I've lost nearly 60 pounds in 7 months. I did that by making sure I walk for atleast 1 hour a day and changing my diet. Yes, just regular walking - no running because 15-20 minutes of running kicks my ass whereas I can walk for 1-1.5 hours without getting too tired.
Aside from that I've made sure I'm comfortable with my diet throughout the initial weight loss. To maintain the loss I've realized that I need to decide to change my lifestyle and my diet permanently. So that excludes diets that deprive my body off essential nutrients and which I can not maintain long-term. I've started to eat more salads for my meals - the salads always include protein (grilled chicken or grilled steak) and sometimes carbs too (sweet fruits). I always make sure my meal contains some form of veggies. I try to avoid fat and greasy things totally (but not always). For desert or just increasing my sugar level when I'm feeling lethargic I take sugar in the form of fruits - mostly apples, oranges or anything else that is sitting in the fridge. I've developed a new appreciation for fruits and veggies during the last 6 months. For breakfast I've shifted to having boiled egg whites and recently have started to include brown bread too.
I think the first comment hit the nail on the head - to maintain the loss you need to change your habits permanently. You should pick a routine _now_ that you are comfortable with and plan to carry it with you long term. You can keep tweaking the routine to suit your needs as you go along but anything that you can not carry with you long term should be avoided.
Aside from that I've made sure I'm comfortable with my diet throughout the initial weight loss. To maintain the loss I've realized that I need to decide to change my lifestyle and my diet permanently. So that excludes diets that deprive my body off essential nutrients and which I can not maintain long-term. I've started to eat more salads for my meals - the salads always include protein (grilled chicken or grilled steak) and sometimes carbs too (sweet fruits). I always make sure my meal contains some form of veggies. I try to avoid fat and greasy things totally (but not always). For desert or just increasing my sugar level when I'm feeling lethargic I take sugar in the form of fruits - mostly apples, oranges or anything else that is sitting in the fridge. I've developed a new appreciation for fruits and veggies during the last 6 months. For breakfast I've shifted to having boiled egg whites and recently have started to include brown bread too.
I think the first comment hit the nail on the head - to maintain the loss you need to change your habits permanently. You should pick a routine _now_ that you are comfortable with and plan to carry it with you long term. You can keep tweaking the routine to suit your needs as you go along but anything that you can not carry with you long term should be avoided.