The tips for weight loss?

I was fat from about 4th grade up until I was about 24 years old.

This is me back in 2012. About 250 pounds. My heaviest.

You can tell how fat I am by how much my eyes glow when I’m discussing food.

I started my weight loss journey in January of 2015. By July, I hit my goal. I lost 70 pounds in 7 months, from 250lbs to 180lbs, and I have sustained it between 180 and 190 for about four years. This last year, I’ve kicked it into a higher gear and have managed to lose ten more pounds.

This is a picture of me from July of this year, at about 170 pounds.

Not the best picture, but it was the best I could find at short notice.

Okay, so now that we’ve gotten the before and after pictures out of the way, I’ll give you the best tips that I’ve got.

I’m going to set precedent by saying that this is what worked for me. It might not work for you. I have no degree in the Health & Fitness field, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Also, this is purely for weight/fat loss. This is not advice for weight gain, muscle gain, or anything else. This is just if you’re fat and you don’t wanna be fat.

1. Weight-loss is 80% Diet, 20% Exercise. I want to scream this one from the rafters. It doesn’t matter what you do for exercise or how much you exercise. Go to the gym and bust your ass for 2 hours, and don’t leave until your clothes are dripping with sweat. Okay, now go to McDonald’s for a Big Mac, Large Fry and Coke, and a Reese’s McFlurry. See what happens. Most likely, nothing. OR, you could eat a light, healthy meal of meat and vegetables, and then go for a walk for a half hour. The weight will practically fall off of you.
2. Don’t share your progress on social media until you reach your goal. This is more psychological than anything. I see way too many people hit the gym on January 1st, and make some long, passionate post on social media about the change in their life they’re making. Then they have their friends liking/loving their post by the triple digits, giving them back-slaps and attaboys. Well, what happens then? They already got the validation they were looking for, and their motivation diminishes. So they stop going to the gym by about January 10th. You could make an argument for another reason, but that’s my opinion. Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing. Don’t brag about your progress to anyone. Stay humble. Do it for yourself.
3. The first time you hit the gym, take it easy. There are a lot of sayings that get put on workout t-shirts and motivational posters that argue the contrary. “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” “No pain, no gain.” “If it doesn’t hurt, it’s not changing anything.” Yeah, well, you’re not wrong. But how motivated are you gonna be when you wake up the next day and your whole body kills from the sudden abuse it just had to withstand? Usually, that pain from the first gym visit doesn’t go away for 4 or 5 days. It’s hard to find the motivation to return to a place that makes you feel that way, with no obvious visible results. Work out for no longer than 45 minutes, and don’t push yourself to the edge. Walk for ten minutes, run for five. Do some resistance training, then go home. You’ll have a better chance at returning to the gym the next day, or two days later tops. Besides, if you lose weight fast, you’ll gain it back fast. Lose it slowly, and it’ll be easier to sustain it.
4. Let’s talk exercise. You can go as hard as you want, but it depends on what results you want. Especially if you have plenty of fat, you might as well lift some weights to try and turn it into muscle. But I don’t think you have to be religious about your exercise as long as you have your diet under control.
1. Walking for 30–90 minutes every day. To me, this is the most important form of exercise. It will give you the best results if you are diligent about it.
2. Yoga. Don’t let anyone tell you that Yoga isn’t intense enough and won’t change anything about your body. You will become more flexible, better balanced, have a better understanding of how your body moves around, and if there is any exercise that eliminates general back pain, it’s yoga. Twenty minutes a day is all you need.
3. Light cardio. Walk for five minutes. Run for five minutes. Walk for five. Run for five. Stop. Twenty minutes is all you need.
4. Resistance/Free-Weights. Go ahead and knock yourself out with this if you want better definition in your body and if you want to burn more calories. It will help you the most as far as fat loss goes, but again, don’t go so hard that you cripple yourself for days at a time. Do it enough to slowly get toned over a few months, not a few weeks.
5. Daily push-ups. This is just you working with the natural resistance of the weight of your own body. Start with ten. Can you make it to twenty? How about thirty? I do fifty a day. Not much, but it keeps my arms the way my girlfriend likes them, and it keeps me disciplined in following a daily routine.
