I’ve found that emotional eating is the most common cause of weight gain.  Emotional eating is charactrized by consuming comfort food or junk food. Here is a great resource for emotional eating.  I highly recommend you check it out even if you don’t think you’re an emotional eater yet wonder why you haven’t been able to lose weight.

I’ve found that emotional eating is the most common cause of weight gain.  Here is a great resource for emotional eating.  I highly recommend you check it out even if you don’t think you’re an emotional eater yet wonder why you haven’t been able to lose weight.

Coming home from a long day at work. Feeling tired and stressed out. You were planning to finish a couple of chores, yet you have had a long day. You aren’t really hungry however you feel a craving for a certain snack. You know you shouldn’t eat it since you are trying to implement healthier eating habits. However your mind rationalizes that you deserve it, besides it’s just one snack right? how bad could it really be? So you find yourself reaching for the snack and consuming it. Afterwards you find yourself feeling a bit lazy, and instead of doing your chores you decide to just relax, watch some tv or surf the web. You rationalize that you have had a tough past couple of days and deserve a break.

Emotional Eating Defined

Emotional eating is motivated by emotions instead of real hunger. For me, usually negative emotions including fear, anger, stress, or disappointment have triggered emotional eating. Sometimes emotional eating is triggered in anticipation of a future event that you perceive will be tough, stressful or scary. Emotional eating is where the phrase comfort food stems from. Comfort foods might differ from one person to the next, but they are those foods and snacks that you tend to reach for to deal with stress or to reward yourself. Some common comfort food include ice-cream, cookies, fried food, pies/pastries, pizza, and potato chips. It’s normal to eat comfort foods occasionally, or as a planned cheat meal if you are on a strict nutritional regiment or are trying to lose weight. However for an emotional eater, reaching for a comfort food isn’t voluntary it’s rather uncontrollable behavior. Usually an emotional eater has a very tough time saying no. Also most emotional eaters only become conscious of indulging in comfort foods after already consuming them.

After consuming comfort foods, an emotional eater might feel guilty and as a result be tempted to eat more in an attempt to numb negative emotions. On a logical level, an emotional eater knows that they need to stop doing it. However on a practical level, when an emotional eater experiences negative emotions they are tempted to indulge in consuming comfort foods to deal with those emotions. In a way an emotional eater is like an alcoholic who gets drunk to avoid stress or other problems they are experiencing in their lives. To clarify, I’m not judging emotional eaters, and I’m not trying to label them. I would guess that the majority of people have indulged in emotional eating at one point or another whether or not they realize it. I myself have to work on my own emotional eating tendencies, and realize how tough it can be. I would also guess that emotional eating is one of the reasons why the majority of Americans are overweight.

Consequences of Emotional Eating

Weight Gain - Emotional eaters tend to overeat and therefore add on extra body weight. Some emotional eaters are overweight. Others develop eating disorders in an attempt to avoid gaining weight, which introduces the next consequence.

Eating Disorders - In an attempt to combat weight gain, some emotional eaters develop eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. Some emotional eaters become addicted to exercise, and exercise for several hours at a time following a binge or an overeating episode to avoid future weight gain.

Light Depression - Usually an emotional eater feels really guilty about their overeating and occasional binges the next day. As a result an emotional eater will often promise themselves not to do it again, however sooner or later they do, and as a result feel helpless. Going through this cycle often leaves an emotional eating feeling a light depression that’s always clouding over their life.

Loneliness - Since an emotional eater can’t stop engaging in the habit, they often start thinking there must be something wrong with them. They tend to make emotional eating a secret, they don’t talk about it with others. They feel that they aren’t normal, that maybe they aren’t a disciplined enough person. An emotional eater usually has good friendships, even at times a significant other just like everyone else. Even if an emotional eater is very honest about their lives, they will often keep emotional eating a secret from all their friends, relatives and significant others since they are ashamed of it. This often leaves them feeling lonely and maybe not understood.

Lack of Progress in Life Goals - An emotional eater often indulges in food as a way to numb out bad emotions. As a result when they are working on life goals whether they are financial, career or relationship goals and encounter a roadblock they often consume comfort foods in an attempt to distract themselves from having to deal with the real problems. They of course don’t do this consciously, for many emotional eaters it’s an automatic response, just like how after a bad day at work an alcoholic might just stop by the bar instead of considering finding a different job.

There are many other consequences of emotional eating, however these are the most common and serious ones. I’ve experience this myself when dealing with emotional eating and as a result this is a bit of a difficult topic for me to write about. As I’m a writing this I’m remembering past emotional eating episodes and consequences and as a result feel a deep sympathy for other emotional eaters.

Payoffs of Emotional Eating

So if there are many tough consequences of emotional eating why would anyone engage in it? or why would they keep engaging in it after experiencing the consequences? Well there are payoffs of emotional eating, just like they are payoffs of being an alcoholic, or a drug addict.

Never Having to Face the Real Problems - Usually emotional eating is a cover up for emotional, and psychological issues a person needs to deal with. For example, a big issue for me was constantly seeking other’s validation and having a tough time saying no and establishing personal boundaries. As a result when a friend would invite me to go to a boring or uninteresting event, I would often go along for the ride. The next day I would be feeling a bit depressed and might indulge in eating comfort foods to numb out those bad emotions. If I would of paused and asked why am I depressed or feeling down, I would of probably discovered the real problem, and realized that I need to set firm personal boundaries. However in a way discovering the real problems is tough because it often requires one to take tough actions and make tough choices. In my case that meant having to end some friendships and start new ones from scratch.

