Milton Keynes

I can't say what will work for you, but here's what worked for me: Firstly, I cut soda out of my diet. Didn't switch to diet soda, since I don't like the taste and it gives me headaches, I just went from drinking it every day to drinking it only very rarely. Instead, either just plain ice water or unsweetened iced tea.

Secondly, I cut out as much carbs & sugar as I could out of my diet. I didn't go full keto, but just cutting down on the carbs & sugar really helped. I'm a firm believer in high protein, low carb/low sugar diet for losing weight.

Thirdly, and this is the most important, I changed the way I approach food. I try not to snack whenever I'm bored. If I do feel like I need a snack, I eat something that's high in protein like a hard boiled egg or a cheese stick, or else I'll eat some baby carrots or a piece of fruit or something. I had to make myself eat to live, not live to eat. Which is hard because my entire life I've had a love affair with food. It wasn't a problem when I was a teenager, but now that I'm in my 40's my metabolism is WAY slower than it was back then, and just eating a few cookies seems to show up on the scales.

One thing that helps is that we don't eat out as much as we did. When it was just my wife & I living in another city with dozens of restaurants readily available, it was easy to just get in the car and go somewhere to eat. Now, living in a smaller town, our dining options are quite limited so if we don't feel like cooking we have to drive 15 or so miles to get to the nearest restaurant. So we tend to cook our own food a lot. Since restaurant food isn't that great for you, this has helped out a bit.

You really need to get over your aversion to fresh vegetables & fruits. They are an important, healthy part of the human diet. Plus they help fill you up with a lot fewer calories than other foods.

And then of course daily exercise on the bike is important. I tend to do 45 minutes every morning on the trainer during cold weather, or when it's nice out I do a 10 mile ride which takes me about 45 minutes. Yes, I do take some days off but the important thing to do is keep doing it regularly. Exercise doesn't build up in the body, it's something which has to be maintained for it to have benefit. And don't view exercise as a means to lose weight. Diet to lose weight, exercise to maintain your health. Exercise will help in that it will build up muscle tissue which will help you burn more calories, but the main thing is keeping your heart healthy.