He cut out entire food groups and followed restrictive diets that he now describes as unsustainable, leaving him with an unhealthy relationship with food.
“I was kind of a victim of that toxic diet culture,” Xavier, 28, told Business Insider.
The diet industry, estimated to be over $70 billion in 2023, is big business in the US, but research suggests that restrictive diets simply don’t work long-term because of the way our bodies are wired.
“It becomes an obsession because you’re constantly thinking about what you can’t have. And when you allow yourself to have it, you have a lot of it,” said Xavier, who is a content creator based in New Jersey. . .
A few years later, he ended up gaining the weight back.
In August 2021, after struggling to find clothes that fit on a shopping trip and feeling self-conscious while on vacation, Xavier decided to embark on a second weight loss journey. But this time, he was determined not to be limited.
He started by making healthier versions of his favorite meals at home and eating higher-calorie foods in moderation. He also joined a gym and started doing cardio and weightlifting.
It was difficult at first, but over time these healthy habits became his lifestyle. Xavier lost 100 pounds in just over a year, and has kept it off for almost two years. His upcoming cookbook, “Rebel Diet”, contains recipes that helped him lose weight.
“I just got sick of it. I’m like, no, I can’t do this. I can’t torture myself anymore. I’m just going to try to eat healthier. And it worked,” he said. “You can still have the foods you like and lose weight.”
Xavier shared three weight loss tips that helped him lose 100 pounds while eating his favorite foods.
Benji Xavier lost 100 pounds by making healthier versions of his favorite foods at home. Benji Xavier
Meal preparation
Having easy access to healthy meals is really helpful when you’re trying to lose weight, Xavier said. In the past, he often ended up choosing fast food when he needed to eat a quick meal.
“Fast food is just so high in calories and so high in fat that it would be really detrimental to a weight loss journey sometimes,” he said.
Because he didn’t have time to cook three meals a day, meal prep helped him stay on track.
He went to the grocery store on Saturdays and spent time on Sundays preparing healthy meals for the coming week.
“I would just make the meal in the morning and have everything ready to go for the week,” he said.
Eat high-volume meals
To lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit, which means burning more calories than you consume. But that doesn’t mean you have to eat small portions or be restrictive.
Xavier is passionate about cooking and loves to eat, so when he was losing weight, he found it helpful to eat low-calorie foods in large quantities. This is known as volume eating.
“You eat more for fewer calories,” Xavier said.
Although he is not a big eater, when he wants a snack, he eats something like popcorn, which he can eat to his heart’s content because it contains very few calories.
He also loves ice cream and used to easily eat an entire pint in one sitting. He switched to a low-calorie version so he could still eat a whole tub. His favorite is Halo brand, which contains about 300 calories per pint.
While it’s helpful to be calorie conscious when losing weight, nutritionists recommend that you focus on nutritious food and avoid ultra-processed foods where possible. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend eating nutrient-dense foods from all food groups and limiting added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium while staying within calorie limits.
nutritionist Nichola Ludlam-Raine previously shared with BI her favorite high-volume foods and high-fiber, nutritious foods.
Benji Xavier tried fad diets for years, but they left him with an unhealthy relationship with food. Benji Xavier
Don’t drink your calories
To make room for delicious food, Xavier prefers not to drink his calories.
Sugar-sweetened beverages like soda tend to be high in calories and very low in nutrients. For example, a 20-ounce serving of Coca-Cola contains 240 calories, which is more than 10% of the FDA’s recommendation of 2,000 calories per day.
That’s not to say Xavier will never drink them, but he generally avoids getting too many calories from drinks. “I break that rule every now and then, but this is something that really helps,” he said.
