I have been trying to lose weight for a couple of years now and I can proudly say that I have been successfull at doing so. But like everyone else I have not been able to keep the pounds off. I believe this is due to how I lose the weight to begin with. Weight loss is no secret but I feel that maybe someone out there will benefit from hearing how I am losing weight presently.

About two years ago a friend of mine introduced me to a program called Medifast (Amazon Link Here). It consists of reducing your caloric intake to about 1000 calories a day with limited exercise. It consists of five of there 100 calorie meals and one 600 calorie meal you cook yourself. Their plan consists of eating about every two hours. The meals are mediocre but I got through it and in approximately two months I lost a total of 30 pounds! Wow, I felt great, but seamed as if I lost some muscle mass at the same time. Not to mention, it was very hard to sustain the weight loss without continuing to eat there meals or find other foods that could replace them. Well because there was limited sacrifice to lose the weight, it was pretty easy to gain it back. So I was back up to my original weight in about a year after starting the Medifast plan.

So in February 2009 I broke 200 pounds and decided I need to do something about it, AGAIN! As you may know, I own an iPhone 3G and found an application called LOSE IT! (iTunes App Store Link). This app is also featured on one of the iPhone commercials. When I started using the application I was at 202 pounds. My only job was to enter all of my meals and any activity I was doing such as running, walking etc. This allowed me to keep track of my calories on a daily basis. I was surprised when I started to see some results! It was actually working! In about a couple of months of me being aware of what I was putting in my body, I lost about five pounds. I thought it was really cool, but a no brainer. If you intake less calories than you burn for the day, you will lose weight, DUH!

One day I was in the book store and my wife calls me to pick up a book that she heard about called The Flat Belly Diet (My Amazon Associates Link). So I flipped through it and purchased the book. After I read the book, my wife and I started the new diet and I lost six pounds the first week. The first stage is called the Anti-bloat week and pretty much gets rid of water retention. Through the whole process of about a month I lost about seven pounds and started to eat my own food. If anything, this diet taught me about MUFAS (Mono-unsaturated fatty acids), and how to have portion control.

At the time of participating in The Flat Belly Diet I also started to go on walks with some brief jogs in between (I am still pretty out of shape), about five times a week. This is one of the greatest things I have ever done towards living a healthier lifestyle. I feel great, and now have a routine. I look forward to my walks and I am excited before and after my exercise.

Many friends have told me that cardio training is not enough. Everyone recommends that I incorporate some sort of resistance training. I am not one to sign up for a gym, since most likely I wont end up going. I prefer to do something that I will actually use and what is easy to access. So a Co-worker of mine suggested the Total Gym, yes the one with Chuck Norris on the infomercial. I considered it, did some research, and found that they are pretty expensive. I ended up finding an alternative called the Total Trainer Pilates System (My Amazon associates link) by Bayou Fitness. It is much cheaper than the Total Gym and it also has many more items that it comes with. I decided to purchase the latter and now have it in my house, I have used it twice and I love it! Now my new routine will be to run/jog every day during the week and every other day use the Total Trainer Pilates System .

My goal is to be in shape, feel great and reach 170 pounds. All of this will be possible by continuing this exercise routine for the rest of my life. I figure the harder I work to get the weight off the more determined I will be to keep it off. I am currently 15 pound lighter from February 2009 when I started using the LOSE IT! application and have lost about two inches around my waist (below my belly). I have also lost around three inches around my belly. I would say that is progress and very satisfying. I will keep you updated on my progress whether good or bad and also let you know how the Total Trainer Pilates System is working out for me.

Thanks for reading this and I hope it helps at least one person out there!