An Easier More Passive Lifestyle - Never having to face the real problems allows an emotional eater to live a very passive relaxing and comfortable lifestyle. An emotional eater will often resort to food instead of having to say step out of their comfort zone. As a result an emotional eater can live life in a sort of daze where they are breathing, walking, and talking yet not really alive. For example, an emotional eater will never really experience fear, they will tend to consume comfort foods to numb it out. And after they are done consuming the food they will usually keep putting off that scary action or choice they know they should take care of.

Maintaining One’s Pride & Ego - Admitting that you might have an emotional eating problem requires lots of humility. Often times an emotional eater’s pride and ego will prefer keeping emotional eating a secret even if it means never seeking treatment, or having to face the issue.

Solutions That DON’T Work

In order to protect his/her pride, an emotional eater will usually rationalize that they don’t have an eating problem instead will try to treat the obvious consequences of overeating.

Better Eating Habits - Since an emotional eater will notice that they are gaining weight as a result of indulging in comfort foods, they assume they need to eat healthier foods. They will try to change their eating habits, and might be successful for short periods of times. However once they experience a negative emotional spike, any kind of sadness, fear, worry etc. they will usually go back to indulging in their comfort foods.

Exercising - Just like an emotional eater might try to improve their eating habits, they will also try to exercise regularly. They reason that they don’t have an eating problem and just added a few extra pounds that they need to loose. An emotional eater might be successful at dropping a few pounds with exercising. However once they experience any negative emotional spikes, they will usually go back to indulging in their comfort foods.

Steps to Dealing With Emotional Eating

1. Admitting and Accepting The Problem - There is nothing wrong with being an emotional eater. In fact it’s pretty common in our culture that we came up with the term comfort foods. Accept that emotional eating is something you need to deal with. None of us is perfect. Being an emotional eater doesn’t define you. So there is no need to feel guilty about it. Accepting that you have a problem is the first step to dealing with it.
2. There is No Magic Pill - I have to work on my emotional eating tendencies and believe me I’ve looked and tried every solution out there, and still haven’t found the magic pill. By magic pill I mean a solution that you can immediately implement that will take care of the problem once and for all. You will have to work on your emotional eating one day at a time.
3. Identify Triggers - You will need to identify what triggers your emotional eating.  This can slightly differ from one person to the next.  Start journaling about every emotional eating incident you experience.  Whenever you overeat, pause and think about the series of events or negative emotions that lead to it and make notes.  After doing this for a week or two you will get a good idea on what specifically triggers your emotional eating.  This step can be tough, especially if you feel really guilty after you overeat.  Forgive yourself, don’t judge your overeating, and just assess the situation from a logical perspective instead of an emotional one.  In a way you are acting like your own therapist.
4. Be Conscious of Your Emotional State - After you identify your triggers, you have to start being more aware of your emotional state at all times.  Occasionally start asking yourself how do I feel right now?  This will help you break down the automated response of resorting to food for dealing with tough emotions.
5. Accept Negative Emotions - If you are feeling down, accept that.  Realize that you will hopefully live a long life and there will be other times where you will feel a light depression.  Don’t try to fight it, accept it.  Once you accept it you can deal with it.
6. Ask Questions - Once you accept a negative emotional state you need to pause and ask the following questions.  Asking these questions will help you slow down instead of automatically resorting to food for comfort:
   • What lead to my current emotional state?  What sequence of events occured earlier?  Is there a stress or problem that’s causing this?
   • If I overeat right now, will this make that stress or problem go away?
   • If I overeat will I really feel better? or will I just be running away from a stress or problem that I’ll have to deal with eventually anyways?
   • What if I DON’T overeat? will I regreat making this decision later?
7. Act Anyway - No matter what kind of an emotional state you are in, you need to take the right actions.  This is a very common trait of successful people.  Read my post I don’t feel like it to learn more about this idea of right action.
8. See a Therapist - If after trying to deal with emotional eating on your own you aren’t seeing any progress see a therapist.  You should be able to find one who specializes in overeating and emotional eating issues.  However realize that seeing a therapist isn’t a magic pill, while a therapist might help, you will still have to put in the work.

I’ve found that emotional eating is the most common cause of weight gain.  Here is a great resource for emotional eating.  I highly recommend you check it out even if you don’t think you’re an emotional eater yet wonder why you haven’t been able to lose weight.

image source: 4StringsGood

You know you need to finish some errands yet you don’t feel like it, so you decide you’ll just do them tomorrow. You know you should go to the gym in order to stay in line with your fitness goals, yet you don’t feel like it, so you decide to skip your workout and watch TV instead. You have some free time and you know you should work on that new business idea you had the other day, yet you are tired and don’t feel like it, so you go to bed early instead. You are out at a social event and you see a very attractive member of the opposite sex that you wish to meet, yet you feel scared to walk over and say hi, so you just talk yourself out of doing it by assuming it would be awkward and socially unacceptable. You are at a fast food restaurant and you know you should order a healthy salad, yet you are sick of eating healthy food, so you rationalize that you deserve a cheat meal and order a cheeseburger instead. You are sick of your current job and know you should start applying elsewhere, yet you don’t feel like going through the interviewing process, it will be too much work, so you decide to put it off until next month and you rationalize that would be better timing anyways.

