Whats the best way for me to lose weight?

G'morning.

Are you, er, a male or a female person (Morgan can be either, of course)? I ask because it does make a bit of a difference.

Things that work:

• Portion control. You may need to weigh and measure foods, at least for a while, to get a handle on how much you are consuming
  
• Record what you eat and I mean everything. In public is good. I see you've been on the Everything Eaten Yesterday topic or you can go to www.sparkpeople.com (I have no ownership interest in that site; I just love them) and record there. They have a teen section called Spark Teen that I have never been on but the people on Spark are lovely and I'm sure would be welcoming there.
  
• Drink water. The standard minimum is eight 8-oz glasses/day. And that can be hard to do when you're getting started. There are a couple of reasons to do this. One is for a feeling of fullness that is calorie-free or close to it (I always flavor my water; personally I can't stand it plain). Another is that the water crowds out other drinks from your diet -- drinks that have calories, such as sodas. It also does help you to metabolize, in particular if you are upping your protein intake.
  
• Cardiovascular exercise. This is stuff to get your heart rate up. Today my husband and I are running a 5K. You need not start with a 5K (and, truth be told, I will walk over 75% of today's race), but the idea is to do something, at least 3x/week. Start small. Walking is an excellent form of exercise and it is cheap and easy, plus there is no need to do things like find a court or a partner. Just walk. Other forms of cardio include basketball, frisbee, cycling, kayaking, cleaning (yes, really), snow shoveling, etc.
  
• Strength training. I lift weights every single morning. My whole routine takes me around 20 minutes or so (I also pull on resistance bands, which is actually cardio). ST will generally not help you, specifically, to lose weight (because muscle weighs more than fat does) but it will make your metabolism more efficient, e. g. you will burn more calories, even sitting still, if you are more muscular. Plus muscle is more compact. I weigh, right now, about what I did this time in 2009, but I am more muscular and there is a definite (positive) difference in my overall appearance.
  
• Watch the salt intake. Salt is the enemy of a lot of dieters because it helps you to retain water. So you're working hard to lose weight and it isn't reflected on the scale. Very frustrating! This means reading labels and it also means doing more of your own cooking, e. g. making and bringing your own lunches, not going to a fast food place with friends (or, at least, not eating when you're there).
  
• Learn your basal metabolic rate and use it to calculate how many calories you should be eating. There are plenty of free calculators online. Your age, gender, height and activity level all factor into this. Me, I'm a 48-year-old woman who's 5'6". I currently weight 204 and my BMR comes out (on this site: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) as 1627. That's the # of calories I would burn if I was in bed all day. I'm not, of course. I tend to eat 1600 - 1800 calories/day. Weight loss, for me, has slowed down but that's understandable. For me, this is workable.
  
• Don't undereat. Same rule applies. For pretty much everyone over 5 feet tall, you shouldn't go under 1,000 calories/day. Why? Because it's unsustainable, plus your body gets used to you depriving yourself. This is starvation mode, and you can end up giving yourself a wicked plateau (weight not going down at all, almost despite your best efforts) by doing this.
  
• Balance your nutrients. That is, you need protein, you need cards, you need fat (really!). This means a mix of foods and trying new things. Is lunch always the same thing? Then mix it up. Try nuts for your fat in one meal, guacamole in another meal and an olive oil-based dressing in another meal. Try fish for one meal for your protein, eggs in another and chicken in a third. Get your carbs from oatmeal in one meal, pasta in another and rice in a third. You get the idea.
  
• Eat several smaller meals. I eat the standard three plus a snack. That is, try not to let the tank get any less than about 1/4 full -- otherwise you can find yourself eating everything in site when food is next available.
  
• Eat breakfast. It need not be what we think of as breakfast foods but you do need to eat it. This goes along with the previous tip, plus, it really does help if your blood sugar is relatively balanced during the day.

I realize this may look like a lot but you can do it.

