1. Eat less and well. Eat to live and survive, not for pleasure/enjoyment/to fill some void. Humans actually require much less food that we eat in most "first world" societies. We generally eat huge breakfasts, huge lunches, and huge dinners, and then wonder why we gain and maintain weight. Also, our portions are usually unnecessarily large. Most times we eat so much food that we stretch our stomachs over time beyond their natural size, which then forces us to eat more and more food to feel "full". Eat less, which will help the stomach return to it's natural size and cut down on the amount of food we must take in to feel "full". Because we're no longer living in a wild hunter-gatherer society, we have the luxury of free time and focusing on comfort, so feeling "full" is something we pay attention to. However, don't always focus on feeling full. Just eat a small healthy meal, and keep moving.
1A. Those who work in high-energy, high-demand, busy jobs often feel they need to eat a lot of food in order to have energy. I work in the medical field, and my particular work often requires me to travel across states. I used to feel that I needed to take in a lot of food to maintain energy in a high-paced environment. I cut down and found out that I was still able to operate. Find out how much food your body requires to maintain your energy, and stick to it. I guarantee its less than you think.
2. Cut out foods that are high in sugar (especially processed sugars), fats, oils, and an abundance of salt, which is typically what is most popular in our diets. Retrain your craving system toward foods that are healthy. This can take a few weeks of eating healthy food, before you lose your craving for foods that aren't good for you, but keep at it. After a few weeks, you will definitely notice yourself craving the good foods, instead of the bad ones.
3. Sugar is such a huge part of our diet, and most people struggle with this. Eat fruit instead of candy/sweet baked goods/cakes/processed foods, when you get a craving for sweets. Try the less popular fruits, also. People often only buy apples and oranges because they're generally the cheapest and most common fruits. People get bored eating those two and then go back to candy. Try other fruits like blueberries, peaches, plums, watermelon, dark cherries. They're high in water content and very sweet. Avoid buying fruits you aren't particularly fond of. You won't eat them, they'll spoil, and then you'll be back to candy. There are a wide variety of fruits, with diverse tastes. Find what your taste buds love, and buy them. You may need to go outside of your local supermarket. Also, while the less common fruits can get expensive, many stores offer frozen fruit that don't have any additives, etc. (Whole Foods, local trader markets) They may not be as healthy/fresh as fresh fruit, but get the job done.
4. If you have a high appetite, eat several tiny meals through the day. For instance, break your breakfast up into four or five different small tupperwares. Do the same with your lunch. Whenever you get a craving, eat from one of the tupperwares. This way you'll fulfill your appetite, without eating entire meals every time you're hungry.
5. Eat fruits and vegetables that have a higher water content. The water conent will cause you to fill more "full" with less actual eating.
6. Eat less meat. It takes more meat to make you feel full, than fruits or vegetables.
7. AVOID RED MEAT! I'm not one of those people who say you can't ever eat it (although some studies/science suggests it is carcinogenic, i.e. cancer causing). However, white meat and fish are much more healthy for you and easier for the stomach to break down. Chicken and turkey are great white meats. Also, avoid "cheap fish", like catfish. It's usually the most polluted and the worst for you. I know everybody loves a good catfish fry, but try to diversify the fish you eat.
8. Go to the gym. Focus on weight loss FIRST! I see so many people who have a lot of fat on their body using free weights and weight machines, and it's unwise. The weights and weight machines are generally focused on building up muscle, not burning fat. Unless you're using extremely heavy weights, you're usually not going to be using the energy required to burn fat. If you have a lot of fat on your body, then working out for muscle-building/gain won't be as effective, if the muscle is still covered in fat. Weights and weight machines require short burst energy, while aerobic/fat-burning machines require consistent maintained energy which helps burn the fat. Focus first on getting the fat off by using the aerobic and fat-burning machines, such as the treadmill, stair-climber, the various bicycle machines. Planet Fitness is a great gym that is super cheap (usually $10 a month in most markets), while offering an abundance of aerobic and fat-burning machines. They cater primarily to weight loss more so than muscle-building. Once you get the fat off to a point where you're able to see the muscles that are usually covered (usually abdominal muscles and thigh muscles), then you can start focusing on muscle building to sculpt the body you want. But avoid dropping aerobic/fat-burning exercises...keep doing them.
9. Sleep well. A stressed out and tired body is never good. Sleep helps the body regulate many systems, including those that are linked to weight loss and gain.
10. Love your body. Lose weight for YOU, not for societal standards. That's important. Find the weight, size, shape, that YOU love.
Sorry if I've repeated things that were already said. Didn't read through the thread, just read the initial question.
