could use assistance with balancing carb, protein, and sugars to drop weight

[Paddy_D]

Hey all!

The first I would like to say is that I am encouraged to see that the difficulty that is dropping weight is not unique. I stay relatively active, though not consistently and is something I continuously work on. Motivation is often lacking. 

Where I am truly confused with is the nutritional component. I am a carb fanatic, and my sweet tooth often gets out of control (often due to stress eating). I am trying to put together a plan to get from current weight of 248 to 185 by early November (where I turn 48) and at this time not even clear if it is realistic. 

I am severely allergic to avocados, cucumber, and all forms of bell peppers. I'm sure if any of this informations helps, it comes from questions I have been asked. 

Any guidance or sagely wisdom that anyone may have is welcome,

Thank you all in advance,

Paddy

[Dominique]

Welcome to the community, @Paddy_D , and congrat for your worthy resolution to reach a healthier weight!

I’ll start with your time frame: you want to lose 63 lbs (25% of your starting weight) in 20 weeks. I think it’s too much too fast. The reasons for that are well explained in my favorite resource, the Losing All Your Weight At Once video by Dr. Mike Israetel. My advice would be to either have a more moderate intermediary goal (if you still want to use your birthday as an milestone), or to push your goal date in the future, if you want to keep 185 as your ultimate goal.

As to nutrition, it’s surprisingly easy once you understand the relative importance of the various factors, like calories, macros, food composition, nutrient timing, micronutrients, supplements etc. Some factors matter a lot (so you should focus your attention on them), while others only play a minor role. Check this older post for more info.

If there are a lot of other veggies that cause distress or you’re allergic to, you may want to read more on FODMAP. Here is a pointer. However, there is such a wide range of veggies you can pick from you’ve hopefully identified those that are compatible with your system.

Nothing wrong with carbs, btw, especially if you live a very active lifestyle, but you may want to focus on food composition: get the majority of your carbs from minimally processed sources, with a high fiber content, and keep "fun" carbs in check.