mattisr1984

...except that ugly, uninterested older sister has really deep pockets. 

I feel like song isn't that far removed from where they were heading with beggars and major/minor. People are so reactionary. I suppose if you were expecting them to return with the illusion of safety pt. 2 I can see where the disappointment is but that kind of thinking is really naive since they've been on a pretty clear trajectory when it comes to songwriting since vheissu.

haha, jesus christ. people will bitch about anything they can. 

Theres such a stark difference in writing quality between these two shows. I still really enjoy TWD and i recognize the tone of the show is very different but vince gilligan makes scott gimple look like a complete joke when it comes to character development and story pacing. 

So dumb. He clearly knows ebay prices. Just put the fuckin' record on ebay and be done with it.

I made this my lone RSD purchase for 2016 and ironically enough I didn't even physically go to a record store to get it. Kudos to graveface for not making this thing needlessly impossible to find.

So dumb. He clearly knows ebay prices. Just put the fuckin' record on ebay and be done with it.

Given this a solid 5 spins. It's pretty good. Don't know if I like it better than GOE but I like the 90s influence. Curse of the sun is total hum worship.

Considering this season of FTWD is 16 episodes, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a slow burn no matter what.

I thought gimple and Kirkman's explanation was garbage. As a non-comic reader, I have no major preconceived notion of how I think the show should be. If they switch glenns death to a less important character - fine by me, I like Glenn and I know they've done it before - but if you're gonna build negan up in the way that they have and save him for the final 10 minutes of the entire season... somebody's head needs to get bashed in and you need to show the audience who it is and what negan did to that person. Make us hate/fear this guy and be totally shocked at the brutality of it. That's the payoff... the closure to the season. I mean, That's why they call it a finale. If there was no source material like the comic, this would still be a super annoying ending. I liked JDM as Negan a lot but all the suspense and terror they built up to that point completely evaporated for me in about 2 seconds with that ending. I honestly had a stronger reaction to carol and Maggie burning those saviours alive. So, the suggestion that they cant tell the story of ricks descent without giving the audience the ending they deserve after 16 episodes is a really weak one. It was clearly evident in ricks face that he was scared and knew he fucked up (really good acting by Andrew Lincoln in this episode). Nevermind the fact that they ended the last two episodes of the season the same way - with blood on the screen (really cheesy - even for a zombie show - and I agree, it looked horrible).

nah, i mean the "fire gimple / im never watching this show again" crowd is dumb. the great majority of these people are going to watch the season 7 premiere (as will i). up until recently, i would defend what this show does story-wise and i have never really griped about anything until now. i do think gimple sometimes thinks hes being a lot more clever/artistic than he actually is though so i get peoples frustration with him. theyre totally ruining carol's character after turning her into the strongest female on the show. there's so many pauses for individual characters to have these overtly dramatic monologues that they pretty much lose all impact (the deanna death episode was literally the worst with this). theyve suddenly started randomly cramming a bunch of relationship stuff in the show almost all at once. they had at least... what? 3 or 4 cliffhanger endings this season? after awhile, you start to see a pattern formulating. i just hope whatever theyre planning this coming season is good because there is literally no way they didnt know a whole lot of people were going to react negatively to the "ending" of the finale. 

I thought gimple and Kirkman's explanation was garbage. As a non-comic reader, I have no major preconceived notion of how I think the show should be. If they switch glenns death to a less important character - fine by me, I like Glenn and I know they've done it before - but if you're gonna build negan up in the way that they have and save him for the final 10 minutes of the entire season... somebody's head needs to get bashed in and you need to show the audience who it is and what negan did to that person. Make us hate/fear this guy and be totally shocked at the brutality of it. That's the payoff... the closure to the season. I mean, That's why they call it a finale. If there was no source material like the comic, this would still be a super annoying ending. I liked JDM as Negan a lot but all the suspense and terror they built up to that point completely evaporated for me in about 2 seconds with that ending. I honestly had a stronger reaction to carol and Maggie burning those saviours alive. So, the suggestion that they cant tell the story of ricks descent without giving the audience the ending they deserve after 16 episodes is a really weak one. It was clearly evident in ricks face that he was scared and knew he fucked up (really good acting by Andrew Lincoln in this episode). Nevermind the fact that they ended the last two episodes of the season the same way - with blood on the screen (really cheesy - even for a zombie show - and I agree, it looked horrible).

