It’s hard to stay motivated while losing weight. When you first start losing and the pounds are melting off its actually pretty easy to stay on track. But once you reach a plateau or become frustrated just a few pounds from your goal it’s hard not to give in to temptation.
A common problem for people is waking up in the middle of the night and eating without even thinking about it. A lot of times people confuse hunger with thirst so the first thing I always try is drinking a big glass of water, which is good for you anyway, and seeing if you still feel hungry after that. If you’re really hungry at night it could mean you aren’t eating enough during the day. Adding another snack to your day, something low in calorie (fruit or pudding or just a slice of toast) maybe be all you need to solve your night binging problem, look at this site.
I have very little willpower when it comes to sweets so I try to think of not only how good I’ll look when I’m less chubby but also how good I’ll feel. Focusing more on how you feel versus how you look is probably the healthier way to go.
If your problem is cookies, don’t have any cookies in the house. Or make your own low fat/low calorie cookies or other sweets that temp you. I keep a bar of dark chocolate in my freezer and eat one square when I really need something sweet. This is usually enough to stop my craving. I also try to eat healthy alternatives, like an apple filled with peanut butter or pita chips with slices of avocado, so even though the calorie/fat isn’t too much different from sweets, it’s at least healthy fats instead of unnatural saturated ones. Just keep telling yourself that it doesn’t so much matter what your body looks like as to what you’re doing to your body and what it might look/feel like in 30 years.
Something that really helps it to get out of the mindset that everything is lost if you go over one by cookie and give up for the whole day. Don’t use it as an excuse to eat the whole rest of the bag. Thinking about how you eat over a couple of days versus just one day at a time makes it easier to un-do any slip-ups. Also calorie counting is bad because it can get you into an obsessive mindset instead of a healthy relationship with food.
Another way to eat less and stop yourself from over eating is to eat your food really slowly, or take a sip of water in between every bite to help fill you up. When I am eating breakfast in the morning I’ll leave my cereal bowl on the counter while I put on my clothes, wash my face, etc. & by the time I get around to finishing the whole bowl, I’m usually not hungry anymore.
Try to just walk away and get over your craving if you know you aren’t hungry and don’t need any more food. This is a lot harder than it sounds. You could also drink flavored water or chew gum when you find yourself wanting to eat. There are lots of things you can do to burn extra calories during the day that you probably never think of. Such as using the stairs instead of the elevator, park farther away in parking lots, walk to places that aren’t far away, etc.