I gained 40 pounds over the course of 3 years working at a startup. I lost this weight in three months by hiring a personal trainer. She helped me design a diet

I gained 40 pounds over the course of 3 years working at a startup. I lost this weight in three months by hiring a personal trainer. She helped me design a diet and exercise plan. The exercise plan involved a lot of balance, stretching and unconventional weight training. For instance, rather than just pumping iron, the trainer had me do things like stand on a wobbly platform and lift "kettlebells." Prior to getting fat, I was relatively athletic and went to the gym regularly. I would use the treadmill and lift weights. The new training methods my trainer introduced were much more effective than what I was doing on my own, and I'm now much stronger and more flexible than I ever have been in the past. I highly recommend this approach if you are serious about getting into shape. Look for a trainer who is into balance, flexibility, "core fitness" and who knows something about nutrition. Most hackers I know are very DIY-independent and are skeptical about hiring someone to help them achieve goals. I am this way, but I found that having a trainer really helped me much more than I was able to achieve on my own.