well i figured out how many calories i actually need per day and noticed i was eating much more than that. so i lowered my calorie intake, along with fat, sodium and added sugars. i also just tried to eat a balanced diet. i hardly ate fruits and veggies (besides desi vegetarian dishes which are not really all that healthy). so i increased my fruit and veggie intake (carrying around a fruit instead of a sugary granola bar to snack on, juicing carrots and apples and making smoothies). also, whenever we had ice cream or cookies or something, i'd stop myself after 1 scoop or 1 cookie. i was already eating wheat in place of white everywhere (pita bread, sandwich breads, pastas, etc). started eating more fish and preparing my foods differently (less frying, more baking/grilling w/o oil) and using more lean meat. and also made sure i drank enough water every day. one thing i noticed was that before, i'd eat until i actually felt full. now i stop eating after i have the right portion size and within 15 minutes i start to feel full.
that's all i did the first 2-3 weeks and then i added exercise in slowly. started the couch to 5k plan. and now i'm working on adding in your dvd (
) on the days that i'm not running. i'm also walking more and driving less since i'm taking the trolley. before i'd park right next to campus and not have any walking. now i have to walk at least half a mile to get to campus from the trolley station. and i'm also planning on going hiking at least once a week. i want to take advantage of living right next to the hiking trail. and there's three different trails on the mountain (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) so hopefully i'll hike enough to be able to do the advanced without passing out
i really am trying to aim for a lifestyle change though so i'm not doing a crazy no-carb diet or anything. my brother in law did the no-carb diet few months ago. he went almost a whole month without any carbs, and he lost like 40 lbs. but a no-carb thing really isn't realistic in the long run. you can't cut them out of your life forever, so of course he started eating carbs again and eventually gained back all the weight he lost.