I don’t feel like it. It’s scary, I don’t want to do it. I’m too tired, I’ll just do it tomorrow. I deserve a break, I’ve been working too hard, besides I can always take care of this later. We all experience the “I don’t feel like it” syndrome for one reason or the other. Sometimes the reason is very legitimate, you could of had a long day, a few hours of sleep the night before, and are really exhausted and therefore feel like relaxing or going to bed early instead of taking care of those errands you had on your to-do list. Other times you simply are in a lazy state of mind, and don’t feel like doing anything, and therefore decide you deserve a break and you watch tv or uselessly surf the web for an hour or two.

I don’t feel like it. I have a confession to make, I don’t really feel like writing this post. It’s the weekend, I’ve had a pretty hectic/busy week, and I would rather just relax today. I need to clarify, I really like blogging and writing, and whenever I start writing I enter into a flow zone where I get absorbed into it, and the words just flow out, it’s a great feeling However there are times where I simply feel lazy, tired or too out of it to start writing. During such times I can usually come up with great reasons/rationalizations for why I shouldn’t write. Here is one, “writing is my hobby, it should not feel like a job, I should just put it off until I really feel like it”. There is some truth to this reasoning, so lets say I putt off writing, and don’t feel like it the next day, and the day after that etc. Would I just shut down this blog, and move on to the next thing?

I think you are getting my point here, on certain occasions if we are over-worked, exhausted, doing way too much etc. we legitimately need to take a break, however more often than not we get lazy and just don’t feel like doing whatever it is we know we have to do. We make commitments to take on this or that new habit, and we know the work involved, yet when it’s time to do it we simply don’t feel like it.

So what’s the solution. Naturally one would ask well how can I get myself to feel like exercising, writing, or doing my errands. There are several answers, one can look for motivational sources, readings etc. One can get a workout buddy, an accountability buddy etc. One can make a public commitment, for example I can commit to writing a new post everyday on this blog for the next 30 days. However none of these solutions are complete. While they are all great ideas, and would make you feel more pressure to get things done, there is still something missing. Lets say you do get a workout buddy, you might feel motivated to work out with your buddy for the first 2 weeks. However on the 3rd week your buddy is out of town on a business trip. Additionally you get a mild cold, and while physically you can do a light workout, you don’t feel like it, besides being sick is a legitimate reason to skip working out and your buddy would understand when he gets back. So you skip working out for the next couple of days. On the 3rd day you feel fine, however you don’t feel like working out and you rationalize I should rest one more day just to make sure the cold is fully gone and out of my body. You use this same reasoning to skip working out for the rest of the week. All of a sudden you realize you just skipped a whole week without going to the gym.

Of course one can get multiple workout partners to avoid this situation, however life will always throw circumstances at you, and there will be times where you just feel lazy and will come up with great reasons to relax and put off tasks. So what’s the solution, if you can’t really get red of “I don’t feel like it” syndrome, how can you live with it, how can you manage it? What about very successful entrepreneurs that work 10-14 hour days for months or even years to get a business of the ground? How do they do it? What about Olympic athletes that train for several hours a day for months to get in top shape, how do they do it?

Very successful people, who live amazing lives, and leave a legacy tend to usually do the right thing whether or not they feel like it. This in a way is like a muscle that they grow and strengthen. You can start developing this great habit today by following these steps:

1. When you know you should do something and don’t feel like it, accept this and realize that everyone goes through it. Don’t be hard on yourself.
2. From today decide that you will just do the right thing, and do whatever it is you have to do whether or not you fee like it.
3. Realize that there will still be times where you will get lazy, or not do the right thing. That’s okay, you are building a new habit, this is expected. Don’t be a perfectionist, you simply can’t always do the right thing 100% of the time. Accept this. Your goal should be to do right more often as time goes on. Think of this as a muscle you are developing in the gym. If you currently do the right actions 5% of the time, and can increase that to 10% in the next year, then you would double your results, progress, and success.
4. When you have a long tedious task in front of you, don’t stress about it. Just start doing it and stay in the present moment. Don’t think about the 2, 3 or 4 more hours you have to keep doing this for, instead think about what you are doing at this moment. Say you have to wash 50 dishes, when you grab that first dish, just focus on your hand, the circular motions it’s taking to wash that dish, the feeling of the water and the smell of the soap. Don’t think about the other 49 dishes, stay in the moment instead of worrying about the future. This is a great method I learned from Alan Watts. Another way to slow down and enjoy the moment is by monitoring your breathing.
5. Make whatever you are doing fun. This is another method that I learned from Alan Watts. Try singing, or humming as you are washing the dishes. Make up a new rhyme about the soapy dopey dishes
6. Realize that doing the right thing no matter how you feel becomes easier the more you do it. Lets say you don’t feel like going to the gym and you do it anyway. The next day you don’t feel like it, it will be easier for you to ignore the emotion and go.

This Post is part of Project Weight Loss and a follow up to Days 9-14.

Well there is good and bad news to report. I will get the bad news out of the way first, and then focus on the good news.

