My Approach, Hope It Can Help Some One Out There

 First and foremost I am no dietician, doctor, fitness trainer... I am not suggesting you follow my footsteps. I am just a normal person who was over weight for way too long. People I know personally have asked me over and over again what's my secret. My answer is always the same. I tell them they already know the answer. Their response is "Diet and Exercise?" Plain put we all know what to do but lack the drive and guidance to do so. I am going to share with you how I have lost 40 LBS in 4 months. My approach is nothing original that I know of but maybe less talked about. As we all know weight loss is not the easiest task when we already have so much going on in our lives.

 I always ate untill I was miserable. I can't help it I love food. Also working 2nd shift I found myself cramming a full meal in right before bed due to eating when I got home from work. I also consumed entirely too much fast food. So here is how I got myself eating healthy and consuming less calories.

 1st I replaced all consumable liquids with water only. Take a one a day vitamin, I still ate to what I considered pigging out but I changed the food content. I didn't watch calories to begin with I watched types of food consumed. Meaning no red meat, fast food,fried foods. I ate lots of fruits, veggies,fish,chicken,granola bars, oatmeals. This way I didn't go hungry but I knew I was eating better and this was my way of weaning myself of the old eating style.

 2nd I slowly began introducing cardio into my days. This consisted nothing more then just riding my bike 4 or 5 miles at a time. After the soreness wore off I began riding farther and farther. I also joined the local gym to use the ellipticals and arc trainers. I try to go 30 mins to 1 hour 6 days a week in the beginning. I haven't done any weight lifting yet. My idea is to weight lift only after I have lost my 50lb goal.

 3rd I started utilizing all the wonderfull tools here on the site. This helped me set my goal, put a time frame to it and gave me an idea of how many calories I wanted to be consuming. Since I was already eating better I just had to slowly start eating less untill I was hitting my calorie target. I think this appraoch saved me compared to trying to go from eating unhealthy astanomical amounts of calories to just going cold turkey by trying to eat healthy and limited calories. it kept me from failing I think. In the beginning I logged everything untill I could get an idea of what and how much of what I could eat to stay within my guidlines set forth for myself.

 4th I reap the rewards of hard work and dedication. Now my lifestyle and eating style has changed. I still eat things I love but I just approach it more realistic on what a normal portion is. I still try to do cardio 4 times a week as I still have a goal to hit. People are shocked when they see me after not seing me for a while.

If I can do it any of you can believe me. I hope this can help anyone. If it helps just one person then I am glad I took the time to type it up.

this is a great motivatonal post.

thanks & CONGRATS!!!!!! :) you look great! 

Dito!  Thank you for your time on the site....I am sure someone will benefit from your story!  Congrats...great befor and after shot...it really shows the difference!

Agree with 5327, great before and after. I am now a firm believer in not falling for a quick fix, cut down on calories and exercise, what a concept. I am 46 and have had many years of dieting, torture etc. something clicked on  Feb 20th 2009, it's like my eyes opened and BAM 14 lbs down and still going, slow and steady. Decrease calories and increase exercise, it's working for me

Thanks

You seem to be closely following the same lifestyle changes that I made, which helped me to lose 200+ pounds.  Watch what you eat, make healthy choices, get active and keep increasing your activity levels, stay motivated, etc.  Swapping flavored beverages for water is more great advice.  In addition to that, I don't follow the drink xx ounces rule; I drink as needed to ensure my urine is pale yellow by mid-afternoon indicating I'm hydrated.  As for supplements, just a one-a-day women's vitamin for me.  In addition, set small attainable goals.

And most importantly, for anyone in the obese category or with eating disorders, be sure to seek the advice of your doctor for healthy weight loss! 

Unfortunately, the concept is pretty easy and straight forward, but putting it into practice isn't that easy for many people.  As mentioned, they want a quick fix. 

Congrats on the healthy 40 lb. loss!  I'm sure you feel a heck of a lot better and you're setting a great example!!!

Is the calorie target the number above "the calories eaten"?  Good Job. You gave me a lot of ideas.  Thx. again.

Yeah by target I mean intake goal set for each day. you can use the site to calculate yours. Answer a few questions and you will be on your way :-)

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-goa l.php