A lot of people I know want to lose weight.  I myself have dieted, yo-yoed, plateaued, and everything in between.  But recently I have been shedding the pounds, and it has come in spurts of 20-30 lbs at a time.  Naturally people ask, what are you taking, what supplements or pills should I buy?

No one wants to hear the truth

The funny thing is that people do not want to hear the truth.  They would rather I sell them a fat burner, or turn them on to a new fad diet, anything quick and easy.  Well here is the truth, stop eating so much crap, and get off your @$$.

Everyone is different, so we all need different levels of calories and exercise.  You can check out our calculators to help you out with that, but it comes down to calorie deficit. In other words, you MUST EAT LESS CALORIES THAN YOU BURN!

I hate hearing the excuses about how I can’t lose weight because of my family genes, or eating is how I deal with stress, or my thyroid is not working right.  Those were all things I used as excuses myself to justify not making an effort.  Once I got done feeling sorry for myself I got up and decided to work on making a change.

“Let’s realize that losing weight is not about a diet as much as it is a life long change in behavior. It’s a decision to use restraint, and use your will power to consciously be your best.”

Change it up

You will eventually hit a point where your body adapts and you won’t lose weight anymore.  That’s fine, just change your game up.  Eat a couple of different foods, and change your work out routine.  For example, I triggered a spurt once by cutting all dairy from my intake.  Then I added dairy back after a while, but increased my calories from protein (Dymatize Shakes are pretty good for that).  On the exercise front, I’ll go for a month or so with heavy lifts, then switch it up to functional lifts, then switch it to moderate weights with an emphasis on reps.  The important thing is that you change periodically to overcome plateaus.

My favorite trick for losing weight

There is one trick that has ALWAYS helped me lose weight.  It starts with grabbing a pencil and paper, and writing down everything that goes into my stomach.  I’ll do this every day for a week and I will be brutally honest noting all the junk food and drinks. At the end of the day or week, I calculate the calories and I always realize something I have been doing wrong.  By doing this I have at different times realized:

• Cheese has a lot of calories
• Pasta tastes good but is FULL of calories, especially if you add alfredo sauce.
• Subway sandwiches aren’t good for you if you eat a foot of bread and add a bunch of extra mayo
• Home cooked meat, eggs, and chicken are a good way to fill up
• Cottage cheese is my friend

You won’t have a clue as to what you are doing wrong or right until you track it. If you need help keeping track of your caloric intake and expenditure, get on the Lose-it site.  It is by far the best site that I have used for this and their apps are awesome.

Be realistic

Let’s realize that losing weight is not about a diet as much as it is a life long change in behavior.  It’s a decision to use restraint, and use your will power to consciously be your best.  It’s not an overnight process either.  Personally, it took me roughly 8 years to get into the worst shape of my life, so I can expect it to take at least that long to get back to where I was.  Fat burners and protein shakes can definitely help, but they are tools, not the answer.

And for goodness sake reward yourself once in a while and eat something fattening! We only live once, so enjoy yourself and give your taste buds a work out.  Personally, I find that having a cheat meal at least once a week is the key to keeping on track the rest of the week.  Let’s be realistic and accept the challenge, the end result will be more rewarding.

What about you?

So that’s what has worked for me, what has worked for you?  Please keep it positive and share so someone can learn from your experience.