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Between us we have dropped over 70 lbs of unwanted weight, we discuss our journey and the changes we made in order to do it. We had different approaches. Willie dropped his weight gradually and steadily, Steven did it quickly. So this is what worked for me (Steven Haifawi) I firstly simply cut out all sugars and carbs. (Look up the keto diet and its benefits) This is a good podcast: https://youtu.be/keSoSyu9m7c That started to have an impact right away, mainly fluid lose I think at first. I introduced daily exercise 30 min of a fast walk, enough to build a light sweat. You will find that after every week no matter what you do you plateau a little and you need to make a change. Every week you need to change something, either diet, intensity, different workout, less snacks etc After another week I started doing 60 min walks in the morning and then a another 60min walk in the evening. I took this time to plan my weeks, self reflect, it was meditative. NOW this was the game changer, I introduced intermittent fasting. I only ate for 8 hours of the day. I would have breakfast, a light snack sometimes and then lurch, that was it. 16 hours of the day nothing but water, tea and/or coffee(black). Into the 3rd week I started doing some weight training only twice a week in the evening. Still kept walking every day. I noticed that once I was in ketosis and I was intermittent fasting, I wasn't that hungry and I would actually be eating a lot less than I used to. SO naturally I was in calorie restriction while intermittent fasting and also in ketosis. In the 4th to 8th week I introduced Pilates, so I would skip walking in the evening and go to Pilates class a couple of times I went once or twice a week depending on my work schedule. One weekend I fasted 24 hours to see how much calories my body burnt if I didn't eat, it was very interesting, 2.5 lbs. This gave me a baseline then of how many calories I was burning. One other thing, the last two weeks I started wearing a 20 lb weight vest, I did this to help continue to burn the same calories as when I started because I was lighter now. Same other things ... Supplements: I was taking "total Primate Care" from Onnit (the day and night pack) and Total Vitality (magnesium with calcium supplement drink in the evening before bed) Head space: I wrote down my goals right form the get go, I told a lot of people and openly discussed my plans, I also didn't push myself so hard that I didn't enjoy the process. I think this is the key for success and to keep motivated without going extreme. The hardest part of this whole thing was Pilates, those woman are insanely strong in the core, I struggled but always felt great after :) Side effects: Saved money on less food, saved time in less preparation of food and had better energy levels and concentration. I become more productive in everything. Meals: Breakfast: I would have two scrambled eggs, bacon and a side salad. Lunch salad and a 6 oz piece of chick or fish or even steak. Don't believe in the three square meals bullshit. Try doing two meals a day over 8 hours. For snacks I would have nuts, jerky or even cheese. As long as you are not eating sugar and carbs after a while you wont even be hungry. Keep it mind that your body is used to burning sugars and carbs for fuel for years BUT it can be using your own fat if you let it. Think about the Eskimo's for a second :) This was just a quick brain dump. Please let me know if you have any questions at all ... Willie used calorie counting and diet tracker app from MyFitnessPal.com