Wow! thats awesome Mark the way you lost the weight, I commend you for the disciple, and you didn't have to pay a personal trainer $10K or more for the results. ;-) As a personal trainer offline its breaks my heart to have to see all sorts of clients come through our fitness facility doors and hear the same story over and over again. But make no mistake, there are quite a few people that don't know how to take care of themselves as they were never taught or no one helped them. Weight loss is a very difficult task for the average person, many by nature are pretty lazy when it comes to watching their weight, whereas some are quite fanatical, there are always two extreme's. Before I have clients pay me big bucks to get them into shape I always give them some no nonsense tips and avenues to explore before they drop thousands. My Corporate office doesn't like it, but they don't complain when the clients come back in a few weeks and buy personal training for the year. You see its like everything else in life, give it away for free show them a great way to lose weight while staying in shape and not losing any muscle mass, and they'll always come back for more training and a more personalized tailer made package. Basically you should monitor yourself at least monthly as far as how you look and feel, rather than letting yourself go and months later look in the mirror and ask yourself how did I gain all this weight ;-) Whether your a busy executive, a stay at home parent, college student, or grandparent each level should have certain factors to look for which I'll get into at a later date, but for now some common sense approach tips.   Steps to consider If your feeling sluggish more than usual and its not medically related i.e. diabetic, anemic, lupus, heart disease, certain types of cancer or any other pre existing medical condition... you should test yourself by going for a run everyday for just one week and see how far you get each and everyday. Not only will you have an overall gage of your health level cardio wise, you'll know for a fact that there's a problem. Keep in mind before you go for a run, try and do a 10 minute light static stretching routine just to get your body ready for the shock you'll put it through. Listen to your body it will tell you if your carrying too much weight for your body profile you'll experience during that week... - lower back pain - joint pain (knee, hip, ankle) - high pulse rate to start with, difficulty breathing, extremely short breaths after a couple of minutes of running. - light headedness So if you experience some of these signs & symptoms its your body basically telling you its time to take up some kind of exercise routine and take care of yourself. look at yourself in the mirror nothing is a greater motivator or has better shock value than being visual ;-) If you look at yourself in the mirror and still don't take action, then who's to blame ;-) Dealing With Weights - This is a killer strategy I use for my potential clients that personal trainers simply ignore When people come and see me I always ask," can you push around your own body weight" and the response is always pretty much the same "oh yea no problem" So with that said I always tell my clients to sit on the floor put their legs on a chair in 45 degree angle and then ask them to give me 45 sit ups trying with their hands to touch their shins, if they can't do that I say ok, "just try and pick your shoulders off the ground and crunch your abs six inchs 45 times. Next I tell them to get into basic push up position with a six inch platform by their feet, so you put you feet on the platform and raise yourself up to a normal push up position. I usually jusk ask for 20 - 30 pushups. The results are pretty much the same. (deep heavy sigh) This is the ultimate test as to how in shape or out of shape you are. You see the real key is to be able to push around your own body weight first. If you can push around your own body weight, then you can progress to weights. If you can't then pushing around weights will be 10x more difficult. Just start slow and gain control of your body. Find out how it works and why it moves the way it does. Master your own body first then add the weights, not only will you increase your own natural strength and build a little density in your bones over time with repetition,your body will be better prepared for regular exercise, you will have lost some much needed weight becoming better toned, once your ready to hit the weights your results will explode through the roof. Top Nutritional Foods The debate rages on everyday over this subject and its laughable, millions of people get sucked in every year over the latest greatest fad diet or wonder pill, I mean what happened to the diet of 3 years ago? or last years summer craze. Look no offense but if your looking to spend hordes of cash on supplements, diet pills, and thermal products hell just send the money to me ;-) first and foremost throw the word "diet" out of your vocab, diet means a reduction is calories, and that means your starving your body, when you starve your body side effects occur. Simply put have a sound nutritional strategy put in place. Proper nutrition and exercise = fantastic body ;-) Your body isn't dumb, switch the calories into proper nutrition, you don't want your body feeding on itself (catabolic state) because your starving yourself. sure in the short term its not a bad idea I guess (being sarcastic here!) but long term, you'll suffer for it (being serious here) J. C. program. Prime example, sure you'll loss all sorts of weight but what happens when you go off the "diet" within 2 to 3 months you'll blow up and be in worst shape then when you started. I know I see it all time, they only focus on one side of the equation. The B. Stein. program Same thing sure injections are great, but what happens overtime without the injections, properly being monitored, and supervised. Yikes! lookout. you can get all the counciling you want, but without the proper exercise program put in place and follow up, your right back to square one. You want a natural and proven way to have a thermal effect occur in your body that helps you to loss weight? well simply put without getting into the complexities of it all... I have to chop off this post here as it may get to long. If you would like to read more go here personal trainer drink a cold glass of water. when you do this its takes energy for the body to convert the water to use it, but be careful of the brain freeze by drinking to fast ;-) eat soups, and when i say this I mean eat hearty soups homemade if possible and not all the sodium msg chemical crap out there. split pea soup, lentil soup, bean soup, chicken, turkey, beef soup, wild rice and chicken, you get the point. Mix your soups with plenty of proteins The Carb Scare -Look one thing you should know, carbs are not a bad thing, you just have to know how to utilize them to your advantage. potatos, sweet