The Bad News

I did have some struggles keeping up with my healthy eating and exercising efforts between Day 21 and Day 26. Due to some emotional stress and other factors I didn’t exercise those days and did overeat. I must clarify that I have no good excuse though. In that period I did resort to food for comfort. Of course this never works, and it’s just like abusing anything else including alcohol or drugs. It is my fault for getting off track and I take full responsibility. However I did not give up on my weight loss or fitness efforts, as I mentioned in 100 Weight Loss Tips and Tricks, the only way not to lose weight is to give up, and that’s certainly something I’m not willing to do.

The Good News

Overall I have learned a lot of doing this 30 day challenge, and I did lose some weight, however as you will see from the numbers, getting off track for a few days did influence my results.

Day - Weight (pounds) - Body Fat Percentage
Day 15 - 196.8 - 21.40
Day 16 - 196.8 - 22.80
Day 17 - 196.8 - 21.60
Day 18 - 195.2 - 22.00
Day 19 - 195.2 - 22.40
Day 20 - 195.2 - 22.40
Day 21 - 26 - Didn’t check weight or body fat percentage, also got off track
Day 27 - 200.6 - 22.50
Day 28 - 199.2 - 22.20
Day 29 - 197.8 - 23.30
Day 30 - 197.8 - 23.30
Day 31 - Couldn’t check weight or body fat percentage due to being away from home

My weight was highest on Day 2 where I was 203.4 pounds. So overall, it looks like by Day 30 I lost 5.6 pounds. I’m certainly happy about that

More importantly since I have been exercising a lot more often and eating healthier, I’m noticing I’m slowly building up both of those habits. Going to workout isn’t a big deal for me anymore it’s just like going to the store and buying groceries. I also really enjoy the energy boost and great feeling I experience after doing a hard workout. Additionally my taste buds are starting to favor healthy foods over junk foods.

My skin has been looking much healthier, I’m guessing this is due to the healthier food I’m eating and my higher consumption of water. I certainly have been more energetic and getting a lot more things done in other areas of my life which is great.

What I’ve learned

• I need to focus more time on dealing with stress. I’m noticing that when I’m stressed out I’m tempted to resort to food. At this point, working on healthier ways of dealing with stress is just as important as eating healthy and exercising.
• Making a public commitment certainly did help me stick it out, at least for the first 20 days. While I didn’t have perfect 30 day performance, I’m still feeling great about this small achievement, and wanted to thank everyone who has left an encouraging comment or linked to my project weight loss posts
• I need to build more leverage or stronger reasons to stick to my weight loss efforts. A public commitment is a form of leverage however in my case I now know that I need more leverage.
• While there are many tips and tricks to losing weight, what it comes down to is hard work. A lot of the times I ate healthy and exercised even if I didn’t feel like it. Eating healthy and exercising might have not provided me with immediate gratification, however, it certainly was building up long term gratification.
• It’s okay to try and get off track, even if you write about many personal development topics like myself. It’s actually a bit freeing for me to admit that I’m not perfect

Future Weight Loss Efforts

I’m certainly still exercising and eating healthy. I’m feeling great about my slow yet steady results. I will keep you updated on my weight loss progress in future posts. I might also do another 30 day weight loss challenge in upcoming months. Thanks for everyone’s support.

Since I’ve started project weight loss I have been actively learning more about weight loss, healthy eating habits, exercising and fitness. The following 100 weight loss tips are divided into 4 sections: Get Moving, Adjust Your Eating Habits, Adjust Your Thinking, and Additional Tips. Your comments are welcome and encouraged at the end of this post, feel free to refer to any of the tips by number, or even share some of your own weight loss tips

Get Moving - 26 Weight Loss Tips

Obviously the more physical activity your body performs, the more calories it will burn. The more physical activity you do, the faster you can lose the weight.

