My 6 Point Weight Loss Plan

In my last post I talked about how important it is to have a plan for weight loss for beginners like me, and then gave some ideas for developing that plan.  So today, here is the result of my own personal planning process, based on my own research, as well as the success I’ve had the couple times I’ve dabbled in minor fitness efforts in the past.  Without further ado, here is my plan to achieve my goal of losing 70 lbs. to get to a healthy BMI:

• Track everything.  I’m firm believer that being able to look at past progress is an immensely powerful tool to help stay on track in times of low motivation.  I also think that what gets measured gets done well.  So I intend to log all my food with the MyFitnessPal app to track my daily calorie intake. Currently MFP says I have a daily calorie goal of 2390 in order to lose 1 lb. per week.
• Weigh in one per week.  I will do a weekly post here called Weigh-In Wednesday in which I share my current weight, as well as a recap of my starting weight and goal weight.  Currently I weigh 238.4, and my goal weight is 168.4.  I will also include a photo snapshot to illustrate the visual progress I’m making.
• Prepare as much of my own food as I can.  I have a horrible habit of eating out multiple times per day, and I have come to the conclusion that success as a weight loss beginner is only likely to come cooking as many meals at home as possible.  This will allow me to better track how much I am realistically eating, and it will also help me make better decisions from a wider variety of foods available.
• Drink plenty of water.  For me, this means at least 96 oz. per day, or ¾ gallon.  Drinking plenty of water helps with appetite satiety, and is good for your body for so many other reasons as well. 
• Exercise for fun, not to meet calorie goals.  In the past, I have been guilty of using strenuous cardio to “buy” extra calories for junky foods.  This is unhealthy, as I put my body through exhausting physical exertion, yet still overate, so I saw no net benefit from my work.  This time around, I am only going to exercise for fun—that means I will NOT be tracking exercise in MFP, and will only be relying on my true calorie intake. 
• Don’t be afraid to alter course.  If something I am doing stops working, I will not be afraid to try something new.

Have you had success with losing a lot of weight?  What hard and fast “rules” did you give yourself when developing your weight loss plan?