I thought gimple and Kirkman's explanation was garbage. As a non-comic reader, I have no major preconceived notion of how I think the show should be. If they switch glenns death to a less important character - fine by me, I like Glenn and I know they've done it before - but if you're gonna build negan up in the way that they have and save him for the final 10 minutes of the entire season... somebody's head needs to get bashed in and you need to show the audience who it is and what negan did to that person. Make us hate/fear this guy and be totally shocked at the brutality of it. That's the payoff... the closure to the season. I mean, That's why they call it a finale. If there was no source material like the comic, this would still be a super annoying ending. I liked JDM as Negan a lot but all the suspense and terror they built up to that point completely evaporated for me in about 2 seconds with that ending. I honestly had a stronger reaction to carol and Maggie burning those saviours alive. So, the suggestion that they cant tell the story of ricks descent without giving the audience the ending they deserve after 16 episodes is a really weak one. It was clearly evident in ricks face that he was scared and knew he fucked up (really good acting by Andrew Lincoln in this episode). Nevermind the fact that they ended the last two episodes of the season the same way - with blood on the screen (really cheesy - even for a zombie show - and I agree, it looked horrible).

I have to preface this by saying that i love the show and generally go with the flow on what they do writing-wise but i Really don't like how they handled a moment that could have been the walking dead's equivalent of the red wedding episode in game of thrones. they totally dropped the ball on this one. The cliffhangers are getting old (save em for the mid-season finales). Also, this carol arc is so dumb. "I can't kill, leave me morgan"... aims gun at morgan.

I have to preface this by saying that i love the show and generally go with the flow on what they do writing-wise but i Really don't like how they handled a moment that could have been the walking dead's equivalent of the red wedding episode in game of thrones. they totally dropped the ball on this one. The cliffhangers are getting old (save em for the mid-season finales). Also, this carol arc is so dumb. "I can't kill, leave me morgan"... aims gun at morgan.

Am I only the only one who thinks this carol arc is really lacking any sort of common sense? I don't really follow the comics so I don't know if its if related to them or not but this whole "I can't kill for you so I have to leave... oh hey, I'm gonna mow down 3 dudes with a hidden gun in my sleeve and stab another right through the heart to survive. Also, I chose a car with sharp spikes sticking out of it to, ya know... not draw any attention to myself... Ps 2 weeks ago I burned some people alive. Lol." It just seems to lack all common sense from a writing standpoint. Plus, Tobin literally didn't seem to care that she left aaand we've already seen her leave the group once (only difference being this was by choice). Nevermind that theyve randonly crammed 3-4 almost random relationships, a love triangle and some sort of thing with rosita and Spencers into the last third of the season that hasn't been touched on since.
I still really, really like this show and as a non-comic book reader I'm looking forward to (finally) seeing negan but scott gimple has been cramming things into the last half of this season that are finally starting to grate on me.

Maintenance - Honestly, there's not a grand mystery behind maintaining weight loss. Being more fit and healthy is a lifetime commitment. Sure, there's some people walking around that look great and don't have to do a thing but most people you see that are in shape work hard at maintaining their appearance because they commit time and effort to continuously eating healthy and participating in adequate exercise. By the time you're at your goal weight, you're going to know what type of exercise you enjoy and what your body responds best to - and you need to continue to do those things. Otherwise, you're going to forever start and stop diets and exercising. You don't want to do this for a variety of reasons. Your endurance will atrophy and you'll have to start all over again. Also, this doesn't mean you have to live your life on a diet. It means understanding moderation in regard to food. Cut out your daily consumption of empty calories - sugary soft drinks, alcohol, excessive snacking, etc. Be sensible about food - pizza every night isn't going to work. Here's the other thing - if you integrate both cardio and weightlifting into your daily routine, your body's metabolism is going to always be burning at a higher rate. Moreover, if you build muscle your body is going to use the food you give it as a fuel as oppose to storing it as energy (ie. fat). So, the better shape you're in, the more you're going to burn even when you're just sitting around. Ever see those pictures of The Rock sitting in front of a stack of 12 blueberry pankcakes or Michael Phelps downing an entire pizza to himself? Now you know why.
 
