I really need to lose some weight!! Any advice?

Much of this is a mind game. Make a little list of the reasons you want to lose weight. Make them as compelling as possible. This is personal, you don't have to show it to anyone, so feel free to write down the most important things that are closest to your heart. Review this often, preferably before you decide what to eat. Studies show that if you write down what you eat, you have a much better chance of success. I know this is true for me! This doesn't need to take more than a few minutes a day. You may need to count calories for a while as you do this, to see where they are slipping in too much. Plan for your treats, so you can enjoy them without guilt. They taste better that way! I have a mentor who shared these thoughts with me:Ask yourself, am I trading what I really want for what I want right now? ABC: All Bites Count! If hunger isn't the problem, food isn't the answer. Stick with mostly protein and produce, and a couple of serving of low fat dairy, plus some high fiber carbs. Avoid drinking beverages with calories. They don't satisfy like solid food does, but the calorie count mounts up fast. Drink plenty of water. I hope this helps!

I always keep count of calories and if you go to prevention.com or sparkpeople.com they have some great calorie trackers there and you can keep track of your goals there. If you go check them out, they have a lot of tips for losing weight and a lot of other people are there for support. Not only do they have calorie tracking but also how many calories you burn, ways to reach your goals, etc. Drinking water is the biggest thing, I think....a lot of times when we think we're hungry, we really aren't...we're thirsty and we just can't differentiate between the two.

dont cut yourself off totally because then you will want to just pig out. my advice is to eat small portions of the things that you like and eat small meals. i also drink a lot of water and have lost 10 lbs since the summer.

When I lost weight I counted calories, a pain I know, but at least you know how much is going into your body. And recently I stopped using artificial sweeteners. And when I did that, surprise, I stopped having as many cravings and didn't eat as much between meals. good luck...

A friend recommended this & I thought NO WAY...but it worked. Have your husband or a friend take a picture of you naked. Attach it to your favorite bag of candy (in my case the refrigerator) so it's the first thing you see when you go to get a piece of candy. It will make you STOP & think what you really want to look like. It's a shock EVERY time you "want" a piece of chocolate & your wants becomes MUCH LESS of a need!!! My doctor suggested I have what he called one "cheat" day a week. I wouldn't allow myself to eat ice cream (my poison) 6 days a week. On day 7 I was allowed to eat ALL the ice cream I wanted...that is...until I got SICK!!! It was hard at first, but psychologically I could wait knowing I could eat ALL I wanted in just a few days. This might work better for you since you have children in the house to find the picture. The picture worked best for me, but I was single & living alone. The "cheat" day worked too. After eating NO sweets for a week, I found the sweets became too sweet when I did eat it!!! The sweets became so yucky that I couldn't eat enough to become sick. I thought I'd eat a gallon of ice cream at one sitting & I was sick before the end of one bowl. So, I cut down from 3 bowls a day to ONE bowl a WEEK!!! Going from 18 bowls to one bowl was quite a savings in calories without even having to count!!!

Exercise out doors as far as possible. There are two advantages of doing whatever you are doing out side. One advantage is that it gives your body a chance to get a lot of the much needed fresh air and sunshine. The second advantage is that the surroundings keep you perked up and it is a break form remaining cooped up all day lon

If you want to loose weight, you have to set your mind to do it, and then just do it. I know easier said than done. But it is the truth. Most likely you already know everything you need to know to loose weight, but need motivation or energy. For me it has been both needing motivation and energy. And also fighting serious depression at times. However, I have lost a good bit of weight finally this year with barely any effort. And I have basically ate whatever I wanted to eat when I wanted to eat. I've only done one thing different. That one thing is I've been going walking at night with my husband for at least an hour or so, and two more things I almost forgot, I also have been drinking water, I really hate water so this is significant. And also I have started using Stevia, (a natural sweetner) instead of sugar, I've been avoiding sugar as much as possible, and also avoiding things I know will trigger me into eatting a lot more than I should. And last I've been working on limiting the portion sizes I have, on most things unless it is a very low calorie type food, for instance I limit breads, and sweets, but I don't limit cabbage, lettuce, spinach, popcorn. And I don't drink soda's. Just doing the above I've lost 95 pounds in six months, and have not even had to think about it really. I have a friend who has basically decided her own diet and is now within 10 pounds of her goal weight of 120 she was a little over 200. She also has added lots of exercise to her weekly schedule, sometimes her exercise is just walking. As for cravings, avoid them if you don't eat the foods you are craving for a few weeks, you will loose your taste for them, that has been my experience anyway. Also just decide that all food is ok, and is healthy, in moderation, because if you take the view that all food is bad or all food is causing or may cause you some problem or other based on the latest study, then you end up frusterated. And last don't go in for fad diets unless you want to eat exactly like prescribed in that fad diet for your whole life and that would be unhealthy.