1. Clean up your home. Cleaning up your home more often is a great way to increase your physical activity level. Organize your closets, do the laundry, donate old clothing or other stuff you no longer use, take out the garbage, or mow the lawn.
2. Use the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Maybe you can use the stairs at your work building, your school, your apartment building, multi-level shopping stores you frequent, or malls.
3. Go for a walk during your lunch break. It’s best to do this after you have eaten lunch so that your body will start digesting the food right away. Most jobs provide a long enough lunch break to grab a quick bite and go for a walk. If you are going to school, go for a walk in between classes. Try to walk for at least 10-15 minutes. Taking these short walks on a daily basis adds up.
4. Walk or bike to work. If the weather doesn’t permit, and you have to drive to work, park a few blocks from your work building, and walk those blocks.
5. Park your car farther away from your destination. When you go shopping, park your car at the far end of the parking lot, and walk across the parking lot to the store’s front doors. If you use public transportation, try getting off the bus or train a stop or two before your regular stop, and walk the difference.
6. Workout for 30 Minutes Twice a Week
7. Attend group fitness classes. Most gyms will have free (for members) or very cheap group fitness classes. These can include yoga, strength training, or cardiovascular fitness classes. These classes will always be much more fun than working out by yourself. Also try to make a friend or two in the class, this will motivate you to attend the next session at least to catch up with your new buddies.
8. Pay for a couple of personal training sessions. Personal training sessions are usually a bit expensive and that’s why they work. If you pay for personal training sessions, you will show up, no matter how lazy you are feeling.
9. Sign up for some dance classes. Salsa is a favorite of mine. There is also tango, swing and hip-hop dancing classes. Anyone can take a dance class, believe me if I did it anyone can Also keep in mind you are taking the class to increase your physical activity, so there is no pressure on how well you perform during the class. Who knows you might even learn a cool dance move or two
10. Try rock climbing. Many gyms have rock climbing walls and trainers that will teach you.
11. Go Ice Skating. Ice skating is easy to learn and is lots of fun. Ice skating is generally pretty safe and painless because when you fall you just slide down the ice.
12. Take a biking trip this weekend. Get your bike ready, and ride it for 10-15 miles. Make sure you pack enough water and small healthy snacks. Take your camera along and take a few photos to show off to your friends later
13. Go camping. Camping requires some physical activity whether you are walking around the camp site, setting up your tent, or packing your stuff. It’s also relaxing.
14. Sing up for a 5k run. This is a great way to stick to your weight loss commitment. Once you sign up, you will be a lot more motivated to go for short runs. During the run you will usually be surprised on how much you can push yourself when you have other competitive runners around you. When I did my run I was very surprised about how well I performed.
15. Ask your company to sponsor a recreational activity or league. My last company rented us a basketball court on a weekly basis during the winter and even sponsored a softball team during the spring and summer.
16. Walk your dog more often. If you don’t have a dog, this is a good reason to consider getting one
17. Jump Rope. This is a very fun way of losing weight and exercising. You can also jump rope practically anywhere even in your own house.
18. Go on a hiking trip. Hiking is a great reason to take a short weekend trip.
19. Play some Tennis or Racquetball. You should be able to find a close by gym with racquetball courts. The greatest thing about racquetball is that even if you can’t get a a friend to play with you, it’s still fun to practice by yourself.
20. Go swimming. While getting in a bathing suit might make you feel a bit insecure about your body shape, it is a great reality check and will make you want to lose the weight even more.
21. Try some home exercise videos. My favorite is Billy Blanks Tae Bo: Fat Blasting Cardio & Total Body Fat Blaster. If the weather is horrible outside or you just don’t feel like going to the gym, you can always do a home exercise video.
22. Shop for Clothing. Walking around different department stores is fun and is a great physical activity. Also trying on clothing is a great reality check. It might be be a bit uncomfortable to look in the mirror and see how clothing fit your body. However that discomfort will motivate you to lose the weight once and for all.
23. Start on some home improvement projects. Maybe you need to paint some walls, fix the roof, or buy some new furniture. Home improvement projects always requires some physical activity.
24. Listen to your favorite music. While exercising or doing other physical activity, listening to your favorite song will make the time fly.
25. Lift Weights. The more muscle you build, the more calories your body will burn. Pro weightlifters eat thousands of calories per day to maintain their muscle mass. Lifting weights and building muscles will increase the rate of your metabolism even when your body is at rest.
26. Try CrossFit. CrossFit is a great workout that is becoming more popular. It is used by many celebrities to get in shape quickly for an upcoming movie or music video.

Adjust Your Eating Habits - 39 Weight Loss Tips

Adjusting your eating habits is important for losing weight. Let’s face it, all those extra pounds are the result of foods that were consumed at one point or another. Starving yourself certainly doesn’t work and isn’t practical, instead here are some tips to help you eat smart and lose weight.

