Although not as long as a book on the subject, this page has quite a bit of info on it. I hope that you find it interesting and read it all. If however you want to do the quick version, then I have put a summary here of all of the points.
Also -I have other lenses that focus on specific aspects of this page. Maybe you would like to give them a read?

• Make a decision to go for it and commit. You can do it.


• Become a bit obsessive but, follow the 80/20 rule. Be good 80% of the time but don't deny yourself everything otherwise you will go stir crazy.


• Take a note of where you are now, and keep records of your progress.


• Learn about calories. Eat more than what you need, you will put on weight eventually. Eat less and you will lose weight


• Make a few calorie savings by eating 'clean' i.e. leave the butter off the bread.


• Confuse your metabolism by varying the amount of calories you eat each day.


• Weigh your food so that you know how many calories you are eating.


• Drink water it is going to really help you lose weight.


• Shop online and control what you buy. Two foods that will help fill you but don't have many calories. Cottage Cheese and Total yoghurt.


• Exercise and you can eat more. Choose your exercise times and you might burn fat.


• Can weight loss supplements help? You can try caffeine, green tea and carnitine. Also whey protein and creatine work well.


• Use the time honoured method of rewarding yourself to stay motivated.


• Read what you can. Learn from others. Experiment and find out what works for you. Then try to help other people and lead by example.


• This is not a chore, it is a challenge. Keep going. Short term goals are excellent but this is a way of life for you now. Keep going, results will come. You will love how it makes you buzz.

Now how about reading on?....

Think about it: We are where we are today because of decisions that we have made and things that we have done before this day. This is a very simple concept, but very important to believe in.

We gain weight and become unfit over a period of time - it doesn't happen overnight. The actions that we have taken have got us to this point so far. At 18 years old I weighed around 10 stone. 17 years later I was 45 pounds heavier. A nice steady gain of an average 2.6 pounds a year. Not all of this was fat, some was muscle and I would imagine an increase in bone density. However it makes me want to put the brakes on and shift into reverse, otherwise where will I be as my metabolism slows down and I move into my 40s and 50s?

I look at all of this as a positive thing. I am where I am because of what I have done without trying, so I can get where I want to be by taking positive action today. I can also do it quickly by taking positive action tomorrow as well.

Make the decision. Can I make just a few changes that will allow me to see a big change in my appearance and my fitness levels? Do I appreciate that changes take time, but by taking positive action I can make that period of time, a lot shorter than the length of time it has taken me to get where I am today?

You are reading this, so that makes me think that you want to make a difference. Obviously, I don't know you personally, but I do know that it is possible for the majority of people to see a big change if you just know the right steps to take.

So here we go. Tap your feet, drum your fingers (fidgeting burns calories)and smile...let's see what we can do.

I call it the weight loss mindset. I think you need to think about your goals a lot. This really helps with making the right choices. And choices are what it is all about. But don't worry, you can take time off for good behaviour. Being good all the time is really hard to do. Work on a day by day basis. Try to make good choices, but don't beat yourself up if you eat a big ice cream or have a bag of fish and chips. It is important that you do have these things sometimes. My weakness is curry. I have learnt to cook healthy curries, but sometimes there is nothing like a good old gut busting big fatty curry, washed down by a few pints. Go for it, just not every day. Make sure that 80 percent of your time is spent doing things that help you reach your goals and then be naughty in the other 20% if you feel the need.

Set some goals now. It will feel great when you smash them
For me goal number one was to view being fit as something I want for the rest of my life. This is a long term goal and to achieve it I just need to keep up the exercise and stay active. A long term goal is good because it helps keep you focused on the big picture and allows you not to worry if you fall off the wagon, so to speak, for small periods of time.

Coupled with this are various short term goals, such as achieving a body fat level of... and reaching a weight of... For me initially it was getting my body fat to under 20% and my wieght to 12 stone. I knew I had further to go, but these were good things to work at. Once I hit them it felt great and made me want to set and hit new targets.

Write your goals down and think about them a lot.

It feels great to reach your targets. Make you targets realistic and you will hit them.

By take note I mean two things:

ONE - Note your staring point.Write down:

• Your weight.


