Thanks for all the great advice and stories of success.

A lot of you are very much right when you say you need to just see it as a change of lifestyle/habits than a diet.

Worst part is I actually know quite a lot about diet and fitness only about 5-6 years ago I was actually very in shape, so can’t even plead ignorance…

Step one:

Accept that it’s going to take small changes, made permanently.

Permanent because you want the weight to stay off (obvs).

Small because, well, it’s gonna be fricking permanent, and we want this to work, right?!?! So you need to make some decisions, and to do that you need to:

Step two:

Arm yourself with the following knowledge.

The following knowledge:

Fat is 9 calories per gram
Alcohol is 7 calories per gram
Carbohydrates, sugar and protein are ALL THE SAME: 4 calories per gram (yes, I know!!)
Dietary fibre is actually also 4 calories per gram, but we can’t digest it, so it’s the same a 0 calories per gam- so go fruit and veg crazy!!

Step three:

So from now it is a simple pain versus calorie thing. What will cut out the most calories for the least amount of pain caused? Obviously fat and alcohol should featuring pretty high on your list here. Remember step one- this is permanent, so choose wisely!

Step four:

Implement your decisions by WEIGHING EVERYTHING!!!! On the side of every food packet there is a handy ‘grams of _____ per 100 grams’. This gives you a percentage. You can work it out from there!!!!

Step five:

There is no step five. Just keep weighing everything. Seriously, if it’s going in your mouth then get it on those scales first. Everything!!!!!

PS you already have an active lifestyle, this not an area you need to improve. Focus your efforts instead on what you are putting in your mouth. And weigh everything!