Now I can brag about this. I lost 30 lbs and the most I spent was the $60 I used to buy proper running shoes. Yup. No hocus pocus or some fancy program. Like many great things, I did it with hard work, determination, and discipline. It sounds so cliche and yet many just don’t quite get that this cliche always works.
1. Count calories. The key to weight loss is to make sure that, at the end of the day, you burn more calories than you consume. For a quick calculation, you can use this calorie calculator. I just logged the calorie count of all the food I consumed for the day, the number of calories I burned through exercise and made sure that I was on track for a loss of 1 lb per week. A good old pen and notebook works. For calorie references, I just checked food labels and the internet.
2. Sort out your grocery list. Many people think that you have to buy the fancy organic (and ridiculously expensive) produce to lose weight. I just switched to fish (protein) and veggies and checked the food labels for low-calorie and low-fat alternatives and my grocery bills remained pretty much the same.
3. Exercise. I never went to a gym. Never bought fancy exercise equipment. Like I said, the most I spent was the $60 I used to buy proper running shoes for stability. And that was it. Knowing that cardio exercises were the first thing I needed to burn fat, I spent 30 minutes a day brisk walking, then jogging. Helped me keep within my recommended calorie levels.