• Your body fat percentage


• your hips, waist, chest, measurements and anything else you care to measure.


• Take pictures of yourself if you feel up for it.

Don't view any of these measurements or pictures as bad. They are just where you are now and you are doing positive things towards changing them for the better.

I weigh myself daily. I take my bodyfat daily using body fat scales. This just helps me to keep a track of how I am progressing and make adjustments if I need to. Why wait a week to find out you are not making progress. Some days I weigh two pounds more than the day before, some days two pounds less. Similarly my bodyfat readings fluctuate some days. What we are after is just observations of the general trend. Over time are your readings getting lower?

I really recommend you buy a set of scales that can record your bodyfat. Loosing fat is more importnat than loosing weight.

You can check out very reasonably priced scales on Amazon by clicking here.

TWO Make a note of what you eat each day so that you can eat for fat loss.

I use Weight Loss Resources which is excellent it does however require a certain amount of fastidious record keeping.

If that doesn't suit you then you could try easier to follow programs such as

www.weightwatchers.co.uk


which you can now join and follow online.

Although strictly not calorie counting, it works on the same principle. It can be very effective. Joining online gives you access to other members which is great if you need encouragement and support.

Either way just make sure you pay attention to anything and everything you eat. But remember sometimes it's good to eat whatever you want and go over your daily calories. Just make sure you only do this 20% of the time.

So how many calories should you eat in a day?...

It's all about calories. It really is that simple. Eat less calories than your body needs to function each day and you will over a period of time looses weight. Eat more and you will gain weight.

So the good news is, if you fancy a Mars Bar, then you can have one. Just keep note of the calories you have eaten and make sure you subtract it from the daily amount that you can have. Now I not recommending you eat mars bars, I personally find that by keeping such strict tabs I make food choices that mean I can eat larger quantities and eat foods that will fill me more. A Mars Bar has 230 calories, for this you could eat (roughly) 3 fried eggs and a slice of toast (without the butter).

What you need to do:

Find out your calorific needs for one day.

Eat 200 calories less than this each day.

Maybe consider joining an online diet tracker that keeps a check of calories for you.

Make good food choices and 'eat clean'....read on...

'Eat clean'. This means doing things like:

• switch to skimmed milk


• leave the butter marge off your sandwich, baked spud etc.


• Use low cal oil sprays to cook with


• Buy low fat products


• Don't consume empty calories, like ice lollies for example


• Leave the sugar out of your coffee and tea, buy Muesli without sugar added

The list goes on....

You don't have to do this all of the time. Just the majority of the time. It really makes a difference. A few calories saved here a few there, it all adds up and means you can eat larger volumes of food.

Think about this:

What would fill you more? Two slices of bread covered in butter, or four slices without butter? I know the second option isn't that appealing, but it would most likely have the same or even less calories.

Talking of calories, the next step might help you lose weight quicker and let you have a few days of guilt free eating.

Cycling calories helped me to shift some stubborn fat and to get over a plateau. Here's how.

After going from 13 stone 3 to 12 stone 2 using the method above, i hit a sticking point. The weight and fat just stopped dripping off. I think my metabolism started to adjust to using lower calories to function so it adapts. Cycling your calories means confusing your body a bit and causing it not to adapt.

This is what you do: I need to consume around 1800 calories a day to lose around a pound a week. Over seven days this means consuming 12600 calories each week. Rather than consuming an equal amount of calories each day I varied the amount so that the weekly total was still the same but the daily total changed.

Rather than explain this anymore, I am going to point you in the direction of this free calculator. Don't forget to come back though.

Using this method I dropped in the space of two weeks to 11 stone 12 (four pound loss) and it has steadily been coming off again.

The other good feature with cycling is that you can eat more on some days.

Want to find out another really easy way to let you eat more?

Obvious one, but exercise burns calories. It is important to understand that exercise does not necessarily burn fat (although it could), but it does burn calories. I love this one for two reasons.

1. I can eat more and then just exercise and use up the calories. So for example I can have 1800 calories a day and loose 1 pound a week. I could just eat 1800 calories a day, but I could eat 2300 calories and burn 500 through exercise.

