Over the last year or so I have lost around 40 pounds. I did not research dieting and I did not spend any money on books or diet food or anything else. My approach worked rapidly and takes less than one sheet of paper to describe.
The Bottom Line
Losing weight comes down to simple math: You Have To Burn More Calories Than You Take In.
Diet
I started by paying more attention to what I ate and drank. I stopped drinking pop altogether which eliminated several hundred calories per day. For breakfast I started having one piece of fruit and a cup of tea with one teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk. For lunch I have two pieces/servings of fruit or vegetables. For supper I have a normal supper. By normal I mean one normal sized plate of food. For example: if we make tacos I have two tacos with one cup of rice. Other than this I might have a beer or two. You can and should drink all of the water you want and/or need. I typically have one day per week where I splurge a little, especially on Sundays during football season.
Exercise
I started jogging and I believe this is what caused the rapid weight loss that I achieved. I realize that many people are not able to jog and I recommend that those people try to walk or swim laps. I started by jogging for as long as I could (around 5 minutes), then walking for a few minutes, then jogging again then walking for a total of around 20 minutes. Eventually I got to a point where I could jog for 20 minutes continuously. After I achieved 20 minutes I started going for distance and longer times.
I never worried about my pace (and still don’t). I focused on achieving 70-80% of my target heart rate and maintaining it for as long as possible. I had a goal of participating in the Chicago half marathon but wasn’t able to do it due to travel for work. The longest that I ran for was about 1 hour and 40 minutes. If you choose to jog, be sure to get a good pair of running shoes. If you feel any discomfort when jogging, especially in the knees or hips, stop and go for a walk instead. Forget the no pain no gain mentallity, it isn’t worth causing damage to your body.
I jogged in the morning in the beginning because I read someplace that it increases your metabolism for the entire day. Unfortunately I am only able to jog at night now. I prefer to jog in the morning, it makes me more alert throughout the day and I get it out of the way early.
Be sure to have some type of warmup activity prior to jogging. I walk for about 20 minutes. Also be sure to stretch when you are finished jogging, it will reduce the amount of soreness.
Jogging has provided several other benefits besides weight loss for me. It really seems to curb my hunger and eventually I felt like I had more energy.
That is basically it. No secret/fad diet, no special foods, nothing complicated. I did get hungry, especially in the beginning and still do sometimes. I found that chewing on gum and drinking water helps.