Lifestyle changes - Honestly, the first thing I did is I figured out WHY I wanted to lose weight which has nothing to do with the actual act of doing it. A lot of people do it for all the wrong reasons (to get laid, fear of being made fun of/stared at, etc.). For me, it was purely for my health. I was 15 yrs old, weighed 275lbs and I was the only kid in class that couldn't run a lap in PE without feeling like I was going to die. I didn't care that I was the only kid that couldn't do it but it scared me that I might be someone that has diabetes at 30 or die of a heart attack at 40. You have to want it for yourself and if you can't say that, you need to find that reason first. Otherwise, the changes will never stick and your commitment to it won't last. Within the first few weeks of making changes, I had committed time to working out and I made changes in my diet. If you can sit in front of a TV for a half an hour, you can get 30 minutes of cardio in easy. You have to learn to make yourself a priority. A lot of people that are stressed or have a lot of responsibility struggle with this but its not about neglecting other priorities in life, its about making sure you're giving yourself equal opportunity. Sans a health condition that prevents you from being active, there really is no excuse for anyone to not exercise. Some of the other lifestyle changes are noted above. By the way, if you're stressed out all the time or your body feels constantly stressed - you're gonna feel like a million bucks in about a month. Think your current energy level is too low to workout daily? Wrong. Once you get up and move around and settle into a routine, you're going to have far more energy than you do now.
 
How serious - I was serious but realistic. Sure, you can try to run 45 minutes on your first workout but its gonna be really fucking hard and probably pretty discouraging (also, you don't really need to run that much). My first workout? I walked 5 minutes on a treadmill. I changed my diet almost instantly and went hard with that. That's difficult  for some people and if you need to taper off certain foods, I suppose you can. After about a week though of cutting out unhealthy foods (especially those high in sugar), it'll be a lot easier. As thebiglebowski noted above, your diet is key. I changed what I ate at every meal and cut out the empty calories. Every week I would build on what I did the previous week in terms of exercise. Once I started to see changes in my body, I never looked back. I got interested in weightlifting within a few weeks - and again, I started small and built on that.
 
Routine - Keep in mind that what works for one person doesn't always work for someone else. I believe in a combination of cardio and strength training though. I choose to generally eat a low carb diet (but I don't cut them out completely). I run for 30 minutes 4-5 times a week and do some kind of strength training 3-4 times a week. For me, running is what really put me into the best shape of my life. This is coming from someone who was terrible at running and was convinced I'd never be good at it. Now, I could run for an hour straight daily if I wanted (but I don't - its too hard on my body). Here's how I built myself up to that though:
 
Week 1/2:
Jogged 3 minutes, walked 3 minutes, repeat x 3 = 18 minutes total
 
Week 3/4:
Jogged 4 minutes, walked 2 minutes, repeat x 4 = 24 minutes total
 
Week 5/6:
Jogged 5 minutes, walked 1 minute, repeat x 5 = 30 minutes total
 
You see the pattern here though. This also illustrates my point about being realistic about your fitness goals. Listen to your body. Eventually, you won't even have to jog/walk. You'll just run by cutting out the walk intervals - but when that point comes will be different with everybody.
 
WIth strength training - I choose to train by muscle group. One day is biceps, one day is shoulders/back, one day is chest and triceps. Now, I'm at a point in my life where I don't at all care about bulky and I don't both much with leg workouts. Cardio is enough of a workout for my legs and I just prefer to be thin / toned - so my strength training is focused on low weight and high reps (you would want high weight / low reps if you're interested in building noticeable muscle with an appropriate diet).
 
Staple foods in my diet: eggs, oatmeal, turkey, chicken, vegetables, low-sugar yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts (for snacking - we all crave a snack every now and then), water, tea, coffee (very light on creamer, no sugar). i do like fruit but don't eat a ton of it. oh, and peanut butter. i really can't live without my peanut butter (but be careful). if you have a sweet tooth though - a spoonful of sunflower butter is a nice little trick to curb it.
 
Foods I stay away from daily: high carb snacks (potato chips, crackers, etc.), sugary soft drinks (sodas, juices, etc.), high-calorie condiments - syrups, dressing, mayonnaise, etc. and alcohol (dont get me wrong, I love to have a drink but if you wanna get serious about losing weight you can't be comin' home after work and downing a couple beers every night) And if you do wanna have a drink - get into drinking scotch or whiskey neat (pretty sure this makes you a lot more manly too). Stay away from mixed drinks.
 
