Here we goooooooooooooooo!

Here we go, one more time
Workin' out and feelin' fine
Here we go now!
(Yep yep yep here we goooooooo!
AG has got the floooooooow!)

That's right folks! As of yesterday I joined a gym and have started the process of losing weight... for the 50th time.

My name is Awesome Gal and I am a serial dieter.

I have read every diet book I could get my hands on, tried dozens of trendy diets, and of course none of them worked. But you know the really sick thing? I've known since I was 10 what works for me to lose epic amounts of weight, but for some reason I kept looking. As if I couldn't believe that it was that easy.

Want to know the secret?

Are you sure? It's life-altering. Okay, if you insist... the secret to epic weight-loss is......

Sensible food choices and regular exercise.  Ta da!

I know, I'm a crazy revolutionary. *wink* But the truth is that that's what worked. It has worked several times. It was when I decided to try crazy fad-diets like Atkins or the South Beach Diet that I became unhealthy and cranky, and once I gave up on them I gained all the weight back plus interest. I would struggle to stick to whatever crazy plan the diet-du-jour prescribed because my body begged for the things I wasn't allowed to have, and some of those things were actually very healthy.

The most effective diet I ever attempted was an simple list of 11 rules that my mom and I came up with when I was young. When I was 10, my mom started me on these rules (with the exception of #8) and I dropped enough that people noticed - including the kids that made fun of me for being overweight. Then these rules came through for me again before I went to Disney World for my 21st birthday, when I lost 30 lbs in a little over a month. Both times I kept the weight off until outside influences interfered.

Now that I'm back on the road to weight-loss, I'm going back to the 11 tried-and-true rules that have never failed me:

1. Swap out all sodas, juices and other drinks for water
2. Drink a large glass of water before every meal
3. Eat only one serving at each meal... if I'm still hungry, eat more veggies
4. Eat more salads... either as an appetizer or add protein to make it into meal (not a problem, since I've been a vegetarian for almost 4 months and love my veggies)
5. Eat something small for breakfast every day... fruit, cereal, slice of toast, etc. (this is huge because I don't eat breakfast usually and that means that my metabolism doesn't kick in until almost lunchtime)
6. Aim to stay below 1600 calories per day (this should be easy becasue of rules 1-4)
7. Start with 10 minutes of high-intensity cardio exercise daily... gradually increase duration
8. Get at least  20 minutes of strength training daily... alternate between upper and lower body
9. Do ab exercises daily... as many toe-touches or sit-ups as my tummy-muscles can handle
10. Wean myself off of sweets... work my way to 3 moderately-sized desserts per week (when I was 10 this wasn't an issue because my mom could help... at 25, my sweet-tooth has only gotten worse and self-regulating isn't always easy)
11. Allow myself 1 cheat day per week for birthdays, anniversaries, girls' nights or other celebratory events

Simple, yet effective. Let's get this weight-loss party started! Woo!

What are your most effective weight-loss rules?

~AG