1. I gave up all red meat [I]and[I] pork. I know that there are "lean" cuts of pork that aren't bad, but giving it up all together makes it a lot easier to avoide.
2. No soda, diet or otherwise.
3. Water became my best friends :)
4. I ate a really good breakfast, everyday
5. Slimfast optima shakes for lunch always worked for me
6. Recording my caloric intake for about two months really shook me up and made me realize why I was gaining weight to begin with.
7. Lots of grilled chicken and turkey
8. I worked out 6-7 days a week on the treadmill for 45 minutes
9. 100 calorie packs, i actually found be to be good snacks/desserts

I'm bumping this old thread--I need some new tips from all the new faces. I found myself really frustrated with my (seemingly great) efforts that do not translate on the scale nor with the measuring tape. So.... if you have lost any weight at all... tell us how!!

How many calories?
What types of foods?
How much/what type of exercise?
Eliminated things?
Added things?
Extras like water, protein supplements, etc...

Help us who cannot help ourselves!

I'm not doing any specific diet and I'm not journaling or counting calories or anything, but I've had a lot of success losing in the last few months, and here are the main changes I've made:

1. I only drink 6 oz. of orange juice in the morning and 1 cup of coffee once I get to work. Other than that, water. You should avoid diet sodas and drinks like crystal light, because people who consume more sucralose and aspartame generally actually gain more weight than those who don't, because they are more likely to binge on really sugar when they get. Sweeteners trick your body into thinking that sweet things don't have calories. It's like, the opposite of the Shangrila diet.
2. Jogging 1-1.5 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. I jog in the evenings usually because I hate waking up early in the morning, but if I plateau I switch to mornings for a bit since I lose more weight if I jog in the morning for whatever reason (I think it jump starts my metabolism).
3. Eating a healthy breakfast. I usually eat fat-free greek yogurt with some Kashi cereal and orange juice, and sometimes I add cut up strawberries or banana.
4.Small dinners. Dinner shouldn't be the biggest meal of the day. Lunch is usually my biggest meal of the day, since I know I'll be going 6-7 hours without food afterwards, whereas after dinner it will only be 4-5 hours before I sleep. I don't snack.
5. Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a trick I actually learned from a therapist that is supposed to help me cope with anxiety, but it also works for losing weight. I make a point of paying rapt attention to what I'm eating at all times. I concentrate on how it feels in my mouth and going down my throat. If I'm paying close attention to my tastes and my body and the real experience of eating the food, I tend to feel sated much more quickly.

So those are the things that work for me.

1. Eat unprocessed foods ... cook them yourself. This has been huge for me because I have historically not cooked anything. Opening a can or throwing something in the microwave was "cooking" for me, but no longer. I'm still learning, though. But I've come to understand that all that extra stuff in food is not food.

2. Low net carb (i.e. carbs minus fiber). By going low-carb, you must automatically eliminate sugar and all its relatives. It forces you to rely on veggies and protein. I initially was just tracking calories, but now that I'm tracking both carbs and calories I'm doing much better. http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co...arb-study.html

the men's health abs diet, in a month I lost 9 pounds! It's incredibly easy to follow and a lifestyle change not a "diet" consisting of power foods and eating 6 times a day combined with exercise. Even before exercising I lost in two weeks 5 pounds. There's no counting calories, just being reasonable about portions and eating the right food. I love it :] My parents both did it and my dad's lost 40 pounds in 4 months and my stepmom who was already ridiculously thin 5'5" maybe 120 lost 12 pounds.

and for workout: I do jillian michael's 30 day shred and love it. I also do at least one other workout a day whether it be biking, swimming, running etc.