Help!

I was 140-150lbs up until I was in my early twenties, over the last 5 years had put on around ~30lbs due to bad eating really. Things like too much beer, pizza, fish & chips and snacks like crisps, chocolate and Haribo Gold Bears. It was mostly mindless eating and no self control as I didn't think it would matter. I also did zero exercise and worked behind a desk which didn't help.

When I got to around 12.8st I kinda thought what am I doing eating all this crap and decided to change my ways. The things that have worked for me so far:

1. Always eat Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I've found eating around 1400-1800 cal and exercising to reduce it to ~1200 has been great.
2. Pre-logging your food helps plan and hit your intake target. If you eat too little your body isn't going to let the fat go.
3. Don't think you can't have certain foods, just make sure its in moderation and track everything. If you go over it's not the end of the world.
4. Drink lots of water. Keep a bottle of water where you go. Having a glass of water before a meal will make your feel more satisfied and prevent over eating.
5. When you feel like snacking, try having some fruit or water. The little snack packs of dried fruit are excellent mid-morning.
6. Alcohol is empty calories but doesn't mean you have to go cold turkey. Don't go for crappy alternatives, just drink good stuff but have much less overall. Try keeping it to one day a week rather than during the week.
7. Get a pair of digital scales which also measure body fat / body water.
8. Never weigh more than once a week. Once on the same day/time each week is best and naked/underwear.
9. Your weight fluctuates during the day/week and can change dramatically during day/night and whether you have been exercising or eating salty food. There's no need to panic if you find your scales say you have gained or not lost as much as you had thought.
10. Willpower, this is the hardest thing. Again see #2 about pre-logging and try and stick to it. Tell yourself you don't need the extra food and think of how nice it'll feel to be fit and healthy. Make a realistic goal and think of a reward to give yourself for hitting the goal weight.


If you have one of these phones http://www.myfitnesspal.com/mobile the app is amazing. It actually makes it fun to track calories and helps keep your focused on what you need to eat each day.