Too many rules?

I agree with HormoneHacker, keeping my rules simple has helped. I tried a million diets, but they were all too restrictive for me

I am of the opinion that the most important thing is to be on board with what you are doing. If you despise it, then its a countdown till you quit doing it, i think that is a huge factor in the success people have and the good feeling associated with it.

The protein focus is a trap when calorie math gets ignored. The hunger signal the medication restores is the actual tool. Stopping before full is more useful than hitting a gram target.

the satiety index is an underused framework compared to glycemic index - foods that score high don't just fill faster, they keep hunger suppressed longer per calorie, which is exactly what you want when stacking with a medication that also suppresses appetite. the practical overlap is the recommendation to avoid mixing macros in ways that lower the effective satiety of a meal even when individual components would have been satiating on their own

cutting carbs is honestly the quickest route for me personally to drop weight. everyone's different of course, but i reached my target, lost 48 pounds on zepbound at 7.5mg through a strict deficit and exercising five or six days a week. now i'm slowly reintroducing complex carbs back in. doubt i'll ever touch alcohol again, and sugar won't be part of my routine much either. i do miss things like a good muffin or bagel, and i'm planning to have a few of those down the road, but i'll need to actually start counting calories, which i've genuinely never done before.