ok, Just wanted to start this as a new year has come in and its time start taking a grip and losing the pounds. Since giving up smoking i have put on a fair bit of weight and i am planning on getting married later this year and really want to look my best, i currently look the worst i ever have done im sorry to say.
I have a fairly active job outside doing a wide variety of things from fencing to digging holes to driving machinary so the general activeness of it does vary week by week. What i am curious about is the methods people have found most usefull for losing weight, as much as i would like an easy system with no effort we all know they dont work. so what does???

I find it hard to commit to an excersise routine daily as sometimes its been a very active day in work and i am truely exhuasted but sometimes this isnt the case.
Also i am concious that i eat alot of cheese, bread and crisps pastrys.

what should my next move be? any ideas?

I say you should just watch what you eat.

I am not one to talk concidering i eat maybe one meal aday, but eat a couple balanced meals, make sure that it includes some kind of meat, and vegetable, not because they are healthy for you, but if you are exauhsted meat and veggies contain energy in then and that can help to energise you to be a little more active.

Chicken is a good thing to be eating if you want to loose weight, it is a sourse of meat and it has many nuetriants in them that keep up a healthy body.

Bread is your worst enemy, bread has many ccarbohydrates which are not good for your body if you wish to loose a few pounds.

I am sure that you can find ways to exersize, it does not need to be a mile long run, it can be a 15 minute walk during lunch instead of sitting in your car falling asleep and waking up to the sound of your cell phone alarm going off (not syaing it's you, but it happens lol)

Good luck with this, i am doing the same thing (sort of) which is why i know most of this, and it had worked out greatly for me

easier said than done

well, at least you've given up smoking which is a good start. if your sheer determination has helped you in overcoming that habit, then i guess losing weight would be a bit easier, or at least getting into a plan.

about food intake, the only thing that i was able to do, which worked out for me was to trim my meals. trim meaning, decrease the amount of food that i take. at first i've cut down the rice (rice is a staple food in our country, and that's carbohydrates, so whatever carbohydrates you take, you have to cut some). i usually eat at most 2 to 3 cups per meal, usually even more when the dish is very delicious. but during the holidays (of all the events... usually people are fattening themselves up during the holidays, but yeah i was able to do this routine during the holidays), i started off by cutting my rice/carbohydrate intake from 2-3 cups down to 1 cup per meal. and within a week, i was able to cut it down to just 2 tablespoons of rice. the dish, however stayed the same amount. one serving of a dish usually constitute around 1 small plate (5-6 inches in diameter), with either fish, pork or chicken. i don't eat beef anymore because i usualy find it hard to eat beef because it gets stuck in my teeth with is so painful most of the time. i usually eat fish, and a bit of pork or chicken. during the holidays, for some unknown reason, i had a disgust over meat, so i had a meat-free christmas. this also helped me cut down more of my food intake, since most of the dishes were meat, and i only resort to fish. needless to say, i ate less than the usual. at the end of the year, i was only eating fish and veggies and no rice at all. for what it's worth, eating fruits helps a lot. bananas give me that full-stomach feeling so after a light meal, i eat at least one banana. but i think any fruit will do.

i can't give you any advice on exercise because i also gather info on that one so i could lose more weight. you might want to ask yratorm, lightmage for some tips. he's a resident expert when it comes to getting fit. he actually has some threads for exercises.. basically, getting fit.

and if you have enough money, maybe signing up on a nearby gym would help.

No candy, don't buy them anymore, instead, use the money you saved, by not buying candy, to buy lots of fruits instead. Drink a lot of water to give yourself a 'full' feeling. Try to dance around a bit not on slow music, put on loud, fast music and dance as if it were to save your life ;D Use the stairs a lot. On random moments, just grab your coat and shoes and take a walk in the neighborhood. You don't have to walk till you get exhausted, just try go get your body moving a bit, instead of hanging on the couch in front of the tv, or pc. Before you take a shower, do some simple exercises after you wake up.

Eat less, Move more.

lol @ eat less move more. That is an obvious answer but these things arnt always as easy as prehaps they shopuld be to do. I have started by going for a run when i got home from work tonite, not particularly far but its a start, i have decided if i can just get into the habit of taking a bit of time each day to jog/run/cycle then i can look at extending the length afterwards when i am used to getting up and dsoing it. as for the food i think i am gonna do the same there just slowely change things i.e will start taking fruit instead of crisps to work. one thing i would like advice on though, what would your suggestions be for a healthy alternative to sandwiches?

to think 5 years ago i was cycling 20miles nearly every day without fail, would struggle to do that as a one off now i think. time to get back to how i was
cheers
john

"wraps" or pita bread shells instead of Bread, or consider open-faced sandwiches using single slices instead of double to reduce the carbs.

Go lightly on the butter, margarine, and / or Miracle Whip.

For me, I try to eat right, which means a little bit of everything in moderation is good, but no pigging out on the junk food, like I enjoy so much. So, instead of grabbing for a bag of chips, I'll grab for a bag of baby carrots, instead of drinking that bottle of pop, I'll drink some skim milk instead.

Plus, I like to walk a lot, so that helps too I figure. I'd rather walk to the mall or grocery store, instead of take the bus or get a rid, and if I buy lots of heavy or akward things to carry, then I catch the bus home, or call for a ride.

Also, you've mentioned that you eat a lot of cheese... so do I I'm not sure if you tried the lower fat cheese, I get it, and it takes almost the same, so I still like it. I'm not too crazy about the lowest fat cheese that I can find in the store, so I just stick to one of the "higher lows" lol... for lack of a better expression, but still, I figure any kind of less fat is better than having regular when you are looking at your diet, right?

Anyway, I wish you luck on losing some weight and congrats on your soon to be wedding!