My brother is overweight and very self conscious

There are Doctor's that do just that, plan a routine diet exercise plan for overweights.   I recently found an article that is in research, and will help a person gain more energy and loose weight without going through all the diet and exercise needed to loose weight, but that's not here yet.  Exercise burn calories, and M. Phelps needs more calories to come out first in his swimming matches. If he continues to eat as much when he is not execising, he will become very round.

The first thing he needs to do is figure out his BMI. There are BMI calculators pretty much any where but the one on MSN is really good. Going through the process on it will let him know how many calories he needs to consume a day in order to lose the weight. After that he needs to stick with that calorie range. If he drinks soda or diet soda have him cut that out (cutting out soda is cutting out about 200 calories for each soda depending on size and what not). He should eat fiber rich foods and eat them in the early hours. Fiber foods are weight loss promoting foods and they keep you feeling full. Eat about 5 meals a day smaller portion meals. Here is a sample breakfast oatmeal with a tablespoon of cinnamon on top. Cinnamon is a weight loss promoting food. About an hour before lunch eat a serving of almonds (major weight loss promoting food helped me lose 82 pounds). Lunch eat a sandwich or something light. There are breads you can buy that are low in calorie that taste good Sara Lee bread has some that are even 45 calories a slice. Salad with chicken on it is good too. Just something light that fits in the calorie range. Have another fiber rich snack before dinner (almonds). For dinner keep it lean and green. Lean meats and green veggies. He could even have a fiber related snack later at night (eating after a certain time is a myth/ you need it for your metabolism). For exercise walking is great, swimming is great, there are a ton of things he can do to get started and from home. Dancing is great too just get him moving for now and as he goes he can get into doing more things. Foods are the most important part the exercise isn't as important as eating the right foods. 80/20 rule. Diet is 80% and exercise is 20%. Here is a site that has articles about weight loss, list of weight loss promoting foods, even a little exercise program that he can get started out with. Lose Belly Fat Good luck to him and he can do it if he puts his mind to it. Also aside from the soda don't let him cut foods out just limit them cutting the foods out will lead to binge eating. There are no "bad" foods or "good" foods just moderation.

Well, This answer is a little late, so I hope that you have had some success. Since you have some fair answers already I will throw this one out there.

Drinking large quantities of water will force the thyroid to dispell fat. How much is a lot of water? It really depends on the size of the person, but, 65 to 80 ounces is a good everyday quantity for most.---- although drinking more than that is where the thyroid will force the fatloss.---A friend of mine prepared for surgery and had to lose 20lbs.  He drank 100 oz a day and lost the 20lbs in 30 days.

When drinking a lot of water it is important to increase electrolite intake. Gatorade is one way and salt is another. Gatorade has a lot of carbohydrates and can serve to increase weight. But increasing salt intake is very important to avoid other complications.

--- I make it important to not give medical advice, so you will have to do the research yourself, but go ahead and google terms such as "how much salt intake for drinking more water" or some close related search and you can probably get some answers... 

But, drinking enough water is one of the most overlooked factors for most people trying to lose weight....and also people tend to not stay with it even if they are aware to do it. ..So make a hard effort to drink enough. Here is an article to read on it.  Water for Weightloss and Health.    Good Luck!

Eat lean protein with every meal,

avoid any processed carbohydrates completely pasta, breads, pastries etc

eat fibrous carbs with each meal broccoli cauliflower or cabbage

also eat fat with each meal (virgin organic coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil)

check out Four Week Fat Loss

Gavin