5. Let’s talk diet. You can read all sorts of literature that will tell you I’m wrong. Again, this is what worked for me. Cut out foods with excess amounts of carbs and sugar. No more potatoes. No more bread. No more chips, crackers, or pretzels. Cut out sugar. No soda. No alcohol. No “diet” anything. Nothing with aspartame, stevia, or high fructose corn syrup. No pizza. Stay away from sugary fruits and other “natural” sugars. No peanut butter. No jelly/jam/preserves. Avoid large amounts of sodium, like in Soy Sauce. All your sandwiches, burgers, and burritos/tacos should be “naked” or lettuce-wrapped. So, maybe instead of what you can’t eat, here’s the list of what you can eat.
1. Meat. Chicken, turkey, steak, beef, pork, fish. Anything as long as it isn’t breaded or soaked in salt.
2. Vegetables. Pretty much anything goes, except carrots and potatoes. Saute them in a pan with seasonings. Don’t use a microwave unless you want them to taste like a diaper. You want something relatively delicious, not something you have to choke down.
3. Water. Carbonated optional. Again, nothing high in sugar or sugar substitute. You want LaCroix or something along those lines. Nearly flavorless.
4. Un-sweetened tea and black coffee. Stay away from the sugary, syrupy coffees, and for the love of all that is Good and Holy, don’t drink that brown sugar water they call “tea” down south.
5. Nuts. Almonds, cashews, macadamias, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, brazil nuts, pine nuts, and sunflower seeds. Peanuts in moderation.
6. Read more : What should everyone know about weight loss?
6. Accept that this will be Hell on your social life. One of the biggest troubles you will run into, over and over and over, is the need to be polite in social situations. You make excuses like, “Well, it’s my coworker’s birthday. I can have some cake.” or “Thanksgiving only comes once a year.” or “If I don’t eat the pizza everyone ordered, they’ll think I’m rude.” Well, you do that enough, and pretty soon you’ll be back to your old dieting ways. There is always an excuse to indulge. So be proactive in your approach. Know what you can eat and what you can’t. Stick to it. Tell your friends you’re on a diet before the plans are made. If it’s a spur of the moment decision to order pizza, tell them you already ate and are not hungry. It is tough, and it’s not easy. The alternative is allowing yourself to be influenced by others and gaining your weight back. There’s no easy route. Pick your poison.
7. Try an appetite suppressant. I’m definitely the kind of person who eats in large amounts. If you are the kind of person who finds yourself unable to stop eating at a buffet, you understand how it feels. It might be a good idea to have something that helps combat that. I hate to sound like I’m advertising a product, so I won’t link it. What I use is “Steel Shredded AF” pills. They’re expensive for a reason. One pill gives me high, noticeable amounts of energy for 10–12 hours, and it keeps me from feeling like I need to shove food down my throat. If you have trouble stopping in the middle of a meal, maybe start looking around for an appetite suppressant.
8. Try apple cider vinegar. Yep, I cannot believe I’m saying this. I am super skeptical of a lot of diet fads. But the one variable I changed in the last few months that actually made a difference was the consumption of apple cider vinegar. I took the powder-pill version, and drank it with a glass of water. For the first time, the little fat pouch below my belly button flattened out. I started to see the shape of my abs. I lost about 5 pounds in two weeks without changing anything about my daily routine.
9. Buy a wrist pedometer. Fitbit, Pebble, Apple Watch, Garmin… there are plenty of options out there. Find one that keeps you motivated. Find one that will tell you how much you’ve moved around, and how often you move around. It will not only remind you of what you need to do, but it will keep you motivated to keep doing it every single day. 10,000 steps before you go to sleep.
10. Get a dog or involve a friend. Not necessary, but definitely helpful in many ways. Some people prefer to work out alone. I’m like that. But if you can find a friend who likes walking or yoga as much as you do, get them involved to help motivate you. But for me, that’s not as reliable. When they lose motivation, you might use that as an excuse to not exercise either. That’s where dogs are the better option. Dogs love exercise and exploration. They will want to go outside every day. They will practically beg you to go outside and walk. Use that to your advantage. Pretend they’re your little Life-Coach. Every time they approach you with a whimper, nudging your arm on the couch, pretend it’s them saying, “Hey! I’m bored! Let’s go move around!” Because that basically is what they’re saying.

Read more : What are the biggest weight loss mistakes?

That’s about all I got. I feel I must re-iterate: I’m no licensed professional. This is what has worked for me for nearly five years.

This New Year’s Eve, when you make your big life changing resolution, just remember:

Keep it to yourself, do plenty of research, and don’t give up. You probably won’t see results until March.

Don’t give up.