I lost 22kg's in 7 months - and I have managed to keep it off for 13 months now. On 1st Sept 2010 I weighed 104.6kg's with a waist of 111cm. On 7/3/2011 I weighed 82.6kg. I weighed myself this morning and was 82.8kg and I have a waist of 94cm.
What I did:
- Drank a biddon (cycling bottle) full of water prior to every meal (You become a piss monster but after the first month once you have passed the threshold of what you are doing is now becomes a habit you can drop the one prior to the evening meal) I also had only water except for an oj with my breakfast.
- Reduce your portion sizes and don't go back for seconds. I used to eat 5 WeetBix in the morning, I cut this back to 4. I always used to go back for seconds at dinner but stopped that. I also used to eat a bowl of cereal just before going to bed. I cut this down to once a week.
- I stopped eating KFC, Hungry Jacks, Chicken and Chips for lunch which I used to have twice to three times a week.
- I didn't alter anything else, didn't not eat potatoes or anything like that and just did the above and it worked.
Every fortnight I would allow myself 1 KFC meal (or Hungry's or Chicken and Chips) as to go cold turkey is impossible and it gives you something to look forward to in the early stages so you can keep on track with what you are supposed to be doing. Then as you start seeing results you don't even want to eat this crap anymore - I am down to once a quarter now!!
Now that the weight is off this is how I've maintained it:
- Still don't eat the crap as per above
- Still don't go back for seconds at dinner and still very much watch my portion sizes
- I now eat my bowl of cereal every night but I eat it alot earlier - no eating after 7.30pm
- I have one glass of orange juice with my breakfast, every other drink is water (and maybe a hot chocolate 2 to 3 times a week)
Exercise does make a difference: During the summer months I cycle up to 1000km's a month, but I wouldn't lost much weight - but I that was until I adjusted my mindset. It is not ok to go and eat a chocolate donut just because I had done a 100km ride. Once I accepted this then the weight did start to go more rapidly.
Finally, I weighed myself every Monday morning when I got up. This kept me on track over the weekends. Over the whole six months, there were 4 weigh-ins where I actually weighed more than the week before and 1 where I lost nothing at all, but I had been told that this would happen, and just made me more determined for the next week to watch my eating habits (and that's what they become - habits!!).
I kept a record every week of how much I had lost (for the week and total) and it was great seeing the progress.
Good Luck!