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Author: Kathryn Soloff

Weight Loss: Changing Bad Habits

Being overweight is the result of either overeating or eating the wrong types of foods, or both. One of the secrets to successful weight loss is to target your bad habits and to change them.

It is almost impossible to eliminate a bad habit. Trying to remove a bad habit, such as eating the wrong foods, is a flawed idea. The one method that works is to replace the bad habit with a good habit.

People are habitual creatures. Most of the patterns in our lives are the results of the habits that we acquire. When you learn to replace a bad habit with a good habit, being overweight will be a thing of the past.

The difficulty will bad habits is that they start with small changes. By the time that they take over we seldom even notice them. Once they become ingrained they are rather difficult to change.

Generally speaking, those who are overweight have acquired many habits that combine to create the situation that they are in now-fat.

Having food involved makes matters even worse. The highly processed foods that we consume are low in nutritional value, have a lot of additives or consist of combinations not suited to us (too much protein, fats or enriched with vitamins). In reality these types of food cause hunger and the ever increasing quantities in order for us to feel satisfied.

Let me ask you this. Do you find yourself eating because of your emotions or state of mind? Of course you do. It is very common to eat when you are stressed or depressed. Emotional states definitely trigger unnecessary eating or indulging in comfort food.

It is these emotional eating habits that are the most difficult to break. When in this state of mind we are not fully conscious of what we are doing. Even when we make an attempt at being completely aware, we manage to indulge and punish ourselves by feeling guilty at the same time.

These patterns are obvious when you think about them. Unfortunately, this is not the solution. It will, in fact, lead to more problems that fuels the cycle of indulging and gaining weight.

The first step is to connect your weight issues to your bad habits. If you take the steps to replace the negative habits with positive habits, well, your weight problems will be a thing of the past.

Step back and determine what your bad habits are. Examine the times when you tend to overeat.

Many experts tell you to eliminate these emotional triggers. In my opinion, this is unrealistic. What are you going to do? Get rid of your (fill in the blank) husband, children, job, inlaws or financial problems. I don't think so.

Here are the things that you have control over:

You have control over what you put in your mouth.

You have control over how and when you eat.

You have control over how much exercise you have.

In simple terms you have control over yourself, not external circumstances.

First, figure out what is healthy to eat. The best foods are natural. These include whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruit.

To online and find some recipes and tasty ways to prepare these foods. Yeah, I know. This is a big sacrifice. So what? When you eat natural whole foods you will lose weight effortlessly. Your health will improve and you'll feel better. You'll have more energy and your mind will become clear and sharp. Big sacrifice, huh?

At the same time, find some physical activity that you can do and will enjoy on a daily basis. You can walk, jog, run, bicycle, swim, play tennis or whatever it is that you enjoy. Change it up. Make your daily exercise program fun and something that you look forward to.

This is not hard stuff to do nor is it rocket science. The important element is to make up your mind. Once you do that everything else will fall into place.

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