1. Read the Nutrition Facts food labels. This will help you separate the high calorie foods from the healthier low calorie foods. Remember to not only check the total calories but to also check the serving size and number of servings per package. Sometimes food manufacturers have a very small serving size to trick the consumer into thinking that they are buying a low calorie food. Here is a great guide that will teach you everything about the Nutrition Facts food labels.
2. Use Calorie King. It is a great tool that will help you find the number of calories in any food, even ones without a Nutrition Facts label.
3. Calculate your weight maintenance calories. This is how many calories you need to consume per day to maintain your current body weight. Once you know this number and you decrease your caloric intake by 500 calories a day, you can expect to lose 1 pound of body weight each week. Here is a great tool that will calculate your daily caloric intake for weight maintenance.
4. Try to eat 5-6 smaller meals per day instead of the traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner. Try a Breakfast, a Lunch, an afternoon snack, a dinner, and an evening snack. Eating smaller meals keeps your metabolic rate high throughout the day because your body is constantly using up energy to digest the food you are eating. Eating smaller meals will also leave you feeling lighter and more energized throughout the day.
5. Do not skip meals or starve yourself. Skipping meals or starving yourself puts your body into survival mode. This is where your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. This is why your body can survive without any food for several days. Of course when your metabolism slows down your body burns a lot less calories. Try to eat a meal or a snack every 3-4 hours.
6. Decrease your consumptions of White Carbohydrates. White carbohydrates include bread, rice, fried foods with breading, cereal and pasta. White carbs encourage weight gain, here is a great quick read to learn more about carbs.
7. Decrease your consumption of processed foods. Processed food is just another name for junk food or fast food. Processed foods tend to be high in calories and in fat content. Typically your body will just store those extra calories as extra pounds. Here is a great Junk Foods vs Whole Foods guide.
8. Eat more fruits and vegetables. They are generally low in calories and high in fiber which is why a small serving will satisfy your hunger. Fruits and vegetables are also full of vitamins and minerals.
9. Drink diet sodas instead of regular sodas. Try to only drink diet or low calorie drinks. Regular sodas have a lot of sugar and extra calories.
10. Drink lots of water. Drinking water while eating a meal, will help you get full faster and eat less. Consuming more water will also improve your skin, and cleanse your digesting system.
11. Eat slower. Savor each bite of food, and chew it slower. The slower you eat the faster you will get full. You can even try to eat half of your meal, pause from eating for 5-10 minutes and then resume eating.
12. Decrease your fast food restaurant visits. If you have to eat at one try to get a salad. Many will have grilled chicken salads. Go easy on the dressing. Check out this guide for specific healthy menu items from many of the most popular fast food chains.
13. Avoid Mindless Eating. Do not eat while watching television or surfing the web. This is Mindless eating, where you are distracted by something else and aren’t conscious of what you are eating. When you eat mindlessly you tend to eat more. If possible try to avoid doing anything else while consuming a meal.
14. Have some healthy frozen microwave dinners in your freezer. Lean Cuisine and healthy choice make many great healthy frozen dinners. They are perfect when you are in a hurry and need a quick healthy meal. Since they are quick to prepare they will help you avoid the temptation to stop by a fast food restaurant.
15. Eat sugar-free snacks. These are low calorie snacks that are sweetened with sugar substitutes. They are a great way to satisfy your sweet cravings. Two of my favorites are Sugar Free Jell-O snacks and Del Monte Sugar Free Diced Peaches fruit cups. Both these snacks are available in most grocery stores.
16. Try Philadelphia fat free cream cheese. It’s very low in calories and tastes delicious.
17. Eat more lean grilled meats. They are lower in fat and calories and pack a lot of protein which will satisfy your hunger very quickly.
18. Eat more nuts. Nuts contain healthy unsaturated fat, and are very satisfying. You should eat nuts in moderation because of their high caloric content.
19. Try light wheat bread. It’s lower in calories. My favorite is Wonder Light Wheat bread which can be found in most grocery stores.
20. Try fat free plain yogurt with real fruit. Fat free plain yogurt is available in most grocery stores, and has fewer calories. It also tastes great when you add in your own real fruit bits, and is much more nutritious than the prepackaged fruit yogurts.
21. Try fat free cottage cheese with berries. Cottage cheese is very healthy and satisfying. It tastes delicious when you mix in some blueberries or strawberries.
22. Eat baked chips instead of regular chips. All the big potato chip manufacturers now make baked chips which are lower in calories and wont leave your fingers greasy.
23. Satisfy your chocolate cravings with fat free chocolate pudding. It’s low in calories and is still delicious. Kraft makes it so it is available in most grocery stores.
24. Use non stick pan spray for cooking. It has a lot fewer calories than oil or butter.
25. Use herbs to seasons your foods. Herbs make a great replacement for high calorie dips, sauces, and salad dressings.
26. Replace butter with olive oil when cooking. This is of course if you can’t just use non stick pan spray. Olive oil is a healthy fat and contains fewer calories than butter.
27. Eat low fat ice cream instead of regular ice cream. It tastes good and has a lot fewer calories.
28. Avoid bringing unhealthy foods into your home. Try to avoid buying unhealthy foods as much as possible. Try to avoid bringing them into your home. If you feel like having an unhealthy snack, buy it in a small one serving size. Avoid buying junk food in family size or in bulk. Junk foods aren’t good for your or your family members.
29. Try these 75 healthy meal ideas
30. Prepare healthy meals in advance. Make healthy meals in bulk over the weekend and store them in your fridge or freezer. This will save you a lot of time during the weekdays. This will also make eating healthier much more convenient.
31. Eat a variety of foods. This will ensure that your body is getting all the nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fiber and amino acids it needs to function optimally. If you also eat the same couple of healthy foods/meals over and over you will get bored really quickly. Always buy and prepare a variety of healthy meals.
32. Get familiar with the food pyramid. The food pyramid teaches you how much of each food group you should consume to maintain a healthy weight.
33. Eat cheat meals. If you try to have a very strict diet, it will be very hard to maintain, this is why you should have cheat meals. Cheat meals can contain any kind of junk food you crave or really like. You should plan a cheat meal at least one day in advance. This ensures that you will not use cheat meals as an excuse to consume junk foods in moments of weakness. Also watch the portion size of your cheat meals, obviously the smaller they are the better.
34. Drink alcohol wisely. Alcoholic drinks contain a lot of empty calories that can easy turn into extra pounds. Try to limit your alcohol consumption as much as possible. At the bar it’s okay to order a diet coke or bottled water. If you are a beer drinker try drinking light beers. If you like mixed drinks try a tonic water and lime.
35. Eat junk foods in controlled small portions. If you decide to eat a junk food, maybe it’s part of your cheat meal, only eat it in a controlled small portion. If you decide to have 2 slices of pizza it’s a really bad idea to buy a whole large pizza. It will just increase the chances of you eating more than 2 slices. Instead just buy a personal sized pizza. If you decide to have a slice of cake, it’s a really bad idea to buy the whole cake. It’s better to go to a bakery or a restaurant that will sell you an individual slice.
36. Learn about Glycemic Index. Low glycemic index foods will satisfy your hunger for longer periods of time in comparison to high glycemic foods. The best low glycemic index foods are the ones with the fewest calories.
37. No mayo. Mayo is full of fat and is very high in calories. Try replacing mayo with mustard or try light mayo.
38. Bake foods that you normally eat fried. This works great for fries.
39. Read this Ethnic foods guide. If you like Chinese or Mexican food check out this guide, it’s fully of healthy ethnic foods.

Adjust Your Thinking - 20 Weight Loss Tips

Increasing your physical activity and eating smart will help you lose weight only if you have the right mindset. If you have the wrong mindset all the weight loss tips and tricks you learn will not work.

