Number one for me is chose a plan that suits you. Stick to it, and if you cheat, you are cheating yourself not anyone else.
I adapted my plan to suit me and my lifestyle. Like RJ1980, some of what is included would be seen as a :nono: by some people-guess what? It's not their plan, it's mine. It's my plan that has seen me lose 147lbs :)

"losing weight is simple...
simple does NOT mean easy"

I was not enjoying life at the weight I was and I was locking myself inside my house and eating fast food everyday because I felt like crap all the time. My lack of energy was my own fault, I was not feeding my body what it really needed. On top of it all, I learned that emotions are not an excuse to shovel food into my mouth. You have to give yourself permission to feel all your emotions, and learn how to handle them without the crutch of food.

I've learned that I have to do it my way and not succumb to the temptation to compete with my friends.

I cannot work out 2 hours a day. I'm not an athlete. I don't want to be an athlete, although I'd like to be more fit. But this doesn't fit in with my lifestyle.

Also, the more weight I lose, the more interested I am in prettifying myself. Eyebrows. Nails. Hair. More thought toward clothes and accessories.

There is some great advice on here!

One thing that helped me was to identify the source of my overweightness, which can be different for everyone. The number one thing for me was portion size, the number two thing was too much dining out. Once you identify your issues then you can work to learn how to resolve/cope with them. I realize that is much harder when a medical or emotional problem is hindering weight loss so, please, no one take offense.

When you feel like you had a bad food day DO NOT use it as an excuse to give up. I did that so many times before because I wasn't losing fast enough or I was becoming bored with the routine or whatever else I told myself that ultimately resulted in my quitting. But they were all just excuses.

Develop thick skin. People can be mean, undermining, all sorts of things when you lose weight. They can be co-workers, friends, family, etc. I am lucky that almost everyone around me has been extremely important but there will always be people around you that are less than supportive.

Honestly... The other day I realized, while eating sugary snacks (cookies) that eating an unhealthy sugary snack makes me want more.. and more.. and more.. its a negative addiction. I don't want a negative addiction.

But eating a healthy snack that is naturally sweet (like apples) is a healthy addiction. Between the two, I'll take the addiction that is healthy.

Last 3 days were holidays for my husband. Today i am alone at home and feel like eating some thing. Also this is my carb cycle of 17 day diet. So, i had brownrice and lentils and potato subjee. I had 2nd fruit at 2pm. With cheese singles. I also had oatmeal in the morning. I guess it is too much of carbs. So my craving has increased.

Those claims of "EAT WHAT YOU WANT AND LOSE WEIGHT" ring true. You CAN eat what you want and lose weight, you just have to watch HOW MUCH of it you eat :)

I always thought weight loss meant eliminating foods I loved, but instead I still eat what I want and continue to lose. This means that I CAN go out to eat (and I admittedly did so quite frequently during the summer) and have the occasional fast food or pizza slice. I just have to control my portions.

That eating too little and restricting calories too much can hinder your weight loss. So many people make the mistake of eating too little and when they lose a lot at first but then the weight stops coming off, they wonder why. Educating yourself is important and I have recently realized this and now have a lot more knowledge on how to continue my journey.

Patience. That's what I've learned.

To accept small losses with grace. As long as I weighed a little less, and kept weighing less over time, then I was progressing.

Everything in our culture says do it as fast as possible and get off as much weight as possible. Be as strict as you can & still be able to bear it. That just doesn't work for me. I become conflicted: Part of me is a stern taskmaster, the other part becomes mutinous and eventually rebels by bingeing.

My thing has been "Be kind to yourself, no matter your size." I have struggled very hard with body image. Interestingly enough, the kinder thoughts I have for my body, the better I eat and I WANT to work out. So I do lose weight, but not in a "I'll be in despair with my body until I'm at the perfect weight."

If anyone is interested, the author Geneen Roth has helped me with her books. But I had to figure out being kind to myself by myself. No one could tell me.

Patience, persistence, commitment, and saying NO, not to the food, but to the people around you.

I have found, that I have more trouble dealing with the people around me than the food or exercise.

Mostly they want me to be healthy and fit, as long as it does not impose on what they want from me. This then carries on to I need to get out of not only my olwn way, but tell them to go pound sand, or something along that line.

Mine has been the realization that there is no "finally being there" and somehow cured of my binge behaviours. Losing weight doesn't protect me from the behaviours that brought me to obesity, it only changes my body size. I still have to work on my mindset every single day.

Not to feel guilty when I have a treat. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not to be binged.

I once read that food cravings last 12 minutes so I now wait and see how I am feeling then... usually after the 12 minutes I have forgotten all about the craving and happy that at that time I made the right choice not to give in! One other for me is I don't eat until I have to undo my top button and feel like I have to nap.... I eat what I think should fill a person who is not a food addict and then I wait 20 minutes... at which time I do feel full. This helps me to not over eat.