Need to lose weight

Something that not many people have mentioned, is that this change of lifestyle will be permanent. You cannot lose those 10kg and keep them off if you don't make a permanent changes.

Don't think of it as a diet, think of it as getting yourself into a permanent habit. Because of that, people suggesting 8 week diets, or extremely lose weight sessions, won't do for the long term. Nor does cutting out whole food groups, or cooking food you hate - it will never work. Yes you might lose those 10 kgs, but look 6 months into the future when you're back to "normal" and the weight will be back on.

What has worked for me, is making small but permanent changes. I love bread and will never be able to cut it out, but I reduce it so it is a rare occasion. I like snacks, I prefer to snack, but I swap my snacks for healthy versions I can cope with, eg. popcorn (salted only) instead of crisps.

I also do HIIT, 3-4 times a week, play tennis with my partner, and cycle to and from work (approx 16 hours of exercise per week). However, without watching my food intake, I would pile on the weight. Therefore, I agree with all other posts that diet (or permanent habit changing) is much more important. Once you've made some good changes in the direction of healthy, then you can start looking at exercise (or do both at the same time). Think of it like this, watching your food will reduce your fat, but if you want that toned stomach, perky bottom and shapely arms, you will need to do exercise and weight training especially.

Lastly, try not to do too much too fast, the fad diets seem amazing, but the weight loss won't be permanent.

I've lost over 30kg in my past, tried numerous fad diets, put the weight partially back on, and now going back down. SLow, steady, and permanent is now my goal.

I realise I also provided some general tips rather than specifics to help you lose 10kg. Therefore, I'm going to summarise some key things you should do to kick start your long-term lifestyle change. I will keep this short and sweet to specific things I've done and found to work, however, there is plenty advice out there of how to eat and be healthier to lose weight (drink water, eat fruit and veg, etc), I will not be repeating that advice.

Step 1: Work out how many calories you should be eating per day (on average). I used this the NHS Healthy Weight calculator (as a new user I cannot post a URL but if you google that it should be the first link), there are others available too. The aim should be for you to find the general amount of calories - you should choose the lower target initially (ie. for a completely sedentary lifestyle)

Step 2: Plan and count everything you eat. I mean everything, down to the that cracker you snacked on at lunch. Do this for at least 1 week, preferbly longer. I used Myfitnesspal app - the free version. Plug in your calories to track how much you're on. Only eat what you're allowed, regardless of any exercise you do. Do NOT compensate for exercise (at least in these first few weeks). Don't restrict your foods, eat whatever you want, but do not go over your calorie intake.

Step 3: Maintain and track what you eat for at least 3-4 weeks before you think about giving up. It'll be tough, and you'll feel tired (its a given seeing as you're not eating enough to maintain your current weight - hence you'll lose fat).

Step 4: Throughout the first 3-4 weeks, see what small changes you can make to add to your exercise. Take a 10 minutes walk at lunch, or if possible do HIIT. Joe Wicks is a good place to start with his 15 minute sessions (morning or evening whatever suits your schedule). If you cannot bring yourself to do this and watch what you eat, then don't worry about the HIIT. Keep to your diet.

Step 5: Assess the situation and see what you can and cannot do and make small changes from there. This is a long-term thing, so if you can't keep something up because its too difficult, then you're going at this wrong.

As a side note, if you go over your calories once a week (eg. go out with friends for an evening pizza), don't worry, just make sure all your other days are good and compensate if needed. For example, if you know you're going out for dinner Friday evening, have a smaller Thursday dinner, and a small breakfast/lunch on Friday. When you're out with friends, do not worry about what you eat (go full out, have dessert and a starter), it'll ruin the evening if you worry about your food and you'll always feel you're on a diet when ultimately you're not.