potato's, corn, cabbage, and a few others are not bad heck I grew up on that stuff and I'm fine ;-) you just gotta know how to work with foods, when you realize how to work with foods you'll also realize that these certain foods are very powerful and your best friend. Although I'm not going to give it away here, nope thats for the paying customers ;-) Fruits -strawberries (potent antioxident and powerpacked with nutrients) -apples (highly digestive properties, & powerful cleaner, like a broom) -pears (great cleanser) -pineapple(powerful antiviral, vitamin packed, protein magnet) -banana's (best natural sodium potassium fruit for your heart and lungs) - grapefruits( great for weight reduction, some interactions with certain meds though consult physician) Veggies   the best way to get the most out of your veggies is to just lossen up the tough cellulose wall so you can get at the maximum nutritional value of the veggie. quick steam, quick bbq, quick stove top fry( place vegges in pan with water and quick 2 to 3 minutes pan fry then eat) You can eat veggies raw without a doubt but to truely get at the maximum value of the veggie either juice it or any quick method to unlock that tough cellulose wall where all the nutrients are. raw veggies are great for bulk fibre. -broccoli -kale -spinach (watch where it comes from at the time of this post) -bok choy -carrots -lettuce Meat - lean cuts -dark cuts are more for slow twitch muscle fibres -white cuts are more for fast twitch muscle fibers Seafood -salmon, perch, tuna, halibet,haddock, sardines, kippers Nuts and Legumes -almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, sunflower seeds beans, pinto beans, split peas, kidney beans. Oh god this post is huge ;-) Long and short of it, weight loss is about listening to your body and watching yourself. If your living in a sedentary environment, make some changes fast, it will reduce your stress, put you on the road to health and overall goodness. You don't even need to go to the gym and spend thousands with a guy like me ;-) simply your house, apartment, condo, whereever is your gym, be creative and get to work. (oh man I can see someone doing a niche info product here ;) ) Here's an example decline pushups get the chair or platfrom put your feet up on it and raise yourself into pushup position. 4 sets of 15 reps 3 sets of 10 reps 2 sets of 8 reps 1 set of 5 reps *Multifunctional exercise (legs, shoulders,back, arms, abdominals)* got a big bag of potatoes sitting around the house, great go grab it go up against a wall, put your back up against the wall, put the bag of potatoes over your head and go into a squat position up and down. 5 sets of 12 reps 3 sets of 8 reps 1 set of 6 reps Got a litre can of apple juice kicking around? go against the wall, place the can inbetween your thighs squeeze the can with your thighs as you lower yourself down into a low squat position and squeeze on the way back up. 4 sets of 15 reps 2 sets of 10 reps 1 set of 6 reps Got a basketball or soccor ball? same exercies, you getting the picture? abdominals at home or work sitting in your chair at work lift your legs up and down off the floor while squeezing your abs at the same. don't use your hands for balance by placing them on the chair handles either ;-) 4 sets of 25 reps 3 sets of 15 reps 2 sets of 10 reps 1 set of 6 reps want to challenge yourself? do the same exercise with the chair but this time put a ball inbetween your legs and squezze as your lifting your legs off the ground and squezzing your abs. sitting on the floor at work or home lay on your back, place your legs on any chair or sofa making sure your bum is right up against the chair go through the routine above x3 Try this little natural routine 3 times a week and going for a 25 minute run 2 times a week for starters. then post back and tell me how you feel ;-) So thats it, do your exercise naturally and eat naturally you don't need all this mumbo jumbo latest greatest fad diet, or whizz bang pill that you'll hear about 5 years later on the news that oh my god this pill causes this or this supplement is suspected of damaging this part of your body. Cause believe it or not, it happens. I'm sure all sorts of big drug, and fitness suppliment G persons that are in this forum will fry me for posting this, but such is life, everyone is entited to their say. Just be gentle ;-) P.S. I have a married couple thats one of my clients, she is 48 and he is 53 Bev has been in and out of the fitness game for years, tried every diet and pill in the book, done all the programs. Within 3 months of being my client she is extremely happy, lost 18 pounds, is extremely fit, and toned. Her friends are all freaking out and asking her what she's doing so she tells them. Bev's biggest joy is being able to fit back into a pair of leather pants that she had never been able to fit into for the last 3 years. Dave is a diabetic and on 4 different kinds of medication, because of poor lifestyle choices and lack of exerise. He has never worked out his whole entire life. When he started my program, it was mainly just for his wife Bev but he took to it, he couldn't even do 10 pushups, and situps were out of the question because of his weight 245lbs and how weak his abdominal wall was. At the time of this post he has lost 31lbs, is running just over 2 miles 3 times a week and is down to one medication for his kidneys which the doctor says he may not get off of, but there is always hope. All based on the little routine you just read up above and of course some secret stuff that I just don't give out here, cause they paid big bucks for it ;-)  but enough of a foundation for you to get yourself back in the swing of things. Also without a doubt, double check with your doctor as always, if you've never worked out before or haven't in a very long time, I'd most definitly consult your doc, before doing anything. Hope this helps and of course I'm not going to advertise here for my site out of respect to the forum and of course Mark. I don't post much, but when the thread is there, why not ;-) Now just so you know, its late when i wrote this, so I didn't have time to go back over it to check for spelling mistakes and grammer. If you want a perfect spelling and grammatical post then you can self edit it ;-) Its the content that counts Marketing online for my offline side biz has been very lucrative for me, and its all becuase of Mark. Mark has been the reason why my clients pay me $10K for a six month personal training package and $15k for a year. I actually cried like a baby for the first time in my life after I finished off my simplology 101 everything became quite clear, as I wrote and told Mark in an email I sent to him. Honestly I haven't even opened simpleology 102 yet, so when I do greater things are going to happen. Mark your the man. Thank you. Peter To everyones's continued online and offline success. To See How You Can Get The Training You Want Click Here Personal Trainer