Over the last 1 and a half years I have lost around six stone in weight. I went from around 18 stone to just under 12 stone, and I still continue to lose it to this day. In this article I will tell you all of the information I know, and what has helped me achieve this weight loss, in the hope that it will help other people trying to lose weight. Please look through the whole article, as you are certain to find something helpful.
Determination
Definitely one of the most important factors, it doesn't matter what plan you have to lose weight if you don't stick to it. If you are overweight, you need to visualise becoming a normal weight. Visualise what you'd look like, the clothes you'd be able to fit into, and any changes this could have on your lifestyle or love life. One of the things that kept me going was knowing that I'd be more desirable by the end - if I was considering whether to eat a piece of cake or go for seconds, I'd think of an attractive woman ;) Chocolate cake or a new beautiful girlfriend? No contest! (I pick the girl, just so you know.) It sounds a bit silly, but you need to imagine the benefits of losing weight to keep you motivated. Keep reminding yourself why you are doing it and you will want to continue.
Weight Loss Plan
There are countless weight loss plans out there, although really I'd recommend you would either take a traditional low calorie diet, or a low carb approach. I tried both and they both work for me, but you really need to find out what works best for you as everyone is different. I'd definitely recommend low carb, I have never felt so awake and alert and I lost weight very fast, although I couldn't fit in with my family's eating habits so I had to stop. Overall though, it's a matter of finding which you like best. I would not however recommend any random fad diets where you just eat one type of food, or food supplements. It's a load of rubbish that's not necessary, and certainly not healthy. Also, no starvation diets - you need 1,200 calories a day minimum. Starving yourself is counterproductive and not necessary in the slightest.
To be honest, I personally don't strictly follow any diet regime. I just know what is healthy, I don't count calories, but I've dramatically decreased my portions. More on this later.
Breakfast
Everywhere you go, you see people strongly advising that eating breakfast is necessary for weight loss, to boost your metabolism etc. Well, all I found was that eating both a decent breakfast and lunch would make me lose weight slower. However it could be beneficial to some people. What works for me is probably either a very small breakfast and a decent lunch, or vice versa. If you want a breakfast to keep you going throughout the day, some sugary cereal is no good. You need one high in protein or fat to keep you fuelled.
Drinking Water
No other drink is as necessary or beneficial as water, we've all heard about the great benefits of drinking plenty of it. Seriously consider cutting out the soft, fizzy drinks all together, they're not good for you and just add unnecessary calories. I have barely drunk a single fizzy drink in 2 years, and if you're a heavy soda drinker you'd probably lose weight just from cutting them out. So overall I recommend you drink water and little else, it's certainly helped me.
Cut the Sugar Addiction
This follows on from the last section. I think one of the main reasons for my success is that I barely eat or drink any sugar at all if I can help it. Sugar is addictive; pretty much to the extent of nicotine - and we are not able of coping with the high amounts of the refined stuff we consume nowadays, hence the diabetes problem. Consuming sugar raises blood sugar, insulin is then released in our bodies to calm down these levels and over time we build up a resistance to insulin, this process gives us Type 2 Diabetes. The hormone insulin also is one of the main catalysts for storing fat, and so it is thought that by keeping blood sugar down weight loss may be easier; this is the main principle behind low carb diets. Important message to take away though: cut down your sugar intake drastically.
Is Fat Bad?
Fat has been labelled as a monster over recent years, all over the TV adverts and supermarket shelves are low-fat products that supposedly are a lot healthier for us. In some cases maybe, in some cases probably not. Often if they remove the fat out of a product they need to add something else in instead to compensate for the flavour, which could be even worse than the fat in the first place, like sugar. I've read into the topic and from what I've read there's really no need to be scared of eating fat, natural fat at least. Monounsaturates are good and I really don't think saturates are as bad as they're made out to be - there's a fair few books out there disproving the dangers of cholesterol and saturated fat, such as "The Great Cholesterol Con," which would make for some good reading. However trans fat really does need to be avoided, a man made fat which is carcinogenic and that our bodies don't properly know how to even dispose of - this stuff can be found in some margarines, despite them telling us they're more healthy than proper butter.