2.When I think about eating that extra bit even though I am not hungry, I think to myself, 'wow, I have to sweat for 30 minutes on a cross trainer to burn 300 calories. Do I really want that ice cream? Yes of course I do."

Exercising doesn't necessarily mean joining a gym, although it helps.

I think that if you want to buy home exercise equipment, then there are three things that I would suggest buying:

Any cardio machine will do, but I like to use a Cross Trainer as it places less stress on the joints and I get a great workout on one.

A Swiss Ball. Great for exercising your core muscles, but also very versatile, so can be used in place of a bench or for many other strength building moves.

A set of dumbells. Safer to use than a barbell, take up less space, and excellent for alround fitness and strength building.

Now that you have finished buying millions of pounds worth of home exercise equipment from Amazon, you might want to look at my exercise page. I exercise, at home, in the gym, on the street, any where I can. Or maybe you will burn loads of calories through building an extension to house your new gym.

If you want to burn fat not just calories through exercise then two methods that many people recommend are:

• Exercise first thing in the morning after drinking a small amount of whey protein. The protein is absorbed quickly by the body and is supposed to prevent the body using your muscles for fuel during your cardio workout. As your body has very little fuel from food in the morning it will, in theory, use stored body fat for fuel.


• Do cardio after weight training. The theory on this one is that, like above you have used up all of your stored fuel during the weight training and so again your body will burn body fat for fuel. Also you will be able to do exert yourself more during the weight training as you won't be tired from doing excessive cardio.
  
  Out of the two methods, I have relied on the second one. I chose this mainly because my daughter gets me up any time from 6am and so I would need to set my alarm for 5.30 to get this done. Plus I would need a gallon of coffee to get me going. I am rubbish in the mornings. The second method has seemed to work for me.

I also think that if you are serious about doing this, then you need to learn about diet and nutrition. I have bought two books that have a lot of excellent, easy to read advice in them. If you want to see a noticeable difference in your body fat levels and you don't want to waste a lot of time doing ineffective exercise and following ineffective diet plans then you really should invest in them too.

I can recommend these books because I have read them - more than once - and I do think that they are really good. They most definitely get the dad-the-lad seal of approval. Both, if I am not mistaken come with a money back guarantee (at time of writing) and both can be downloaded instantly to your machine so you don't even need to wait for delivery. Can't be bad eh?
You will note I don't promote books willy-nilly. There are lots of other books out there on the market, but either I haven't read them personally or I just don't rate them.

The books I recommend are:

The Truth About Six Pack Abs

Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Check them out, then come back.

As well as buying scales for you, you need to treat your food to some good kitchen scales as well. At first I was shocked at how much certain things weighed. My gigantic bowls of cereals were 4 times the portion size on the box. My pasta consumption was phenomenal. When you get scales and weigh your food you realise how many calories you were consuming before. I now limit myself (most of the time) to 40 grams of cereal (usually porridge) every morning - except on the mornings when I eat a veggie fry up.

I know that I keep sending you to Amazon, but you really do need some good digital kitchen scales. Buy some now.

I try to pack carb rich foods like pasta, rice, cous cous, out with lots of other foods. So the amount of pasta I have will be small, but because there is so much veg or so many pulses like lentils or chick peas in the bowl I still get to eat a couple of bowls.

Carbs aren't necessarily bad, and I don't subscribe to low carb diets myself. However they do tend to stop me from feeling full for long, whereas protein rich foods, leave me satisfied for longer.

Water can fill you up too..

You know it but do you do it. It is important to drink a lot of water. It fills you up, often hunger is really just thirst. It helps with the burning of fat. Also there is a claim that if you drink ice cold water you will burn calories by your body trying to heat it up to body temperature. I haven't tried this because i like my water cold but not too cold - it would hurt my teeth and give me brain freeze. Yes you will visit the bathroom more, especially at first, but use it as an opportunity to catch up on your reading.

If you are in an area where it is safe to drink tap water then please do so. Bottled water is wrong on quite a few levels. It is bad for the environment due to its shipping and the empty bottles and the energy used to make it, it costs you money, and when there are so many people that are suffering due to droughts and who would love the water from your tap to drink, can you morally justify using bottled water in your home?
Maybe donate the money you will save by not buying bottled water.

OK I'll jump off my high horse now and get back to the matter in hand.

