Two months ago, I decided to forget the diets and change my way of life.

When I stared my new way of life, I was a 25 year old woman that is 5’9 and weighed 242 lbs. My goal weight is to lose 60 lbs over a year time span.

I decided to change my life by tracking my calories and allowing myself 2000 calories a day. I count every ounce of food that I eat.

In addition, I exercise 60 minutes a day. I either do 60 minutes on the Elliptical machine or run for 30 minutes and then do the Elliptical for 30 minutes.

By counting calories I was able to eat what I wanted as long as I stayed under 2000 calories.

The first 2 weeks were very hard and I had several cravings, but now my body is able to function normally. I pay very close attention to portions and calories when I go to the store.

If I go out to eat I check online to see how many calories are in each menu item. This prevents me from eating food that would cause me to go over my calories for the day.

I will also add weight training to my exercise plan once I lose a total of 40 lbs.

I have found that the only way to drop weigh quickly is to focus on cardio training.

In two months time I have already lost 17 lbs.

My advice to anyone that wants to lose weight is to find a workout partner to train with. This person can motivate you to consistently go to the gym and eat healthy. Coincidently, you may motivate them as well to workout and eat right!

I do this with an empty stomach, in order for my workout to attack the fat. After my workout I eat yogurt, which is known to increase metabolism.

I drink only water, diet green tea (for the herbs), and things with 0 calories.

Fruit juice isn’t nearly as nutritious as regular fruit and pop is just empty calories.

Approximately three hours after eating yogurt, I have lunch. This is my biggest meal of the day, yet it’s still pretty lean.

A piece of white meat (chicken or turkey) and a pasta or vegetable.

I wait about 2 hours and start my mid day workout. This could be exchanged with after super for those who work during the day.

Before I start my workout, I have some whey protein. I do:

140 sit ups (7 sets of 20)

140 leg ups (7 sets of 20)

100 pushups (5 sets of 20)

I switch this with lifting light weights and high reps every other day. I increase my reps about once every month by 5. I follow either of the two with doing at least twenty minutes of cardio.

Wednesday is my day off. After the workout I have another protein shake with whey protein.

I have the protein even on my day off to ensure muscle repair. I follow this by a snack with carbs (i.e. granola bar, oatmeal, ect…).

Three hours later I eat dinner and three hours after that I have a small snack (chips and salsa usually).

Right before bed, I have another protein shake (excluded on my day off).