I am sure I will think of more things to add. Maybe I will edit the post later.

But for simplicity's sake, and for those who didn't want to read all that banter above:

1. Eat as much food as possible that still allows for weight loss. Starving yourself does not lead to long-term success.

2. Exercise aerobically using a mixture of steady state and interval cardio.

3. When it comes to lifting weights: Pick up heavy things, move them up and down a few times, and put them down. Big exercises that call on big, numerous muscles are ideal for muscle maintenance. High rep work while dieting in order to "tone" is BS.

Lastly, I have been noticing a lot of people taking my word as the gospel around here. Don't do that. Never trust anyone as being a "guru." IMO, there is no such thing. A lot claim to be, especially on the web. However, don't fall for that trap. Once you do, you will stop asking questions. "Learning" will become memorizing and regurgitating what comes out of said guru's mouth. Think for yourself. Ask questions. Read on your own. Research. Get clarification. Use that thing that resides between your ears.

Changing your physique is hard. Hard because it takes a lot of work, belief, consistency, and effort. Not hard b/c there is a chance of doing things incorrectly. Or that you don't know enough. Pretty much ANYTHING will work as long as calories are in check. There, of course, are optimal ways of doing things. But, the difference between what you are doing currently, and the optimal way of doing things isn't something to get aggravated about. Rather, that difference is something to minimize through consistently modifying your approach to include more of the optimal strategies.

Don't get caught up in the way of thinking where you actually start to believe that what you are doing is futile. As long as you are doing SOMETHING, you are on the right track. It's those who give up who are heading in the wrong direction.

This was not typed with the intention of showing you exactly what to do. There are other threads devoted to that. This was simply to get you thinking conceptually.

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