Weight Loss Help for the Helpless

First, a brief history (I had to refer to all of my hand-written journals from a years ago in order to finally get the numbers right):
During my childhood, I was always thin and lanky, but my weight skyrocketed about 30 pounds past what I was supposed to weigh when I was in my early teens. I didn't really care much about what I weighed until my older brother (bless his lil' brain) commented on the size of my belly while I was wearing a fitted shirt. So I decided to make a change. I dropped 20 pounds in 3 months, took a break, then dropped another 10 pounds a few months later and kept it off for a few years.
Then I started college courses. Heh.
I guess the stress of trying to keep straight A's was worse than I thought it would be. It caused me to gain 25 pounds in a year. The extra poundage didn't look too bad since I had grown a couple of inches since my last weight-loss escapade, but I was looking a little lumpy. I decided that even though I knew what my "normal" weight was, I would take my weight loss a little further so that I could be lean enough to have visible abdominal muscles.
So this last December, I decided to take the Spring semester off of school so that I could focus on other things such as working on commissions, getting a new job and losing weight. My first attempt was a disaster. I just dove headfirst into it without making any plans, so I crashed and burned after about three weeks. I was so massively frustrated with myself that I decided to get organized. I did a TON of research in books and fitness websites and even asked a professional bodybuilder about losing weight and keeping it off.
After extensive searching and reading over several different sources of information, I was able to learn a few things - some of them through personal experience. Doing all of this, I lost 17 pounds in 13 weeks. Now I'm 8 pounds away from my body's neutral weight.

Anyways, here are the few things I've learned.
(Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert in any way, but these things worked for me.)

#1. Exercise! Exercise! Exercise! Eating right will cause you lose weight, but adding daily exercise to that will help move it along. Do a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio exercises per day. If you can go longer, more power to ya! Try walking/jogging, jumping rope, jumping on a trampoline, swimming, etc.

#2. Keep a record Write down every single thing you eat. Tracking your daily intake is one of the best ways to raise personal awareness and keep yourself on your diet.

#3. Be patient. Substantial weight loss does not happen overnight (unless you've been attacked by a shark or something). If your weight starts to fluctuate even when you're exercising and eating correctly, it's probably just a hormonal flux (ladies), and it will pass. If your weight loss comes to a standstill, don't get discouraged! You've probably just hit a plateau. If this happens, up your exercise and lower your calorie intake a bit until you've broken through.

#4. Be safe! If you purposely starve yourself so that you lose weight quickly, you'll damage your metabolism, deprive your body of essential nutrients and gain all of that lost weight back when you go back to your old habits. It's safe to lose 1 pound per week. Also, be sure to warm up before working out, especially when doing moderate or advanced exercises. The one time that I didn't warm up, I hurt my knee after running full-out around a track. I have to wear a knee brace until my knee repairs itself, and it sucks.

#5. Overcome those sabotaging thoughts!
Everyone who has ever tried to lose weight has had them. Why do we let them rule over us? The mind is supposed to be stronger than the body, so it's a first-class ticket to chubbyville once your mind sides with your body and sabotages your diet. In order to achieve success, you need to start thinking differently.

~ One saboteur that really used to get me was, "Aw, man! I just ate a huge piece of cake, so since my diet is blown, I might as well eat terribly for the rest of the day and start again tomorrow." Your answer to that should be, "I made a mistake, and it's okay. I'll get right back on track right this instant and keep eating healthy."

~ Another sabotaging thought that I struggled with (especially during finals week) was, "I'm feeling unhappy, so it's okay for me to indulge in what I want to eat. I deserve this cake/ice cream/these cookies/brownies/etc." The rational response would be, "But what will that accomplish? I'll end up coming to my senses right after I eat it, then I'll feel even worse than I did before."
   
#6. Track your progress! I made myself a little chart with 16 weeks on it, then I wrote down my weight, measurements, and goals. I put a sticker on my chart for every day that I exercised. The chart allows me to see how far I've come, and keeps me from skipping exercise because I want to see every square filled with a sticker at the end of those 16 weeks.

#7. Plan your day around exercise; Don't plan exercise around your day. It's easier to get around to exercising if you plan a specific time every day. (My time is 7:00pm or 6:00am ) Even if you're super busy one day, remember that 5 minutes is better than 0 minutes. Get in as much exercise as you can.

#8. Hunger is only a discomfort. Hunger will not kill you. This is one big thing that I really had to keep pounding into my brain. If you feel like you're about to collapse, eat a little snack to keep your metabolism running. But if you're not THAT hungry, tell yourself, "I can wait until the next meal in [?] hours. I'm fine." Remember that every time you stay strong, you're strengthening your willpower. But every time you cave, you're reinforcing your weakness.

#9. For heaven sakes, give yourself a treat every now and then! I eat a treat every Sunday to reward myself. (Since I'm a psycho baking aficionado, I personally like to use Sunday as my day to bake a treat rather than eat something out of a package.) Eating a small treat makes it so that I don't feel deprived and I can stick to my diet throughout the rest of the week.

#10. Don't eat anything after 7:00pm! You need to have a cutoff time for food intake because your body needs time to process all of the food that you've eaten that day.  

#11. Don't skip breakfast. Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day. That doesn't mean that you have to eat bacon, eggs, toast, the works. You can have something as small as a yogurt or a granola bar (or mix them both because it's delicious). Just eat something to get your metabolic furnace going. I know that some people skip breakfast because they feel sick in the mornings. Well I can relate! I used to skip breakfast because I always felt super sick in the mornings, but then I started drinking herbal tea every morning and eventually the sickness ceased. So now I can eat things like an omelette or a bowl of oatmeal in the morning without feeling sick, and it starts my day off correctly.

#12. Don't give up. You can do this! If you need to feel supported, tell somebody about goal so that you can be carried along in your journey to a healthier life. At times it may seem very hard, but it's worth it in the end. Even though I still have 8 pounds to lose, I'm comfortable with the way I look right now. Even if I never get that six pack I've always wanted, it doesn't matter. I'm satisfied with the fact that I was able to lose as much weight as I did. I feel healthier, more energized and confident, and that's what counts the most.