Here are 5 tips I followed when the Army made me take the Fat Boy Program.  I ended up losing 50 pounds in a pretty short amount of time!!!

1.  You HAVE to work out!!!

2.  First thing when you wake up, either do cardio or eat something.

3.  Never eat more than two tennis balls worth of food at one time and never eat more than the serving size.  The average stomach is roughly the size of two tennis balls.  Eating more than that causes a strain on the stomach!  Serving sizes - once I learned how much an actual serving size was on a lot of things, I freaked out, haha.  For example, a serving size of meat is 2-3 ounces....look at the servings of meat next time you eat

4.  Do not eat within 3 hours of bed time.  This helps the body focus on breaking down and distributing everything it has taken in throughout the day/night while you sleep rather than try to break more down.

5.  Eat a wide variety of foods every 3-5 hours throughout the day/night.  This prevents plateauing of the metabolism and makes it keep working.

Some tips that helped me:

1.  When you eat out, only eat half of what you are served.  If you are not that disciplined, ask for half of it to be boxed before it is brought out to you.  Very often large portions are served in restaurants, and you don't need all that food.

2.  Watch this:  Burger King's Medium Whopper Value Meal (Medium Fries + Medium Drink) = 1,440 Calories!  In order to gain a pound, you need to intake 3,500.  When you eat 1,440 Calories, you just gained a little over 2/5's of a pound!

3.  Get a partner in crime.  Always easier when you have someone with the same goals and to help keep you on track.

4.  Biggest meal should be breakfast, and each meal should be smaller as the day goes.

5.  I ate so much cereal it wasn't even funny, but it always felt great, and put some peanut butter in it and boy howdy do you ever have a treat!

6.  At least 20 minutes of cardio at least 6 times a week.  Strength training 2-3 times a week at only about 30 minutes a session.  If you don't sit around like all those people that do in the gym, you can get an awesome workout done in 30-60 minutes.  8-10 reps on multiple exercises that is not easy, but not so difficult that you're killing yourself either.  After a strong weight training workout, you still burn calories for up to 4 hours after the workout is over!

7.  If you want to be hardcore like me and follow what i posted in my birthday blog - no more fast food and fried food!!  This is going to be so hardcore...

8.  You may also want to try and set up a page on http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/  Great tool for monitoring your weight loss progress!

9.  Finally, watch this video.  You will want to dead lift 5,000 pounds after you watch it.

These are just my tips, and you should always consult your physician before attempting a new diet/exercise program