The obvious answer is "eat less". If you can do that, great! Most people have trouble.
The thing is, we evolved to have homeostatic regulation of our food-seeking behaviors. That means we have a set of unconscious impulses that guide most of our decisions for when and how much to eat. We didn't evolve to use executive function, and only executive function, to decide how much to eat. And if we fight those impulses, we're fighting ourselves.
Obviously, the problem isn't simple. Otherwise, everyone would be at their ideal weight! So what can we do?
Instead of fighting against your instincts, manipulate them. Why do we get those impulses to eat too much? In a modern environment, we have easy access to hyperpalatable food – in other words, junk food. It's highly rewarding for very little effort, so your brain not only tells you to eat more of it at once, it also tells you to seek it out more often.
But how do we manipulate our food-seeking impulses? By changing your food environment. Don't surround yourself with junk food. Choose to surround yourself with healthier foods, and choose to eat foods that require some effort to obtain or prepare. If you don't have time to cook, make time. You'll feel full after fewer calories, and your food seeking behaviors will naturally change. Don't do anything crazy, just eat healthy foods in sensible combinations.
Now, you can certainly throw some self-control into the equation. And if you can't fully control your food environment, you'll have to. But if you keep your self in the same food environment that got you fat and try to lose weight entirely through self-control, statistically your odds of success are quite low.
This is my answer. Your answer may be different, but this is what worked for me.
One problem with that don't surround yourself with junk food idea, is now living in a city means junk food is never more than a few minutes delivery away.
The amount of times I've looked at all my healthy food in the fridge and decided instead to order from burger king...
I don't have any answers. I've used cocaine, and I swear that the right combination of fat, salt and sugar is far more addictive than coke ever was.
The UK has just authorised liraglutide for weight loss and I'm going to give that a go.
The thing is, we evolved to have homeostatic regulation of our food-seeking behaviors. That means we have a set of unconscious impulses that guide most of our decisions for when and how much to eat. We didn't evolve to use executive function, and only executive function, to decide how much to eat. And if we fight those impulses, we're fighting ourselves.
Obviously, the problem isn't simple. Otherwise, everyone would be at their ideal weight! So what can we do?
Instead of fighting against your instincts, manipulate them. Why do we get those impulses to eat too much? In a modern environment, we have easy access to hyperpalatable food – in other words, junk food. It's highly rewarding for very little effort, so your brain not only tells you to eat more of it at once, it also tells you to seek it out more often.
But how do we manipulate our food-seeking impulses? By changing your food environment. Don't surround yourself with junk food. Choose to surround yourself with healthier foods, and choose to eat foods that require some effort to obtain or prepare. If you don't have time to cook, make time. You'll feel full after fewer calories, and your food seeking behaviors will naturally change. Don't do anything crazy, just eat healthy foods in sensible combinations.
Now, you can certainly throw some self-control into the equation. And if you can't fully control your food environment, you'll have to. But if you keep your self in the same food environment that got you fat and try to lose weight entirely through self-control, statistically your odds of success are quite low.
This is my answer. Your answer may be different, but this is what worked for me.