How I've lost 30lbs... and going...

[asgiov]

Okay... so to start with.. as a disclaimer of sorts... I am by no means a health expert. That being said... This is by no means the "perfect diet".. I'm SURE.

That being said... I am definitely feeling better than ever... back problems have subsided dramatically... and the fact that I can run up the stairs in my home without being super out of breath is a pretty big deal.

So before I go into my diet, a little background on myself:
I am soon going on to 27 years of age... and....
I have been more or less a fast-food addict for most of my life. If you've seen the movie "super-size Me"... that was pretty much my diet after moving out of my parents house for quite some time..... [minus the part where the guy kept eating well after he was full.... (That part of the experiment in the movie was stupid, IMO)]

Anyhow... so eating a large pizza from Pizza Hut was also not totally uncommon for me. I just love pasta, fried potatoes, and hamburgers.... just the most fattening stuff there is...
Thankfully I am not super addicted to sweets.... Although I do enjoy Soda, I am not addicted to it the way I have been addicted to fast food most of my life.

I've always been husky, since I was very young. And ever since I lost my "teenage metabolism" the pounds started coming on one after the other. Up to the point this past August, I weighed 215 pounds. At just below 5'8", I was 5 pounds past the "oh *Squee*... you are probably going to get diabetes soon." At least according to a chart I saw at McDonalds... that is about right..

Oh.. and my physical activity is also pretty limited. I would say aside from the large amount of pacing I tend to do while thinking.... I get next to zero physical activity.

So what have I done?

Well to start with... I downloaded a calorie counting app on my android smartphone. The one I like to use is called "lose it".
I like it because it's free. There are many others, however, and I'm sure plenty on the iphone as well.
The way the program works is pretty simple...
You tell it your gender, age, height, and weight. Then set a goal of losing 1 or 2 pounds per week. (I have mine set at 2).
Many nutrition experts feel 2 pounds is definitely the most you should be losing per week for a healthy weight loss diet.

The program gives you a daily budget of calories. This, naturally, slowly decreases as you lose pounds. The app makes it really easy to record the calories of everything you eat. Most fast food restaurants nowadays have easy access to calorie info.
For the occasional "home-cooked" meal or snacking on gold fish crackers... I really like this guy here.. www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1352066580&sr=8-4&keywords=eatsmart+scale
And I use this guy to keep track of my weight loss..
www.amazon.com/Eatsmart-Precision-Bathroom-Technology-440-Pounds/dp/B0032TNPOE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1352066839&sr=8-2&keywords=eatsmart+scale

... and that is totally it! I just use my smartphone to keep track of my calories and since August I've lost 30lbs.

I still eat fast food... although I try to limit that to once a day. And I will limit those meals to 700-800 calories at most. Keep in Mind... mcdonold adds up fast. The great thing about counting calories is you quickly realize REALLY just how fattening food here in the US really is... ANY large size meal at McDs EASILY hits 1000+ calories.

And Soda is also killer.... Which is why I switched to drinking only coke zero and sprite zero... to subside the soda cravings. (Yes I know there is tiny risk for cancer with these drinks)

And since I've drastically lowered my food portions of fast food... I most definitely find myself just craving it less and less. When I do crave it.. I just get myself a small frys and a 6-piece nugget. (about 500 Cal)
Pizza is another big one. I've moved all the way down to the "personal Size" pizzas. These guys alone come out to about 500-700 cal... which is more than enough for a single meal. And to think... I used to eat the a 2000+ Calorie pizza by myself...

Ultimately.. it's really just about portion control... Just don't eat more than you need!!!
I now weigh 185 pounds.. (184.6 this morning)
And I really am losing roughly 2 pounds every week...
My current goal is to reach 165lbs... at which point I'll adjust my calorie intake to be more based on maintaining. And I also plan to start exercising with a program like P90X once I'm below 180. (I've tried it before... but weighing too much.. I couldn't even finish half a workout session.)

Anyways... hope this helps somepony.

[DarthAvarous]

Good tips!

Monitoring is a huge part of healthy living. No sense in losing weight if you're not going to keep it off. I step on the scale every morning. It is important to weigh yourself at the same time in the same way (Clothes on or off), to be consistent. Your weight will fluctuate throughout the day based on what you eat, how much you drink, sodium content, etc. I have a spreadsheet I will post in one of my articles that can give you a pretty accurate guide of how many calories you need.

P90X is on my list. If I decide to do it I will keep a video log along side of DudeBro.

[rainbowdash]

Nice to see someone else having success with Lose it, I've been using it for 3 weeks now and I've lost 6 pounds. I agree about the soda comment, I used to go to Circle K just about every day and get a 44oz Mountain Dew (that's like 600 calories). With Lose It, I really can't afford it unless I go to the gym and work hard.

The really cool thing about counting calories IMHO is that you can eat whatever you want as long as you don't eat too much of it. I can still eat fast food which means I don't have to stop going to Taco Bell every now and then haha!

Your success has sort of encouraged me to keep going, so I'll give you +1 karma.

[sonicshyboom]

Hey man, I just downloaded this. Thanks

[nydearb]

Congratulations! I remember when I first started dieting and working out with P90X, it was awesome and life changing! Now I'm doing one arm- pushups and all the girls go gaga for it.

[Austin Yun]

+1 to everything said.

[silverpadfoot]

You've inspired me! I used to have the "Lose It" app on my phone but was never really serious about it. Now that I see what can be done, I'm going to really use it! I have 5 weeks before I go home for the holidays...so that's 10 pounds I can potentially lose! Thank you very much for sharing your story, dear!

[skai]

I can relate hugely with a lot of what your previously bad habits were. Though I didn't monitor everything, I stuck with a healthy diet, great exercises that incorporate a lot of cardio and weight training, and I've lost over 20 lbs now. Keep in mind that's 20 lbs total, where I have also gained a lot of muscle mass, so in total I probably lost around 25 or so lbs of fat, starting at July 9th of this year.