Eat less food, which food is a part of a sensible diet. Get more exercise. You can't do it without exercise, no matter what anyone tells you.

I'm confused because the person in your avatar is not grossly overweight, so how does that compute?

Well thats me...and I'm just gonna take that as a compliment.

I know from good photographic angles to hide stuff.

As a prof photographer so do I. However arms tell a story. But looking at the logic to it, I have no idea why a 15-yr-old would exaggerate the other way about her weight.

I'll add one more idea that may sound draconian but is actually not. Don't eat any desserts - ever - not even a small bite. Three reasons:

1) By the time you get to dessert, you aren't hungry anymore so you don't need it.
2) Desserts are usually loaded with calories, sometimes more than the meal they follow.
3) The fat in the first bite of dessert typically makes you crave it more. It really is hard to take just one bite. Your chance of eating one bite and stopping is lower than your chance of walking away without eating any.

That dessert you ate two days ago was probably really good, but you don't remember it two hours later. It's not worth the calories.

Dunno. It's also possible that it's an older picture, or not even a photo of the OP. Be that as it may, a lot of tips for weight loss are also good tips for just developing better eating and exercise habits in general.

I totally agree. As a matter of fact, while I'm looking over those tips, I'm eating spoonsful of Haagen Dazs ice cream and thinking about it.

Ha you silly dude. You're supposed to stand while eating Haagen-Dasz. Then the calories just fall out.

I find eating a quite large portion of protein, with a moderate amount of oil, in the morning satiates me until lunch time.

Ok, I'm ready for the "ewwwws", but I am sold on eating sardines for breakfast.

Lately, I've sauteing half an onion, along with celery, and/or mushrooms, and or tomato in oil and while it's cooking/browning, I'll put a few croutons on a plant, and a drained can of Good sardines. The good ones do not taste as fishy, and the mix of savory vegetables blocks out the rest of it. Then I'll add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and cover with the vegetables. I'll eat this with a big glass of orange juice.

If I ate that without the sardines, I'd be ravenous by 10am.

Extra attraction is that you get at least 3 or more servings of your vegetables and fruit for the day.

If you just can't think of that for breakfast, try it for lunch.

It doesn't count if you eat it over the sink either.

Ewwww!

Great idea! In fact, I will jog in place as I drizzle some Bailley's Irish Cream over it.

I took that picture Sunday night. And the gravatar thing made me crop the picture.

I'm a sardine fan but I put them in soup. (My own strange cioppino)

If I had to say how to lose weight, gah, I'd say learn to appreciate good food made well, and read widely. And move around (exercise).
I don't think a moderated weight life means you have to spend your life dieting 35 times, much less 350 times. I won't even say look at the mediterranean diet, as - as a culture - they don't diet. But you can get a clue by looking up web links on all that.

Here's a thread that may engage you, or bore you, or both at once, that's our way -

http://able2know.org/topic/120307-1

I recommend the below tips.Hope this helps.
1) Eliminate (or cut way back) meat, dairy (esp. cheese, butter and ice cream) from your diet
2) Have one meal per day be a big salad and make your own salad dressing from mustard, a bit of honey and red wine vinegar. Have a slice of whole grain bread (no butter) with your salad
3) Drink nothing but fresh water--no sodas, and cut way back on beer or wine or other alcoholic beverages--and drink nothing that contains high fructose corn syrup
4) Let your snacks be low calorie such as pretzels, apple slices, grapes, carrot strips. No fast food (too high in fats, sugars, and salt)
5) Eat a good breakfast such as oatmeal, whole grain cereal and fresh fruit
6) Walk or swim or do a treadmill or elliptical for 30 minutes 4-7 times/week.

Edit [Moderator]: Link removed

Hello,

One of my friends started taking CLA himself about a couple of weeks ago, but my tablet is 1000 mg. And he takes up to 4000 mg. a day. He thinks some of his fat is being expelled in his stools at times.

Thanks a lot
Reid Wilson