Everything starts fairly subtle. Things changed so slowly that I didn’t notice how tired I was getting after walking from my car to my front door. I didn’t notice that I was having trouble breathing when walking up a flight of stairs. I didn’t notice that I had gained almost 40 pounds in the last 4 years!

Well about three months ago, I began to notice. I put my foot down though and made a decision to change.

What I’ve been doing has worked surprisingly well! On average I have lost about 10 pounds every 3 weeks (actually it might have been more had it not been for a little vacation my wife and I took in between.) I haven’t had to exercise or starve myself either, although the exercise probably wouldn’t hurt.

Here is a list of things that I have done to get the weight off. No gimmicks. No pills. Just a little knowledge about how my metabolism works and a little self-control:

  1. Little to no breads

    I’m not talking about the Atkins diet here, but if you don’t have a very active lifestyle, the carbs don’t help. They’ll sit there and eventually turn into fat.

  2. Shake it up!

    Your metabolism has a mind of it’s own. It’s “goal” is to maintain your weight, so if you eat the same thing all of the time it will adjust itself accordingly. If you eat a lot of protein, switch it up with vegetables and fruit. You’re going to “trick” your body since it won’t know what’s coming, and eventually start shedding those pounds.

  3. Eat 4 times a day

    Lot’s of people who work early mornings find it hard to have breakfast. This is very important! If you find it hard to make time, take and apple or orange with you on the drive to work. Meals should be at least 2 1/2 hours apart. Make sure to keep it balanced as far as portions go, and try to have your last meal before 8pm.

  4. Eat fruit only one day a week

    This goes along with #2 kind of. Any skinned fruits will work (oranges, apples, grapes). No bananas.

  5. Eat slow

    It can take as much as 15 minutes for your body to realize that it’s had enough. If you eat fast, your body will be telling you that it’s full after it’s too late. Do your best to make your meals last about 30 minutes. If you can’t do that, it’s better to stop early than to eat too much. Just try to be in tune with your body as much as possible. The more you do, the easier it becomes to know when you’ll be full ahead of time.

  6. Stop when satisfied, not full

    The difference between being satisfied and full are big when trying to lose weight. A good way to decide is by asking yourself “will this be enough to keep me from being hungry before the next meal?”

  7. Take breaks

    I really can’t stress how important this rule is! Right now I’m keeping up with the diet and taking about 1 or 2 days on the weekend to splurge. Not only does it help with #2 but it will also help you keep your sanity! It’s the one factor that has kept me going for 3 months. It is still important to maintain portions though. You don’t want to gain all of your weight back every weekend. You might want to still play by #6 to decide when to stop eating.

Here is a list of some of the foods I’ve been eating:

  • Proteins
    • bacon
    • eggs
    • chicken
    • sliced ham
    • roast beef
    • tuna
  • Fruits
    • apples
    • oranges
    • grapes
    • grapefruit
    • strawberries
    • fruit salad (with lite whipped topping)
  • Vegetables
    • green beans
    • carrots
    • celery
    • baked beans (vegetable?)
    • salad
    • spinach
  • Dairy
    • sliced cheese
    • low fat milk
    • low fat frozen yogurt

So far my only regret is that I didn’t start this sooner. At my current rate of weight loss, I will have lost 50 pounds by June. Once I reach my total weight loss goal, I’ll be posting another surprise I’ve been working on.

And if you don’t believe me:

Weight Before and After

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