Couple other pointers: Stay off the fuckin' scale. I know this sounds crazy but some people are serious slaves to their scale and they freak out when it says they've gained a pound even though they're busting their ass every day. I pretty much never weigh myself. Its important to know that your body weight fluctuates by about 2lbs daily. I always go by how my clothes feel. Also, try not to eat anything about 4 hrs prior to going to bed. Midnight snack before bed? Sorry, but its gotta go. Learn to look at the nutrition facts / serving sizes on the foods you buy. I try to eat most of my carbs early in the day (breakfast or lunch) to give my body time to burn them off throughout the day. Plus, I prefer to workout at night after I've gotten off work. Last but not least, you don't need a fancy gym membership to get in a good workout. If you're neighborhood is safe to run in do it. Go to a park. You can literally walk into your local walmart and buy a pull up bar that fits into a door frame and some free weights for not a lot of money (free weights like dumbbells are actually better, by the way, as it forces your muscles to learn how to stabilize the weight on their own).
 
Good luck!

overall, i like both songs. i think the first track is better. im not too crazy about that thrashy riff in doomed user though - just doesnt seem to fit the rest of the song. 

Maintenance - Honestly, there's not a grand mystery behind maintaining weight loss. Being more fit and healthy is a lifetime commitment. Sure, there's some people walking around that look great and don't have to do a thing but most people you see that are in shape work hard at maintaining their appearance because they commit time and effort to continuously eating healthy and participating in adequate exercise. By the time you're at your goal weight, you're going to know what type of exercise you enjoy and what your body responds best to - and you need to continue to do those things. Otherwise, you're going to forever start and stop diets and exercising. You don't want to do this for a variety of reasons. Your endurance will atrophy and you'll have to start all over again. Also, this doesn't mean you have to live your life on a diet. It means understanding moderation in regard to food. Cut out your daily consumption of empty calories - sugary soft drinks, alcohol, excessive snacking, etc. Be sensible about food - pizza every night isn't going to work. Here's the other thing - if you integrate both cardio and weightlifting into your daily routine, your body's metabolism is going to always be burning at a higher rate. Moreover, if you build muscle your body is going to use the food you give it as a fuel as oppose to storing it as energy (ie. fat). So, the better shape you're in, the more you're going to burn even when you're just sitting around. Ever see those pictures of The Rock sitting in front of a stack of 12 blueberry pankcakes or Michael Phelps downing an entire pizza to himself? Now you know why.
 
Lifestyle changes - Honestly, the first thing I did is I figured out WHY I wanted to lose weight which has nothing to do with the actual act of doing it. A lot of people do it for all the wrong reasons (to get laid, fear of being made fun of/stared at, etc.). For me, it was purely for my health. I was 15 yrs old, weighed 275lbs and I was the only kid in class that couldn't run a lap in PE without feeling like I was going to die. I didn't care that I was the only kid that couldn't do it but it scared me that I might be someone that has diabetes at 30 or die of a heart attack at 40. You have to want it for yourself and if you can't say that, you need to find that reason first. Otherwise, the changes will never stick and your commitment to it won't last. Within the first few weeks of making changes, I had committed time to working out and I made changes in my diet. If you can sit in front of a TV for a half an hour, you can get 30 minutes of cardio in easy. You have to learn to make yourself a priority. A lot of people that are stressed or have a lot of responsibility struggle with this but its not about neglecting other priorities in life, its about making sure you're giving yourself equal opportunity. Sans a health condition that prevents you from being active, there really is no excuse for anyone to not exercise. Some of the other lifestyle changes are noted above. By the way, if you're stressed out all the time or your body feels constantly stressed - you're gonna feel like a million bucks in about a month. Think your current energy level is too low to workout daily? Wrong. Once you get up and move around and settle into a routine, you're going to have far more energy than you do now.
 
How serious - I was serious but realistic. Sure, you can try to run 45 minutes on your first workout but its gonna be really fucking hard and probably pretty discouraging (also, you don't really need to run that much). My first workout? I walked 5 minutes on a treadmill. I changed my diet almost instantly and went hard with that. That's difficult  for some people and if you need to taper off certain foods, I suppose you can. After about a week though of cutting out unhealthy foods (especially those high in sugar), it'll be a lot easier. As thebiglebowski noted above, your diet is key. I changed what I ate at every meal and cut out the empty calories. Every week I would build on what I did the previous week in terms of exercise. Once I started to see changes in my body, I never looked back. I got interested in weightlifting within a few weeks - and again, I started small and built on that.
 