1. Have measurable weight loss goals. I just want to look thinner isn’t a specific measurable goal because “thin” means a different number of pounds to different people. Also “thin” isn’t specific so you can’t really achieve it because you can always be a little thinner. A good goal is “I want to weigh 175 pounds” or “I want to weigh 125 pounds”. This is measurable because you can always step on the scale and see your progress. Another good goal is “I want to achieve 15% body fat”. This is also measurable because you can always measure your body fat and see your progress.
2. Make a list of why you must lose weight. Make a list of all the different pains that you feel from being overweight. After that make a list of all the pleasures you will gain from losing the weight. Take your time creating both of these lists. Update and add to these lists often. Review these lists regularly. These lists will help you stay motivated to lose all the extra weight.
3. Start now. Start working toward your weight loss goals right away. Stop reading and implement at least 1 tip from this page right away. Taking immediate action will increase your chances of sticking with your weight loss efforts. If you are serious about losing weight and are sick of all those extra pounds, stop reading, and implement 1 tip, you can always come back later and finish reading this list.
4. Track your weight loss progress daily. While stepping on the scale and checking your weight on a daily basis might sound intimidating, it is a great reality check that will certainly keep you motivated. Always use the same scale to weigh yourself. I recommend you weigh yourself in the morning right after waking up, otherwise if you weigh yourself at different times throughout the day you might get different numbers depending on when you ate your last meal and your body’s water levels. Also keep in mind that there are certain uncontrollable factors that might cause sudden weight fluctuations like getting sick, or going through the menstrual cycle for women. However if you are monitoring your weight everyday you will notice these sudden spikes and be able to diagnose them. The Tanita BC533 Body Composition Monitor is one of my favorite scales that measures both weight and body fat percentage.
5. Track your body fat percentage. Tracking your body fat percentage will help you recognize if the pounds you are losing are mostly fat or lean muscle mass. Many people lose a lot of weight yet don’t end up looking lean because they still have a high body fat percentage. Check out this article Are You Losing Fat, or Just Losing Weight? I would recommend that you measure your body fat percentage at least once a week. It’s another great way to track your progress. I recommend the Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor, it’s affordable and works great.
6. Use a Measuring Tape. Using a measuring tape is critical especially when you first start losing weight. If you are trying to lose weight, and only check the scale you might be disappointed at the slow weight loss. However if you are using a measuring tape to measure different parts of your body you will notice the inches coming off very quickly. If you don’t have a measuring tape I recommend the MyoTape Body Measuring Tape by Accufitness.
7. Record what you are eating. Try recording each food you eat and it’s caloric content at least for a whole week. This will give you an idea of how much calories you are consuming. Also record your emotions and stress level for each day. This will help you identify any emotional overeating habits you might have. Recoding your eating habits will also help you stay more focused and on track towards achieving your weight loss goal.
8. Avoid very restrictive diets and other fads. Diets don’t usually work, and even if you do lose the weight on a diet you will most likely gain it back once you get off the diet.
9. Focus on building life long healthy habits. Don’t worry so much about how fast you lose the weight now. Just focus on slowly improving your eating habits, and slowly increasing your physical activity levels. As long as you build healthy habits the weight will come off.
10. Do not lose more than 1-2 pounds per week. If you lose weight quickly you increase the chances of gaining that weight back. Losing 1-2 pounds per week ensures that you are slowly improving your eating and exercising habits, and building a healthier lifestyle. If you lose the weight slowly, you tremendously increase your chances of keeping the weight off for the rest of your life.
11. Make a public commitment. You should not make your weight loss efforts a secret no matter how ashamed you are of your current body shape or fitness level. One easy way to make the public commitment is by posting your weight loss goals and progress on your blog. Check out my Project Weight Loss commitment. If you don’t have a blog here are 33 reasons to start a blog. Another quick way to make a public commitment is by sharing your weight loss goals with family and friends. Making weight loss a public commitment makes it much harder for you to slack off. If you slack off, you will not only let yourself down, but also others who you made the commitment to.
12. Be okay with failing. Weight loss isn’t always the easiest goal to achieve. Be okay with slacking off, falling off the wagon, and then trying again. The only way to not lose weight is to give up. Don’t be hard on yourself.
13. Be patient. You can lose a lot of weight very quickly when you start implementing healthier eating and exercising habits. However as you progress the weight loss will gradually start slowing down. The hardest pounds to lose are the last 10 pounds. However these last 10 pounds will make all the difference, especially in your body’s shape and leanness.
14. Make gradual changes. Do not overload yourself and try to implement all these tips at once. This will make weight loss seem overwhelming and impossible. Instead try implementing a new tip or two every weak. This will make weight loss almost feel natural.
15. See a therapist if necessary. Maybe you have been trying to lose weight for years now without any lasting success. Maybe you overeat frequently to deal with emotional issues. Maybe you overeat to deal with stress. If you can relate to any of these symptoms you should consider seeing a therapist. There are many therapists who specialize in eating disorders which include overeating. Try at least one session and then decide whether or not it’s right for you.
16. Don’t let others distract you from your weight loss efforts. Never cave in to others requests to try this or that unhealthy food. You might think that by complying with their requests you will make them happy. You are not. While you might make your friend happy right then and there, you will feel disappointed on the inside. Overtime these disappointments will steal away your happiness. If you aren’t happy with yourself then you can never make anyone else around you, including that friend, happy. If you aren’t happy with who you are you will not even have that much value to provide to others. Lets face it, we all have our own share of problems to deal with and no one wants to be around an unhappy person who’s carrying a lot of disappointment on the inside.
17. There is no Magic Pill that will help you lose weight fast and keep it off. Check this out Hard Work or a Secret Formula?
18. If you overeat one day you can undo it, just do an extra long workout the next day or perform an extra physical activity to burn the extra calories you consumed. Don’t expect to ever have perfect eating habits. Perfection is an ideal, it’s not real.
19. Visualize a thin fit happier you. As often as you can, close your eyes, and visualize a thin version of yourself with your ideal weight and body shape. Visualize how lean your body looks, how well clothing fit you, how confident and happy you are with your amazing body shape. Visualize how energetic you are. Visualize becoming a lot more successful in other areas of your life because of the confidence you now have from achieving your weight loss goals.
20. Consider the effects of each meal. Before each meal consider the short, medium and long term effects of what you are about to eat. For example say you feel like eating junk food. In the short term it will taste great in your mouth, that will last for the duration of the meal which is probably 15-30 minutes. In the medium term, or the following few hours, you will probably start feeling sleepy, tired and wont feel like doing much. In the long term, a few years from now, if you keep eating junk food you will gain more weight, develop all kinds of health problems and will dislike yourself even more. Say you are about to eat a healthy meal, in the short term or the 15-30 minutes you eat it, it might not taste great. However in the medium term, or the next few hours, you will feel light, energized and ready to get all your work done. In the long term, or after a few years of eating healthy foods, you will be in great physical shape and will probably live a happier more satisfying life.

