Last time I was putting plastic in a microwave was some 5-7 years ago. I went to a registered nutrition specialist with obesity and obesity-based issues. The guy had programs either providing you with diet-appropriate daily recipes, or a daily delivery of 5 dishes in plastic containers. I was too lazy at the time for the former option. But the important part is: it was all about eating 5 times a day.

The label on these boxes stated that you only have to break the (plastic) seal before putting the (plastic) box in a microwave. I was doing it for a year and a half, telling myself that it's beneficial and I'm doing it to be healthy. I was _forcing_ myself to eat 5 times a day, never being hungry and never enjoying this food. And I was possibly contaminating it by heating food surrounded by plastic in the microwave.

The guy was a moron, pushing his "5 dishes a day is ideal for everyone" mindset on every customer, with no regard to personal preference. I was eating 2-3 times a day before this program but I had no understanding of nutrition and was eating crap with higher amount of calories than I was burning. Eating 5 times a day during the program have not improved my health. And the food was awful. I sacrificed the pleasure of eating for some 18 months with no beneficial results.

Theory:

To lose weight, one needs to stay in a caloric deficit based on burning more calories than ingesting. To do it smart, one also has to understand macro-nutrients and not stuff themselves with more fat+carbs than one burns. The basics are:

- proteins (amino-acids chains) are building blocks required to build/restore cells

- carbs and fat are fuel that one burns for energy

- carbs are burned faster than fat and if you ingest more carbs and fat than you'll burn - you'll store fat

It's that simple: burn more calories than the intake and avoid more fat+carbs than you can burn to actually burn and not store additional fat.

Practice:

For a few years now, I'm on a 20:4 intermittent fasting schedule, which translates to calories ingestion only during a single 4-hours-long window during the day. I went back to only eating in the late afternoon. I go to the gym in the morning and stay in caloric deficit 'till the evening.

I'm also on keto. The "no gainz diet" works for me personally, but is not a "golden recipe" for everyone trying to lose weight. Proper knowledge of nutrition basics is the key.

And... I had to break keto once in last year. My weight went down to 56kg and body fat to 8%. Great sixpack but my face resembled meth addicts'. I've found no way to gain weight without bumping LDL cholesterol to unhealthy levels and decided to go with "very-low-carb" for 2 weeks. It worked and I'm back on keto. Happy to repeat the "very-low-carb" thing every year or half but overall - keto works well for me and keeping caloric deficit for the better part of the day reduces my hyperactivity. It's a personal preference.

I make all my food from basic ingredients, avoid plastics, have no microwave and I avoid frying, apart from making omelettes or scrambled eggs. And it's rather rare despite my daily 3-6 eggs intake.

I'm happy with the choices I made. Organic food (from veggies to organic-fed meat), daily gym and 10+km walk, no plastics involved apart from meat containers just for transport and overall understanding of what I'm doing to my body.

And it's all about personal preference: I know people on keto for whom eating early in the day works best, while I avoid any calories in the morning, apart from the fat in vitamin D3 softgel capsule.