Routine - Keep in mind that what works for one person doesn't always work for someone else. I believe in a combination of cardio and strength training though. I choose to generally eat a low carb diet (but I don't cut them out completely). I run for 30 minutes 4-5 times a week and do some kind of strength training 3-4 times a week. For me, running is what really put me into the best shape of my life. This is coming from someone who was terrible at running and was convinced I'd never be good at it. Now, I could run for an hour straight daily if I wanted (but I don't - its too hard on my body). Here's how I built myself up to that though:
 
Week 1/2:
Jogged 3 minutes, walked 3 minutes, repeat x 3 = 18 minutes total
 
Week 3/4:
Jogged 4 minutes, walked 2 minutes, repeat x 4 = 24 minutes total
 
Week 5/6:
Jogged 5 minutes, walked 1 minute, repeat x 5 = 30 minutes total
 
You see the pattern here though. This also illustrates my point about being realistic about your fitness goals. Listen to your body. Eventually, you won't even have to jog/walk. You'll just run by cutting out the walk intervals - but when that point comes will be different with everybody.
 
WIth strength training - I choose to train by muscle group. One day is biceps, one day is shoulders/back, one day is chest and triceps. Now, I'm at a point in my life where I don't at all care about bulky and I don't both much with leg workouts. Cardio is enough of a workout for my legs and I just prefer to be thin / toned - so my strength training is focused on low weight and high reps (you would want high weight / low reps if you're interested in building noticeable muscle with an appropriate diet).
 
Staple foods in my diet: eggs, oatmeal, turkey, chicken, vegetables, low-sugar yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts (for snacking - we all crave a snack every now and then), water, tea, coffee (very light on creamer, no sugar). i do like fruit but don't eat a ton of it. oh, and peanut butter. i really can't live without my peanut butter (but be careful). if you have a sweet tooth though - a spoonful of sunflower butter is a nice little trick to curb it.
 
Foods I stay away from daily: high carb snacks (potato chips, crackers, etc.), sugary soft drinks (sodas, juices, etc.), high-calorie condiments - syrups, dressing, mayonnaise, etc. and alcohol (dont get me wrong, I love to have a drink but if you wanna get serious about losing weight you can't be comin' home after work and downing a couple beers every night) And if you do wanna have a drink - get into drinking scotch or whiskey neat (pretty sure this makes you a lot more manly too). Stay away from mixed drinks.
 
Couple other pointers: Stay off the fuckin' scale. I know this sounds crazy but some people are serious slaves to their scale and they freak out when it says they've gained a pound even though they're busting their ass every day. I pretty much never weigh myself. Its important to know that your body weight fluctuates by about 2lbs daily. I always go by how my clothes feel. Also, try not to eat anything about 4 hrs prior to going to bed. Midnight snack before bed? Sorry, but its gotta go. Learn to look at the nutrition facts / serving sizes on the foods you buy. I try to eat most of my carbs early in the day (breakfast or lunch) to give my body time to burn them off throughout the day. Plus, I prefer to workout at night after I've gotten off work. Last but not least, you don't need a fancy gym membership to get in a good workout. If you're neighborhood is safe to run in do it. Go to a park. You can literally walk into your local walmart and buy a pull up bar that fits into a door frame and some free weights for not a lot of money (free weights like dumbbells are actually better, by the way, as it forces your muscles to learn how to stabilize the weight on their own).
 
Good luck!

Maintenance - Honestly, there's not a grand mystery behind maintaining weight loss. Being more fit and healthy is a lifetime commitment. Sure, there's some people walking around that look great and don't have to do a thing but most people you see that are in shape work hard at maintaining their appearance because they commit time and effort to continuously eating healthy and participating in adequate exercise. By the time you're at your goal weight, you're going to know what type of exercise you enjoy and what your body responds best to - and you need to continue to do those things. Otherwise, you're going to forever start and stop diets and exercising. You don't want to do this for a variety of reasons. Your endurance will atrophy and you'll have to start all over again. Also, this doesn't mean you have to live your life on a diet. It means understanding moderation in regard to food. Cut out your daily consumption of empty calories - sugary soft drinks, alcohol, excessive snacking, etc. Be sensible about food - pizza every night isn't going to work. Here's the other thing - if you integrate both cardio and weightlifting into your daily routine, your body's metabolism is going to always be burning at a higher rate. Moreover, if you build muscle your body is going to use the food you give it as a fuel as oppose to storing it as energy (ie. fat). So, the better shape you're in, the more you're going to burn even when you're just sitting around. Ever see those pictures of The Rock sitting in front of a stack of 12 blueberry pankcakes or Michael Phelps downing an entire pizza to himself? Now you know why.
 
