I started in January, when I weighed close to 250 pounds. I bought a bike, and started to ride the bike trail every morning for an hour. I’d heard somewhere that the more you sweat, the more calories you burn, the more weight you lose so I would wrap myself in plastic wrap, and then put on my sweat suit over it.

To me the hardest thing about excising is actually getting started, and when I don’t see results right away, I get really discouraged, but I stuck with it and it finally began to pay off!

I began to drink more water instead of the sodas that I loved. I stopped buying sugar and after a few days lost the craving altogether.

I reduced my portions, and ate lots of raw veggies.

If I wanted a snack I grabbed an apple instead of a donut. I never ate anything heavier than a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread past six p.m., and gave up my love of ice cream in favor of fat free frozen yogurt.

In May I enrolled in school and took a physical conditioning class four days per week, in addition to still riding my bike everywhere instead of taking the car.

The instructor was a tyrant, and he pushed us to go the extra mile. I remember the first week of class, every muscle in my arms, stomach, legs burned, but I worked through it and my body adapted.

We would start class with about forty-five minutes of calisthenics, and ended with about half hour of circuit training.

I avoided weighing myself on the scale, and just used a measuring tape instead. Of course it took some time to see any real progress, but my clothes were fitting me better, and I could feel my energy level increasing.

By the end of the summer, I was down to 170 pounds, and fitting nicely back into my fav size 12 jeans.

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).