You have to be careful about this if you want to maintain muscle mass. That “switch” you are talking about is starvation mode, which burns not only fat, but muscle. This is where the exercise component comes in, and why id actually suggest weightlifting over cardio since you can maintain or even build muscle on a calorie deficit if you take in enough protein. It is true that the keto diet you suggest makes burning fat more of a priority, but keto dieting can be a bit of a shock at first, so be cautious when you first start.
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Yeah I’m not going full keto. I don’t think completely eliminating carbs and sugars makes sense. I do however think we ingest entirely too much sugars in general and severely limiting them is really just what a normal diet would have been before the modern explosion of processed foods. When trying to loose weight I limited my caloric deficit to 300 calories. My research showed that with someone who is new to diet and exercise that you can have a small caloric deficit causing weight/fat loss and still gain muscle mass.
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I’ll give you another “tip” that helped me:
Try to eat at the exact same time every day.
This helps your body get into the rhythm and not give you unexpected hunger at add times.
A lot of diets say things like “and if you want a snack, eat an apple!” That didn’t work for me, because my body would be like “I’m hungry, can I have an apple? Why not? I had an apple yesterday, I’m hungry and I want an apple right now” and before you know it even if you don’t eat a snack you’ve spent 10 minutes thinking about food.
With hyper-regular meals (and I literally mean down to within 5 minutes) my body would only get hungry RIGHT before it was time to eat, it was essentially a Pavlovian response
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Oh if you lift weights, of course. Ive lost 50+ pounds before while simultaneously gaining significant muscle mass, and I did it though just eating a more well balanced diet (was pretty much always hungry though) and the occasional protein shake. The calorie deprivation is what lead to the weight loss, but without lifting I would have lost instead of gained muscle.
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It’s really all about a mindset change isn’t it! What the mind wants is what your body does.
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Man, you guys are awesome!
I have a life coach I work with who’s coming over today. I’m going to talk to her about my weight…a topic we haven’t tackled yet.
Loosing some weight would do so much for me in life right now. I’m really on an upswing these last 6 months…I’ve taken some pretty big strides in life and am finally starting to find the ground beneath my feet again since my mom’s passed and my dad moved 450 miles away (I relied HEAVILY on them my whole life…it’s been a rough adjustment).
This just seems like the next logical step for me.
I wouldn’t expect to loose a ton of weight. But I don’t like at all where I’m at right now. This is TMI, but I have to wear 5x shirts (/shame) and it just sucks.
Don’t be man! This was super helpful and you and @moby323’s weight loss is really insperational to me.
This will be the hardest thing for me.
I don’t eat because I’m physically hungry so much as I eat because I “think” I’m hungry and out of boredom. And I’ve grown so use to eating tons of junk whenever I want…and I’ve found so much comfort in eating…that it’s going to be a damn tough thing to power through.
…
But hell. I quit smoking and have stuck with it!
I absolutely can do this if I put my mind to it.
No promises at this time…but it is something I’m really thinking about right now.
Thanks for being awesome guys! 
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Something I’ve been using to help with my current quitting smoking situation (almost 24 hours now without a cigarette) I’ve been picking up a yoyo when I get cravings. I’ve also noticed that I seem to want to eat/snack more because of wanting a cigarette, and so I pick up a yoyo for that as well. I’m already a pretty big guy, and don’t want to start picking up a fork instead of a cigarette - so I’m trying to pick up my yoyos instead of either of those.
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Dude, awesome job on those 24 hours! Seriously! That first day can be rough. The cravings are so raw.
I gained quite a bit of weight after quitting because I started to snack more. It’s crazy how much more free time I found I had after quitting. Smoking took up so much of my time!
Which is why it’s awesome that you’ve found something to do!
I’ll definitely use yoing to help me out.
Eating out of boredom is a big part of my problem. Replacing eating with something rewarding like yoing just seems great!
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Well that settles it, y’all have inspired me. I’m gonna give quitting a go. Been smoking since I was 12. Doing the math of how long I’ve been smoking is disheartening.
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Don’t beat yourself up with the food thing. Nicotine is such a powerful addiction that we’ll convince ourselves of any reason to get it.
ie/ vapings o.k or i’ll just limit myself to one a cig a day. The food thing can sometimes to be seen as a substitute, or something to take your mind off it.
The thing is everything us smokers did has to be relearned without smoking because nicotine has such an insidious grip on our brains.
I can remember on one of my previous attempts at quitting visiting the smoking clinic and asking the nurse the question “what do normal people do when watching television” as she had never been a smoker she didn’t understand my question.
Keep up, don’t fight it, accept the craving, move on, your a non smoker 
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This one thread took up all my heart’s for the day! Pretty impressive!
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About 48 hours now without a cigarette. Probably the longest I’ve gone without one in about 10 years. Pretty proud of myself.
Next is I gotta try to kick the 420 habit. Think I’m going to look into CBD oils to vape to hopefully curb my anxiety.
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Damn dude! That’s really awesome! You’ve SO got this man! 
Proud of you!!
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I used to make my own CBD tea from steams of the different herbs I had. Nothing goes to waste. THC doesn’t get me high anymore. It just gives me a little pain relief. When I do not use it I get red eyes, when I get relief my eyes go back to normal. It’s funny, because if I do feel a high I know I over did it. Sometimes I am impatient and cannot wait the 5 minutes for it to travel through my body and hit my brain. That’s how I know 3 hits of vape is over dosing(not in the deadly terms). Everything in moderation even moderation! There are people who live to over dose on THC.
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Keep at it. Your doing well
I’d suggest not substituting, but it is whatever works for you. Remember the nicotines grip and power of persuasion it has, and the relearning of everything we do.
Accept the craving, big deep breaths (about 3) move on.
PS i knbow this will sound crazy but the anxiety could be the nicotine trying to fool you, don’t let it
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The CBD would more be a replacement for THC which I use for pain and anxiety. However, vaping THC tends to send me a bit further than I like lol, so I’d rather switch to something that isn’t psychoactive.
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Sorry i got the wrong end of the stick
I just want to give as much support as i can to people trying to quit cigerettes, nicotine is so very difficult to give up.
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Do not give up on yourself buddy. Lossing weight can fix a lot of problems in peoples lives. First thing that has to change is you caring about what other people think of you. The second thing you can try but is hard for most to do is eat once a day. You don’t have to start on an extreme exercise regimen. Those usually tend to lead people to lose more weight than their epidermis can adjust to/for. If you lose it slowly your epidermis will regain it’s elasticity and you won’t have flappy skin. Losing weight isn’t something you should expect to see instant results. Give yourself about 3 years to expect your desired results, and you will surely get there. Check this out as it has help others I shown this to who took it to heart. Enjoy!
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You went from Chunk to Hunk! Facial recognition software wouldn’t even be able to tell it was the same person! You have fooled big brother!
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Totally agree with MastarMash. Give yourself time, quicker you lose it the quicker it’ll come back.
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