Lifestyle changes - Honestly, the first thing I did is I figured out WHY I wanted to lose weight which has nothing to do with the actual act of doing it. A lot of people do it for all the wrong reasons (to get laid, fear of being made fun of/stared at, etc.). For me, it was purely for my health. I was 15 yrs old, weighed 275lbs and I was the only kid in class that couldn't run a lap in PE without feeling like I was going to die. I didn't care that I was the only kid that couldn't do it but it scared me that I might be someone that has diabetes at 30 or die of a heart attack at 40. You have to want it for yourself and if you can't say that, you need to find that reason first. Otherwise, the changes will never stick and your commitment to it won't last. Within the first few weeks of making changes, I had committed time to working out and I made changes in my diet. If you can sit in front of a TV for a half an hour, you can get 30 minutes of cardio in easy. You have to learn to make yourself a priority. A lot of people that are stressed or have a lot of responsibility struggle with this but its not about neglecting other priorities in life, its about making sure you're giving yourself equal opportunity. Sans a health condition that prevents you from being active, there really is no excuse for anyone to not exercise. Some of the other lifestyle changes are noted above. By the way, if you're stressed out all the time or your body feels constantly stressed - you're gonna feel like a million bucks in about a month. Think your current energy level is too low to workout daily? Wrong. Once you get up and move around and settle into a routine, you're going to have far more energy than you do now.
 
How serious - I was serious but realistic. Sure, you can try to run 45 minutes on your first workout but its gonna be really fucking hard and probably pretty discouraging (also, you don't really need to run that much). My first workout? I walked 5 minutes on a treadmill. I changed my diet almost instantly and went hard with that. That's difficult  for some people and if you need to taper off certain foods, I suppose you can. After about a week though of cutting out unhealthy foods (especially those high in sugar), it'll be a lot easier. As thebiglebowski noted above, your diet is key. I changed what I ate at every meal and cut out the empty calories. Every week I would build on what I did the previous week in terms of exercise. Once I started to see changes in my body, I never looked back. I got interested in weightlifting within a few weeks - and again, I started small and built on that.
 
Routine - Keep in mind that what works for one person doesn't always work for someone else. I believe in a combination of cardio and strength training though. I choose to generally eat a low carb diet (but I don't cut them out completely). I run for 30 minutes 4-5 times a week and do some kind of strength training 3-4 times a week. For me, running is what really put me into the best shape of my life. This is coming from someone who was terrible at running and was convinced I'd never be good at it. Now, I could run for an hour straight daily if I wanted (but I don't - its too hard on my body). Here's how I built myself up to that though:
 
Week 1/2:
Jogged 3 minutes, walked 3 minutes, repeat x 3 = 18 minutes total
 
Week 3/4:
Jogged 4 minutes, walked 2 minutes, repeat x 4 = 24 minutes total
 
Week 5/6:
Jogged 5 minutes, walked 1 minute, repeat x 5 = 30 minutes total
 
You see the pattern here though. This also illustrates my point about being realistic about your fitness goals. Listen to your body. Eventually, you won't even have to jog/walk. You'll just run by cutting out the walk intervals - but when that point comes will be different with everybody.
 
WIth strength training - I choose to train by muscle group. One day is biceps, one day is shoulders/back, one day is chest and triceps. Now, I'm at a point in my life where I don't at all care about bulky and I don't both much with leg workouts. Cardio is enough of a workout for my legs and I just prefer to be thin / toned - so my strength training is focused on low weight and high reps (you would want high weight / low reps if you're interested in building noticeable muscle with an appropriate diet).
 
Staple foods in my diet: eggs, oatmeal, turkey, chicken, vegetables, low-sugar yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts (for snacking - we all crave a snack every now and then), water, tea, coffee (very light on creamer, no sugar). i do like fruit but don't eat a ton of it. oh, and peanut butter. i really can't live without my peanut butter (but be careful). if you have a sweet tooth though - a spoonful of sunflower butter is a nice little trick to curb it.
 
