From reading about other people’s experience with losing weight and getting fit online, it seems that many people like to go to extremes. Whether it be about food – only eating 1000 calories per day, cutting out X out of your diet for good, only eating Y, no more alcohol, going vegetarian, etc. Or about working out – working out every single day, working out twice a day, going from not working out at all to working out two hours at a time, etc.

So many people seem to think you have to make a radical change like that to lose weight successfully. Now, there is nothing wrong with working out every day if you feel your body can handle it. There is nothing wrong with going vegetarian if you don’t want to eat meat anymore.

But – you knew that was coming, right? But. I don’t think it’s necessary to do anything extreme do lose weight. Make a radical change? Well, if you are trying to change your lifestyle that change is probably radical even if you are not doing anything but work out regularly and eat more healthily.

What it really comes down to for me is moderation. I know that theme has come up on my blog before because I really think it is so very important. I don’t think it is necessary to turn your life upside down to lose weight. You have to make a change of course – but what is even more important is to stick with it. And I think it is much more sustainable in the long run when you restrict yourself as little as possible.

Don’t make any foods off-limits. Don’t call it a ‘cheat day’ when you are having pizza. Cheating implies you are doing something wrong and eating pizza per se is not wrong. Look at the thin people around you – they eat pizza, don’t they? The important thing is not to go overboard and not to have pizza every day. But now and then? Nothing wrong with having pizza or fries or a burger as long as it is in moderation. I think that in the long run, a diet that forbids you to eat certain foods is not sustainable. In fact, I would say that any diet is not sustainable in the long run. The only one that really works is one that allows everything but in moderation.

If you never liked working out, I think even just working out 3 times a week is pretty damn fantastic. If you want to work out more, go ahead, but if you want a day off, that is perfectly fine. Why wouldn’t it be? Don’t feel bad for ‘only’ working out three times a week. I mean, that is three times more than you did when you didn’t work out at all.

Is going vegetarian going to make you lose weight more quickly? Well, unless you were eating fatty meat every day, no, probably not. Being vegetarian is not automatically healthy. My brother is a vegetarian and I grew up eating very little meat (and I still don’t eat meat that much), and even though he is skinny, I’d dare to say that I eat more healthily that he does. Meat per se is not unhealthy. There are lots of reasons for going vegetarian, but in my opinion, wanting to lose weight is not one of them. You could lose weight just as well if you cut down on the amount of meat you eat and stick to lean meat, such as chicken.

I believe that moderation is the key to successfully losing weight and keeping it off. Make a change but do not make yourself into someone who you cannot keep being for the rest of your life. It may take a little longer to lose the weight that way, but it will be easier to keep it off. Make the changes you need to, but don’t over-do it. You don’t need to become a super-athlete or a ‘health nut’ to be healthy.

I feel like so many of us go from one extreme to the other. I think that many overweight people are prone for going to extremes, one way or the other. Challenge yourself and be demanding of yourself but don’t push yourself too hard. You do not have to become a whole new person to make this work.

P.S. Obviously, this post only reflects my opinion. Feel free to disagree.