I posted this to Reddit today...

Here is the stuff I learned on my 70 lb journey over the last year:

• Working out is critical to mental and physical fitness. You will be happier and balanced if you work out 5-6 times a week. 30 minutes is adequate, 60 is perfect. Remember that is less than 1/24 of your life.
• Weight loss is all about what you eat. An hour workout only burns about 500-600 calories and you can eat that in 10 minutes at McDonalds.
• You need to learn your metabolic rate and set a daily caloric goal. For me to loose 2 lbs per week, I ate only 1500 cal per day for 4 months.
• A net deficit of 3500 calories = one lb of weight loss. So 500 cal deficit a day will make you loose 1 lb per week. 1000 cal per day = 2 lbs per week. You should not try to go faster than 2 lbs per week.
• NEVER let yourself get hungry. That is when the body starts storing fat and cannibalizes muscle.
• Eat 20-30 g of protein after your workout to trigger protein synthesis and speed recovery so are not sore the next day. I like GNC AMP. I also do egg white omelets all the time.
• Fat does not make you fat. Calories do. Just watch your calories.
• Carbs are just energy and very little gets built from them. Your body will change when you get protein and vitamins and minerals in there.
• Find a workout buddy. It is so much more fun with a friend.
• Variety is key. Make sure you are doing many different kinds of workouts. Weights, Running, Yoga, Intervals, Pull Ups, Push Ups.
• Learn exercise moves that use your body before going to machines.
• Write down everything you eat. This drives more discipline than anything else. I have tracked all of my workouts and intake for 324 days on my blog
• Make sure you have these kind of foods readily available as snacks: popcorn, protein bars, almonds, pistachios, apples, celery & peanut butter, Go Lean.
• Try to eat 5-6 300 calorie meals a day instead of 3 big ones.
• Finally, learn to cook. Get some healthy cook books that have calories in them. When you cook, make 2X what you need so you have healthy left overs. Attack cooking with enthusiasm and make it a challenge to make delicious, yet healthy meals.

Best of luck!