to lose weight and build a faster metabolism. A bit of coffee and green tea will help as well.
To put it simply, you'll have to eat healthy and clean while tracking your calories. Lower the calories by around 500ish or more if needed, but slowly, week by week test it out, see if it's working. Only you know your body from top to bottom, how it reacts and what it reacts to, no one else can help you figure out the perfect diet or workout routine, only you can. One cheat meal or a cheat day once a week(depending on the amount of extra weight you're carrying) proper amount of sleep at night 6 to 7 hours at least. Track your calories with an app, makes it a lot easier. Check your weight everyday in the morning, weight should drop quite moderately if you're doing it right. If all goes well and let's say you've somehow figured out the perfect diet and workout routine for you and your body type, then you won't have to spend the extra money for a gym membership nor will you have to go all out at the gym and wear yourself out.
Recommend veggies:
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Spinach
Tomatoes
Cabbage
Lettuce
Cucumber
Healthy fat sources:
Nuts
Olive oil
Coconuts
Avocados
Butter
Fatty fish
Protein and carbs will come from the usual items, just make sure to increase the protein intake and decrease the carb intake(depending on how much protein and carbs you have in your daily calories) add in a few free-hand workouts at home if you want faster results, pushups, pullups, situps etc
I'm hoping that I could provide some info about cutting weight in simple words in a short period of time. I did not want to go in-depth about anything because that would simply be WAY too much info to digest for most people, but we will go in-depth slow and steady. If you have any suggestions and or any topic related to diet and fitness you would like to know more about, do let me know in the comments. I'll try to write more about it or simply provide info by replying.
These tips are very simple to follow and act on, just requires a bit of consistency, I've tried these myself many many times(whenever I've needed to cut down a bit due to the not so loveable love handles) that's all from me on this one, hoping to provide more helpful details in the future. Cheers🥃