Daily Habits for Weight Loss

It’s not a grand gesture, but the activities of daily life that define how our bodies will look and feel. Here are three light and easy responses that are easy to do and create an immediate difference in how your body feels. You will gain a renewed sense of self, and lose something too.

How would you feel at bedtime if you called it quits at dinner? If you are someone who tends to snack in the evening, you will definitely notice a difference. Expect to sleep better and wake up more energized. Done at dinner is easiest when it is paired with a cue. This will be anything that you can create in your environment that reminds you of your intention not to snack. For example, brushing and flossing after dinner creates a clean mouth. The taste of a fresh mouth is a reminder and it is also new context where eating when you have minty breath seems less desirable.

Stretching allows us to better connect with how we feel. When we stretch, we come alive! It is energizing, it feels good, and it gets us going toward doing more helpful things for ourselves. Consider stretches you have done in the past that feel good to you. Some to consider are hamstring stretches, toe touches, arm crossovers, downward dog, sideband, or a few slow squats. It is not an exercise session—there is not working up to a target. It is just quick and easy. Try for 3x per day. Stretches may also be leveraged as a tool for reconnecting when feeling bad emotionally, tired, or encountering a context where a snack habit lives (like evening wind down time).

Yes, fruit and vegetables are good for you and contribute to a healthy weight. But here’s a behavior analytic reason to eat more plants — they change the way your belly feels. It is called an internal cue. The light, somewhat rawer feeling that we get from fruits and vegetables creates a new internal state for the person. This feeling modifies both how we eat and how we feel when we are done. Gradually and casually making room for more fruit and vegetables in your daily meals and snacks will create access to an energized state. There will be less hesitation and sighing. And if you do not consider yourself a “salad type” know this — every person’s body has a desire to eat plants.