Trust me (or don't)

See... you should be able to lose the weight without dieting or need to join the gym. You will take the control of your life, and trust me, you don't need a companion for losing weight. You need to do this whole thing alone. There are groups where you can find online supporters for moments when it's hard and you are ready to give up, but don't look for a neighbor, a friend, a spouse or a boyfriend/girlfriend to join you in this... If that was the case, you wouldn't be reading this, you would've done it while ago. No hard feelings, but they will just drag you down. You are doing this alone!!

Do it Alone and Keep it a Secret

To start, and in some extremely rare cases, if you have someone, who is most of the time free, it could eventually help you at the beginning, but very soon you will still need to go on your own, so my suggestion is GET USED to it and DO IT ALONE! If you start walking with someone you will have to compensate for speed, strength and condition of the other person, so in the end, you may settle for what's comfortable for both, but basically that's the lowest common denominator, which means you both will walk comfortably (SLOW) and that will be it. Then the next time, you will settle for a "not a good time now, let's do it some other time", etc... So, again, please listen to me: do it alone! I did it, and you can do it too... It changed a world for me. And another important thing is: don't let anyone tell you what can or can't be done, you just do it! Don't even tell them that you are doing anything. Hide it, and mind your own business. Keep the whole thing a secret. No big announcements, nothing...

Eat Smart

And another thing, at the beginning continue to eat the stuff you always did, but during this course you will gradually start dropping it off, and you will see why and how. Your body will not be able to use the same type of food, or you won't feel good eating them. Plus, in most cases greasy things won't even make sense anymore. If you decide to bike for an hour and you burn 600 calories, and then you go for some heavy, super-sweet frappuccino to put back those 600 calories, it won't make sense to do that anymore. Anyway... For now, no big cuts in food, that has to come naturally, and from you, not from me or anyone else. You have to feel good about yourself cutting it out.

You need patience

The biggest disappointment, and the hardest part about dieting is patience. If you don't eat today, and expect radical results tomorrow, unfortunately, your weight will still be the same, and we all (yes, including you and me), want the instant gratification. Well, it's not going to happen just like that... It takes some time to lose weight, but that will be a secondary to watching your own transformation!

Become comfortable to workout alone

First thing, you have to become most comfortable to workout alone, to become self sufficient and understand that you are in this alone. You don't need anyone else for this, you don't need expensive equipment, expensive gym memberships, nothing... One or two things you will need, but that will be it. Buy a good scale and put it in the bathroom, so you can check your weight CONSTANTLY, and do that! Btw, just so you are clear, I'm not selling anything, not products, not services, nothing. I lost 50-60 Lb on my own because of my type 2 diabetes... I still have 10Lb to go, but mostly because I am reversing my diabetes by losing the weight and exercising, and it worked. Dr dropped my medication in half now... But anyway, it's not about me, it's about you... Actually, it's about both of us!

Start Slow

So, with me, all started by walking during the winter... That was the first one of my lifestyle changes! At the beginning those were slow walks, but then I started introducing the short running periods in between. What I mean, I was nicely walking alone, dressed warm, and as I was walking I would start running for fairly short distances when nobody was around. I had a regular jacket, regular clothes, and only later I migrated to more appropriate clothes. So, regular paced walk with short jogging interruptions. Oh yes, you will need an iPod or some music listening device... It makes a difference, since you will put the music, which mean something to you. You are becoming the previous you, the skinny one, so put those skinny songs on the iPod, since we will delete the fat years from the memory, and continue our life where we left it off.

Pick your routine

To continue, once I was done with walking/running I took a shower, and later ate banana, or an apple. That was my ritual, and running intervals increased, but since I was heavy, my knees didn't like the running too much. Regardless, fast walking and running made me sweat and that was one of the keys.

This is a rule

The only rule I had, and still keep: DO NOT EXERCISE FOR LESS THAN 45 MINUTES! Every exercise I did always lasted 1h, and later even more. Doesn't matter how, or what will you do, but please keep it at 1 hour. That is very important, and you will see why. I tried to make sure I exercise 3 times a week, and if possible, I would strive for 4 times.

Next thing is drink lot of water, constantly... I used to be a cold water lover, but during the course of last year I started drinking warm/hot water. I know, it may sound funny, but during the day I would drink warm water.

Some days are lazy, and let them be...

Some days will be hard and you won't be able to exercise, or resist to a juicy hamburger, but then go for it... Lay down and do nothing, or eat that burger, but tomorrow is a new day, and you get back on the program like yesterday never existed. Forgive yourself for doing it, and request from yourself to be perfect tomorrow. Be your own boss, tell yourself where you will be if you achieve that goal. I feel strong, and good, and dropped from XXL to L.

Chose what works for you

Chose your exercise, is it running outdoors, treadmill, biking, fast walking or whatever suits you. I biked all my pounds off. I did it whole winter on a bike trainer ($150), and once the season was good I moved out. Once you start seeing your first results, adapt some habits (use stairs instead of the elevator, eat fruits instead of cake, and stuff like that). After you lose the weight, buy yourself new clothes. Don't wait.

Don't let anyone bring you down, ever! Make a change, and remember what I said: do it alone. Once you change, once you gain your body back, your life will be back too, then figure out what is good for YOU and live the rest of the life the way it's good for you!

That's all I had to say. Laugh, listen to a good music, sleep enough, work hard and enjoy life.