I have just been watching calories in (what I eat) and calories out (exercise). I chose not to do a special diet so that when I reach my goal weight I feel I will be better prepared to maintain that weight (this is my hope, anyway).

Becoming truely addicted to exercise has probably been the key change that has helped me be sucessful. I am not eating terribly healthy stuff, but try to make better choices and stay near my calorie goal. I suppose as I get closer to my goal weight, I may need to pay more attention to my diet - watching more than just calories (like saturated fat and sodium).

Unfortunately from what I have experienced and researched not every type of diet/eating plan will work the same for everyone. Since my start date of April 18, I have experienced good results completely removing any unnatural sugar from my diet. I purely get sugar from fruit and protein shakes. The reason for this is because the body burns up all of the sugar before it starts to break down and process body fat. The more sugar you digest the less body fat you will burn when working out. That means not pop, no candy, no doughnuts, etc

You have to be careful with carbs as well. From what I have researched, when carbs are broken down in the body they are processed the same was as sugars and some carbs are even broken down into sugars amazingly enough. In my opinion carbs are an essential part of a diet especially if you do more vigorous workouts as opposed to light workout. I myself like to push the pace so I eat more carbs than someone who may not exercise as vigorously as myself.

With that said, protein is where it's at. I will always go over my protein limits because I know my body needs it to heel especially when I have weight lifting and cardio days ahead of me. I follow the same philosophy as former Denver Bronco football play and hall of fame linebacker Bill Romanowski. He preeches the benefits of having lots of protein in the diet. If you would like more information you can find it all over the internet. I get most of my protein from shakes, chicken and turkey. I would stay away from eating red meat and pork more than once or twice a week each due to fat content.

By doing this I have lost 14lbs since April 18 and the weight continues to fly off. Be sure when you exercise you change it up. Tony the inventor of P90X is so right when he states, "It's all about muscle confussion." Without muscle confussion the body will get used to the same exercise and eventually weight loss will plateau.

Hope this information helps. Like I said, this is working for me but it may not work for you but I highly suggest giving it a try.

Chris Gianunzio