Like I said, the simple truth is that you must count your calories, with no cheating or excuses. There are several difficult parts in the implementation: Your

Like I said, the simple truth is that you must count your calories, with no cheating or excuses. There are several difficult parts in the implementation: Your brain doesn't want you to count calories, nor does the food industry. Your ability to estimate calories is not likely to be very good. I mitigated this by eating almost exclusively pre-packaged and labeled food and intentionally overestimating any time I deviated. Your energy level will suffer, at least at first. You kinda just have to push through this, but caffeine (or other stimulants) can make it a bit easier. It's hard to stay motivated. I found an athletic activity I enjoyed, which provided motivation because bodyweight was a significant limiting factor. It also burns some calories, which helps absorb the blow of any underestimation. Do not allow yourself to count these negative calories in your total, it's just an excuse your brain uses to try and get you to eat more. I also weighed myself every day to ensure I was moving in the right direction, but be careful because water weight can make it seem like you gained or lost a few pounds day-to-day. Oh yeah, your brain will try and trick you into eating more. I can't tell you the number of times I'd somehow managed to convince myself I hadn't actually eaten lunch yet or only had one serving of something. Be on the look out for this. For some reason, the people around you won't like that you're losing weight. It's weird. They'll encourage you to eat more if you go out to eat with them, they'll re-offer you food even after you've already turned it down, they'll try and get you to skip exercise, they might even tell you that you look sick and unhealthy. Unless they're a doctor, ignore them. Actually, even if they are a doctor take it with a grain of salt. When you fuck up, just accept it and move on. If it is a small amount of excess you can make it up by cutting a little harder for a few days after, but if it is big it's best to just pretend it never happened. Once you reach your goal weight the hardest part starts. You have to start bringing your eating habits back to something kinda like normal so you can maintain them forever. You will, unfortunately, never be done. Trust me, the second you let yourself believe you can eat like a regular human being again you'll put on 30lbs and have to work that much harder to get it off. No one you know who hasn't lost a bunch of weight will understand.