Years ago I switched to diet soda and I just quit eating things like dessert, candy, and for the most part stuff like chips. Basically no snacks. At one time I was downing a ton of Pepsi and ravaging Nacho Cheese Doritos on the regular. No bueno. Also I very rarely ever get any kind of fast food. I'm almost never hungry because I've become used to a slimmer diet. At 6'2" I was pushing 240 at one point, and now I'm about 180 and still have a bit of jiggle around my waist but I think once you hit your 40s, that's basically inevitable.

My biggest transition to re-train my body happened over a period of 3 months, 6 years ago. That's when I was pushing 240 and I got down to 185 while also putting on some good muscle. That was restricting myself to about 1200 calories a day with a focus on protein, and working out with heavy weights 6 days a week. Since then I've had a few periods where I pushed back to the mid to upper 190s but I'm easily able to get back down without struggle. I never feel like I'm suffering and for the most part the food I've cut out doesn't even tempt me at all.