I'm not sure what the inspiration was, but about a year ago I started working on my weight, adjusting my diet, trying to eat more healthy, less sugar, and smaller portions. But the big breakthrough came about mid summer last year when I cut out all diet drinks and all artificially sweetened foods. It seemed like I would drink a diet coke about mid morning and be really hungry in an hour or two. On days that I wouldn't drink diet pop I wouldn't be as hungry around lunch and breakfast seemed to take me longer into the day. I also started cutting out all sugar free products, no more "light" yogurt, no more "diet" foods, or no more "no sugar added" foods which really just have artificial sweeteners instead. As a replacement for diet coke I actually started drinking juice, so instead of a 2 liter a day I'm actually drinking about the same amount of 100% juice like orange juice, grapefruit juice, or grape juice, yet still losing weight.
The next big step was with portion control. I also am eating a lot more veggies, snacking on carrot sticks, cauliflower, celery... Now that my stomach has obviously shrunk I just can't eat that much any longer, so it is easy to control myself now. Exercising has never been a problem for me as I am always very active, so it was really just about eating less and eating better.
Well, I went from a 44" waist to a 38" waist and those are starting to get baggy now. I've lost 45 pounds, but want to lose at least 15 more. Most of the weight came off in the last 6 to 8 months. Yes, it is a slow process, but it can be done
Thanks for letting me share my progress
Chris