I have been eating low carb/low fat meals and walking/running. The simple formula is to consume less calories than you use in a day and the weight will be gone. There are numerous different calorie counting tools out there. I believe a lot of people are a big fan of my fitness pal.

"Eat less, move more" never fails to work. It's simple, but not easy!

F.

^ This.

What has helped me is keeping a food log and counting calories. I believe in a balanced diet including foods that I enjoy.

Counting calories and counting carbs. Keeping my calories around 1200 - 1600 ensures I lose weight, keeping carbs around 20g - 30g helps keep my appetite in check.

More general stuff I've learned that works for most diets:

1) Cook up a bunch of food at once so it's effort free during the rest of the week. I do a bunch of chicken breasts on the weekend, then just add veggies and a low carb wraps for meals. Or I make soup and freeze it in individual size tupperware dishes. This works for tons of different things. Batch cooking makes planning everything so much easier!

2) ANY activity counts. Walking is actually a fantastic exercise for weight loss. Exercise also provides stress relief, which has been critical for me (I was an emotional eater 100%). Just try out things until you find an activity you like (or at least don't mind doing at this point, lol ) and try to do a little everyday.

Yup! Totally and utterly simple, but not easy

Hey our starting weight, goal and height are about the same. Cool. I reduced carbs, no sweetened drinks and I'm eating much healthier, loads of veggies. It's kinda cold out for me so I ride my stationary bike for about an hour a day and do what ever exercise I can do indoors. I am going to buy a used elliptical today. I started getting serious about losing weight mid November at about 153 and almost at goal. Good luck!

^This. I would have gotten demodivated if I had to follow some sort of eating plan where certain things were off limits...calorie counting/excerise all the way.....

^ This.

Also, I lost 14 pounds before I weighed myself. I did a lot better not checking every day than I did trying to micromanage myself. Once I started checking every day, I became obsessive and depressed. I'm back to not looking now and I feel much healthier, mentally and emotionally. The key is finding what works for you though.

I also do what I enjoy and what I can handle. I personally find it more difficult to set really high goals because I know I can't hit that target every day. That, too, causes me to become depressed. So I jog because I enjoy it and I've set a goal for a 10 minute mile which isn't out of my range. I just got to under 12 minutes so I've shaved 2 or 3 off already, I know it's doable and that keeps me moving.

But overall, I try to think that my body is a machine and I need to take care of it. It'll get worn down and ragged if I put in the wrong fuel and run it too hard. I want to run smoothly.

Eat less and move more!

Well, sort of.

I found that when I had several small meals thru the day, it was MUCH easier to stick to 1800-2000 calories a day. I never felt hungry. Every couple hours have some healthy fiber and protein, amazing for keeping appetite under control. Guzzle down plenty of water.

5-6 meals a day of lean protein, fresh fruits n veggies, whole grains and plenty of water. I try to avoid extra fats and sugar, and get plenty of excercise.

Cardio is great for burning off fat, but if you also build up some muscle you will get more toned and increase your BMR. Muscle requires more energy, so you burn more calories constantly when you have more muscle.

The easiest thing would be to get rid of soda and to walk after meals

Perfectly put!