Don't Eat Just Because You Are Bored

Since dieting is stressful, the process can trigger an increase in stress hormones that are directly linked to weight gain and storage of visceral belly fat. If you believe you can muscle your way to weight loss success, you might think again. Although super frustrating at times, your psychological well-being may be equally as important for shedding pounds due to your somewhat faulty personal connection to food.

The next time you find yourself starring into the refrigerator, step back and ask yourself if you are really hungry or not. Identify an alternative activity to help with your emotional needs. If emotional eating seriously impacts your life or waist, or you are struggling with binge eating, contact a weight loss specialist who can help you get back on track. Once you pinpoint feelings and emotions associated with certain food cravings, it will give you the incentive to identify healthier outlets.

• Hold Yourself Accountable - Whether you like keeping it simple or prefer to track every little thing, it is essential to make an effort to track what you eat and what you do, so you have benchmarks for monitoring your daily intake and exercise.
• Don't Worship Pounds Lost - Setting goals, making lifestyle changes, and working hard to achieve them is all about having the positive reinforcements in place to reward yourself with a non-food guilty pleasure like a special spa day.
• Move More in the Morning - Physical activity is a stress buffer that can help you stay on track and avoid emotional eating by boosting your mood and improving your overall self-esteem. Moreover, it all adds up so you can reach your goal weight sooner.
• Exercise Patience - Research studies suggest that dieting alone does not work well for long-term weight loss as the body has a natural tendency to maintain body weight to prevent starvation when food is scarce.
• Use Your Willpower - To retrain your mind, do not allow your mental fantasies to include unhealthy foods or bad lifestyle behaviors. You may have numerous food cravings but the goal is to train your mind.

Never sit down to eat when you are feeling over-excited or frustrated. Setting the wrong goals at the beginning can set you up for failure. The same is true for adopting a goal that is too vague, so set smart goals that are attainable and meaningful to you. Although food makes you feel loved and comforted during stressful moments, sadly the effects are only temporary. No matter how much you intend to restrict yourself, it is so easy to keep going back for more.

It is important for you to start from where you are and focus on what is attainable. If you want to cook more healthy meals but have limited experience with food preparation, checkout the recipes at the Metabolic Research Center and get acquainted with using healthy ingredients. If you practice stress reduction and mindfulness in food choices, you will be asking yourself whether your lifestyle and food choices are optimal for your needs right now.