Foods I stay away from daily: high carb snacks (potato chips, crackers, etc.), sugary soft drinks (sodas, juices, etc.), high-calorie condiments - syrups, dressing, mayonnaise, etc. and alcohol (dont get me wrong, I love to have a drink but if you wanna get serious about losing weight you can't be comin' home after work and downing a couple beers every night) And if you do wanna have a drink - get into drinking scotch or whiskey neat (pretty sure this makes you a lot more manly too). Stay away from mixed drinks.
 
Couple other pointers: Stay off the fuckin' scale. I know this sounds crazy but some people are serious slaves to their scale and they freak out when it says they've gained a pound even though they're busting their ass every day. I pretty much never weigh myself. Its important to know that your body weight fluctuates by about 2lbs daily. I always go by how my clothes feel. Also, try not to eat anything about 4 hrs prior to going to bed. Midnight snack before bed? Sorry, but its gotta go. Learn to look at the nutrition facts / serving sizes on the foods you buy. I try to eat most of my carbs early in the day (breakfast or lunch) to give my body time to burn them off throughout the day. Plus, I prefer to workout at night after I've gotten off work. Last but not least, you don't need a fancy gym membership to get in a good workout. If you're neighborhood is safe to run in do it. Go to a park. You can literally walk into your local walmart and buy a pull up bar that fits into a door frame and some free weights for not a lot of money (free weights like dumbbells are actually better, by the way, as it forces your muscles to learn how to stabilize the weight on their own).
 
Good luck!

Maintenance - Honestly, there's not a grand mystery behind maintaining weight loss. Being more fit and healthy is a lifetime commitment. Sure, there's some people walking around that look great and don't have to do a thing but most people you see that are in shape work hard at maintaining their appearance because they commit time and effort to continuously eating healthy and participating in adequate exercise. By the time you're at your goal weight, you're going to know what type of exercise you enjoy and what your body responds best to - and you need to continue to do those things. Otherwise, you're going to forever start and stop diets and exercising. You don't want to do this for a variety of reasons. Your endurance will atrophy and you'll have to start all over again. Also, this doesn't mean you have to live your life on a diet. It means understanding moderation in regard to food. Cut out your daily consumption of empty calories - sugary soft drinks, alcohol, excessive snacking, etc. Be sensible about food - pizza every night isn't going to work. Here's the other thing - if you integrate both cardio and weightlifting into your daily routine, your body's metabolism is going to always be burning at a higher rate. Moreover, if you build muscle your body is going to use the food you give it as a fuel as oppose to storing it as energy (ie. fat). So, the better shape you're in, the more you're going to burn even when you're just sitting around. Ever see those pictures of The Rock sitting in front of a stack of 12 blueberry pankcakes or Michael Phelps downing an entire pizza to himself? Now you know why.
 
Lifestyle changes - Honestly, the first thing I did is I figured out WHY I wanted to lose weight which has nothing to do with the actual act of doing it. A lot of people do it for all the wrong reasons (to get laid, fear of being made fun of/stared at, etc.). For me, it was purely for my health. I was 15 yrs old, weighed 275lbs and I was the only kid in class that couldn't run a lap in PE without feeling like I was going to die. I didn't care that I was the only kid that couldn't do it but it scared me that I might be someone that has diabetes at 30 or die of a heart attack at 40. You have to want it for yourself and if you can't say that, you need to find that reason first. Otherwise, the changes will never stick and your commitment to it won't last. Within the first few weeks of making changes, I had committed time to working out and I made changes in my diet. If you can sit in front of a TV for a half an hour, you can get 30 minutes of cardio in easy. You have to learn to make yourself a priority. A lot of people that are stressed or have a lot of responsibility struggle with this but its not about neglecting other priorities in life, its about making sure you're giving yourself equal opportunity. Sans a health condition that prevents you from being active, there really is no excuse for anyone to not exercise. Some of the other lifestyle changes are noted above. By the way, if you're stressed out all the time or your body feels constantly stressed - you're gonna feel like a million bucks in about a month. Think your current energy level is too low to workout daily? Wrong. Once you get up and move around and settle into a routine, you're going to have far more energy than you do now.
 
