1) I was very motivated (long story)
2) I love to walk and live near a mall that's great for walking
3) I had a good amount of free time during that period.
OK...
1) Atkins.Strict Atkins.Much,much easier to stick with than I expected.There's a physiological reason for that which my doctor (who's on the staff of a major Boston hospital) explained to me.In short,it's because of all the protein you're eating.
2) Lots of walking,every day,"Power walking"...meaning almost running.At least 1 1/2 hours a day,usually 2.In good weather I walked outside,in bad weather I walked at the mall.
So,with all that it took me about 2 1/2 months to lose 20 pounds and another 1 1/2 months to lose the last 10.When finished I was just within the "normal" range for my BMI (27,IIRC).And I felt better than I had since graduating from Army basic training.
don’t think this will help you but my black lab was overweight with a back end problem...she loved her chicken nuggets every time we went to a drive through....vet told me no more chicken nuggets if you want to give her a snack, feed her green beans....she went from 89 1/2 pounds to 79 1/2 pounds snacking on green beans and did it in less than 2 months.....Like I said, don’t know if this information will help or not :O)