What should you do? Walk to the supermarket, walk around the supermarket, carry your shopping home. Think of all those lovely calories being used up. Think of all the lovely food you will be tempted to buy. Or do you sit at home and use the internet to shop online, thus limiting yourself to foods that you need and maybe not making the impulse buys. I don't know, but online shopping is worth considering. You should maybe give it a try.Personally I have tried option two but prefer option one. Yes naughty things do sneak into the trolley, but as I have said before you should eat these things from time to time and hopefully you will stay sane.

Two good foods for you to try:

• Virtually fat free cottage cheese. With pineapple it makes a fantastic snack. It is low in calories, and high in quality protein. The protein is casein protein which is slower digesting and so keeps you full for longer. With onion and chive I fins it great on curries, pasta, omlettes etc. It really does fill you up and means you eat less of the things that have more calories such as rice and bread.


• Total 0% yoghurt. Another low calorie and fairly filling food. The pots have less calories but are bigger than normal yoghurts and you can if you are not too keen on plain yoghurt add things to them. I add small amounts of honey, jam, muesli etc.

Remember if you add quality protein to your meals you will stay full for longer. There is also some evidence that if carbohydrate meals are accompanied with protein it can prevent the body storing excess calories as fat.

There are many, many other theories that are around on this subject, including supplements such as caffeine, carnitine, and green tea.Here's a link to Holland and Barrett where you can buy fat loss supplements. I have tried all of them, however the only one I have taken as a tablet is carnitine - this is because it is really cheap. The other two, caffeine and green tea, I like to drink. Both are full of antioxidants and speed up your metabolism.

Here's a link to Holland and Barrett where you can buy fat loss supplements. I have tried all of them, however the only one I have taken as a tablet is carnitine - this is because it is really cheap. The other two, caffeine and green tea, I like to drink. Both are full of antioxidants and speed up your metabolism. Plus I love coffee. Green Tea I can stomach if it comes with mint.

You can, if you fancy it, read my 'supplements I Have Used', page.

Two others worth considering are whey protein and creatine. More about them on the page above.

I don't drink instant coffee. I only like the real stuff. I drink it black with no sugar. If your in the market for a coffee machine you should check this one out.
It's a bargain at $3698.95. If you buy one make sure you invite me round for a cuppa.

Sometimes you need rewards to keep you going. It is important to do whatever you have to, to stay motivated and focused.

Check out Lastminute.com for some treat type ideas.

I went away to the cold Cornish coast in March. I ditched the diet and got stuck into the clotted cream rice pudding and the very fine cider. I didn't feel guilty about this at all. I have long term goals and as long as I get back to them then it isn't a problem. A week is a very small amount of time in the grand scheme of things.

Also having a date for a holiday to look forward to gives you something to work towards. I enjoy holidaying in the Med, and in particular in Sicily (click here to read about Sicily). Knowing that I am going there in October for example, motivates me to keep going. When I'm there I feel satisfied that I have been doing my best and working hard and so enjoy myself and feel no guilt when I down my 3rd bowl of garlic chilli pasta with some great Sicilian red wine.

Be Inspired
It isn't always easy. I keep my motivation up by reading fitness magazines. You could try reading books on weight loss, use the internet to learn more about exercise. Create a favourites folder in your browser and save your most interesting pages. Read success stories of those that have done it.

Be Inspirational
Once people start to realise what you are trying to achieve, they will start to ask you for advice and share their stories and tips and trick with you. You can act as a model of dieting and fitness brilliance to others. Once you have been doing this for a while you will start to get compliments from people. Although this may not be your motivation, it will prove motivational. Take the compliments well and use them to keep you on track.

Get Inspired

That's it for this lens. If you want more in greater detail check out my other lenses. Or if you fancy spending a little bit of money, then buy the excellent book that I talk about above.

I hope you have found all this useful. I would love to know what you think.

Remember you are in it for the long term. Yes you want to see results fast, and yes you will if you are determined, see results fast. However I am sure once you get into it, give it a few weeks, you will enjoy this challenge, enjoy the way you look, and even more, enjoy how you feel. Hopefully you will become addicted to keeping fit and eating well and you will have loads of fun.