Additional Tips - 15 Weight Loss Tips

There are other great weight loss tips that didn’t fit into any of the previous three sections.

1. Join online weight loss support forums. Networking and communicating with others who are also trying to lose weight can be very motivating. My favorite is John Stone’s Fitness Forum. Check out the fitness journals where others who are also trying to lose weight share their progress.
2. Find an accountability buddy. You can do this by making a friend or two on a weight loss forum, and requesting that they regulary review your weight loss progress posts. You can also do this by asking a close trusted friend to check in with you on a weekly basis. Having an accountability buddy makes it much harder to slack off.
3. Take Before Photos. It can be very intimidating to take before photos, especially when you dislike your current body shape. Taking before photos is in a way a reality check, it will help you realize how much extra weight you have put on. The pain you might feel from looking at your before photos will motivate you to get your weight handled once and for all. Also once you do lose the weight, you will love having before photos to show off how many pounds you lost
4. Take a daily multivitamin, here is why
5. Adjust your sleeping habits. Try to get between 7-8 hours of sleep per day. This will ensure your body is getting enough rest to burn off the pounds you are losing. Also getting very little sleep tends to increase your hunger and cravings throughout the day.
6. Read success stories. Regularly read weight loss success stories, they will help keep you motivated and remind you that weight loss is an achievable goal.
7. Look at before and after photos. Regularly looking at weight loss before and after photos will remind you that weight loss is possible, others have done it, and you can too. If you type in “weight loss before after photos” in any search engine you will get lots of results. Here are some of my favorites:
   Flickr Weight Loss Before After Photos
   Google Images Weight Loss Before After Photos
   Weight Loss Tips Before and After Photos
8. Try weight watchers or Jenny Craig. Numerous people had success with both these programs and highly recommend them. They have been around for a long time and aren’t just some new fad diets.
9. Try Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength. This is the probably the most popular weight loss plan that actually works consistently for people who try it. I know many people who have used this book to lose the weight and keep it off.
10. Make friends with healthy fit people. Spending time with them will automatically teach you healthy eating habits. They also tend to know a lot about fitness and can give you great advice from their own experience.
11. Take some cooking classes. Becoming a better cook will enable you to cook healthier nutritious meals more often instead of being tempted to always go to restaurant for food. While you can get healthy foods at restaurants, it’s always safer to prepare your own.
12. Take a nap or a shower when feeling strong cravings. When you have really tough junk food cravings, do an activity that makes it impossible for you to eat. It’s hard to eat while taking a shower or a nap. Doing this distracting activity will give you more time to question your cravings instead of automatically giving in.
13. Set Regular Rewards for achieving weight loss hurdles. Make sure those rewards don’t involve food. For example if you have been debating whether or not to buy that really nice expensive watch, or that pricey dress, decide that you can only buy it after you lose the next 5 pounds. Rewards will keep you motivated and focused on your weight loss goal.
14. Book your next beach vacation. Say you are down to those last 10 pounds, and decide that it will probably take you another 10 weeks to lose them. Book and pay for a beach vacation that starts 10 weeks from now. This will motivate you to lose the last 10 pounds since no one wants to go to the beach and feel fat in their bathing suit. Also since you paid for the vacation you now have another great reason to lose the weight.
15. Shop for tight clothing. Go shop for clothing and buy an expensive item that is one size smaller than what you currently wear. It should be very tight fitting on your body where you currently would be too embarrassed to wear it out in public. Hang it up in your closet where you can see it on a daily basis. This will give you another great reason to lose weight.

Also remember that writing out your weight loss goals is important when considering different weight loss programs. Your comments are welcome and encouraged, feel free to refer to any of the tips by number, or even share some of your own weight loss tips