OP, congratulations on the weight loss!
That said, I’ll join the chorus of experienced folks here really telling you to find a path toward great nutrition habits.
It’s likely that the majority of your progress can be traced to your semaglutide use. This isn’t a knock on you or your success at all, but it is an important reality because one day you’ll likely transition off (most patients do or are at least intended to do so). If you maintain your current eating pattern, not to mention regain your appetite, without the drug, you’ll see the rebound we all see in the literature.
You’ve had a couple diets recommended. I don’t have a favorite, but let’s look at the consistencies:
- High protein. There is a concept called “the protein leverage hypothesis” that basically says hit your targets or be doomed to keep eating. Real info here. I believe this to be on-point in my personal experience.
- Nutrient-dense foods. Your body will absolutely have you keep eating until you fulfill your nutritional requirements. This is demonstrated in literature repeatedly and just makes biological sense.
- Low-insulin meals. The insulin model of obesity isn’t proven, and probably isn’t real, so we aren’t saying carbs = bad here. However, some carbs will spike insulin more than others. When that happens, there’s a cascade of “not great;” for our case, it’s going to make you hungrier all the time. Apparently you get bloated, anyway, so reducing carbs should be great. That has to include ice cream, though.
- Food quality over calorie counting. Everyone here is recommending you find better foods, rather than fit a specific calorie count. This will give you the greatest “base” for your future.
So, whether you go vertical diet, steak and eggs, etc., you’re following the rules above. They’re all great, but not all at the same time. So pick one, really give it its go (you won’t want to stick with it the first week, but then you’ll be fine), and assess after a couple months.
Also tagging @QuadQueen as a bonafide expert, but I don’t think any of us have really dropped anything controversial.