How serious - I was serious but realistic. Sure, you can try to run 45 minutes on your first workout but its gonna be really fucking hard and probably pretty discouraging (also, you don't really need to run that much). My first workout? I walked 5 minutes on a treadmill. I changed my diet almost instantly and went hard with that. That's difficult  for some people and if you need to taper off certain foods, I suppose you can. After about a week though of cutting out unhealthy foods (especially those high in sugar), it'll be a lot easier. As thebiglebowski noted above, your diet is key. I changed what I ate at every meal and cut out the empty calories. Every week I would build on what I did the previous week in terms of exercise. Once I started to see changes in my body, I never looked back. I got interested in weightlifting within a few weeks - and again, I started small and built on that.
 
Routine - Keep in mind that what works for one person doesn't always work for someone else. I believe in a combination of cardio and strength training though. I choose to generally eat a low carb diet (but I don't cut them out completely). I run for 30 minutes 4-5 times a week and do some kind of strength training 3-4 times a week. For me, running is what really put me into the best shape of my life. This is coming from someone who was terrible at running and was convinced I'd never be good at it. Now, I could run for an hour straight daily if I wanted (but I don't - its too hard on my body). Here's how I built myself up to that though:
 
Week 1/2:
Jogged 3 minutes, walked 3 minutes, repeat x 3 = 18 minutes total
 
Week 3/4:
Jogged 4 minutes, walked 2 minutes, repeat x 4 = 24 minutes total
 
Week 5/6:
Jogged 5 minutes, walked 1 minute, repeat x 5 = 30 minutes total
 
You see the pattern here though. This also illustrates my point about being realistic about your fitness goals. Listen to your body. Eventually, you won't even have to jog/walk. You'll just run by cutting out the walk intervals - but when that point comes will be different with everybody.
 
WIth strength training - I choose to train by muscle group. One day is biceps, one day is shoulders/back, one day is chest and triceps. Now, I'm at a point in my life where I don't at all care about bulky and I don't both much with leg workouts. Cardio is enough of a workout for my legs and I just prefer to be thin / toned - so my strength training is focused on low weight and high reps (you would want high weight / low reps if you're interested in building noticeable muscle with an appropriate diet).
 
Staple foods in my diet: eggs, oatmeal, turkey, chicken, vegetables, low-sugar yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts (for snacking - we all crave a snack every now and then), water, tea, coffee (very light on creamer, no sugar). i do like fruit but don't eat a ton of it. oh, and peanut butter. i really can't live without my peanut butter (but be careful). if you have a sweet tooth though - a spoonful of sunflower butter is a nice little trick to curb it.
 
Foods I stay away from daily: high carb snacks (potato chips, crackers, etc.), sugary soft drinks (sodas, juices, etc.), high-calorie condiments - syrups, dressing, mayonnaise, etc. and alcohol (dont get me wrong, I love to have a drink but if you wanna get serious about losing weight you can't be comin' home after work and downing a couple beers every night) And if you do wanna have a drink - get into drinking scotch or whiskey neat (pretty sure this makes you a lot more manly too). Stay away from mixed drinks.
 
Couple other pointers: Stay off the fuckin' scale. I know this sounds crazy but some people are serious slaves to their scale and they freak out when it says they've gained a pound even though they're busting their ass every day. I pretty much never weigh myself. Its important to know that your body weight fluctuates by about 2lbs daily. I always go by how my clothes feel. Also, try not to eat anything about 4 hrs prior to going to bed. Midnight snack before bed? Sorry, but its gotta go. Learn to look at the nutrition facts / serving sizes on the foods you buy. I try to eat most of my carbs early in the day (breakfast or lunch) to give my body time to burn them off throughout the day. Plus, I prefer to workout at night after I've gotten off work. Last but not least, you don't need a fancy gym membership to get in a good workout. If you're neighborhood is safe to run in do it. Go to a park. You can literally walk into your local walmart and buy a pull up bar that fits into a door frame and some free weights for not a lot of money (free weights like dumbbells are actually better, by the way, as it forces your muscles to learn how to stabilize the weight on their own).
 
Good luck!

What! A blue record that looks blue. That's so fucking stupid.

What! A blue record that looks blue. That's so fucking stupid.

What! A blue record that looks blue. That's so fucking stupid.

What! A blue record that looks blue. That's so fucking stupid.