Things I have learned while trying to shed some excess weight...

• You need to eat a lot less than you think. It has been an eye-opener for me to see how few calories I actually need every day, and most of all, how little I actually need to eat to reach my daily calorie need.
• Calorie intake and calorie spending is like a daily budget; it has to be balanced. If you put energy into your body and don’t spend it all, it will build up. This means that if you want to consume extra energy (e.g. have pecan pie for dessert), you need to do something extra to spend it all.
• Being in the mood for something sweet does not usually mean I’m hungry. Usually it means I need to drink water. Losing weight makes you very thirsty!
• Because of this, it is not a good idea to drink beer, and definitely nothing stronger, late in the evening, as this will dehydrate you and make you wake up with a headache and a very dry mouth, otherwise known as a hangover.
• After about a week of a balanced diet, that sweet/carbohydrate craving after meals goes away. I also feel more full after meals for a longer amount of time, and very rarely snacky.
• Exercise makes you feel really good! And it doesn't take as much time as you think.
• Habits (e.g. having a snack and/or a glass of wine in the evening in front of a 100 minute movie) are easy to form, but they’re also not that hard to break if you introduce new habits (e.g. doing a Wii exercise program and then having a cup of decaf tea in front of a 40 minute show).
• If you don’t eat after 7 pm at night, you wake up really, really hungry in the morning! Eggs are super filling and well worth their calories. For something sweet, I put a teaspoon of honey in my tea.
• You don’t have to diet to lose weight; just make a few adjustments and pay a little more attention to yourself.