A lot of people always tell me how on point they are during the day but once nighttime arrives, it’s very hard for them to not overeat.

Overeating is simply a way for us to change the way we feel. Or more so, numb how we feel so we don’t have to feel it. The only (sustainable) way to overcome overeating is to let yourself feel.

Through tons of research, and tons of experiments and experience, I’ve found that the best form of advice is in the form of questions.

So here are some to get you started:

What does the nighttime represent to you?

Are you lonely?

Do you wish you were with a lover?

Are you dreading another day of work?

Are you overwhelmed by the stuff all around you?

Are you extremely bored?

Are you haunted by your past?

Are you not intellectually challenged whatsoever?

Do you have a significant other/spouse that makes you feel even more lonely because you don’t connect with them in a way that you want to be?

If you want to crack the code on why you overeat at night start asking yourself these questions.

Here’s the deal though: Deep down we may know (even though we might not want to know!) the real reason so it’s just easier to eat so we don’t have to face the discomfort.

For everyone in this world, making big life changes is terrifying. Change is absolutely 1000% scary.

But if you’re going to ’stick it out’ whatever ‘it’ is, and choose unhappiness over uncertainty here’s my advice:

Make the best of your situation and accept it.

But don’t fight reality – a reality that’s in your control to change.

Because you can change it. Or you can make the best of it. But complaining is just useless. Wallowing has never made anyone happier.

Start thinking about these questions, and if you need some help, as always, I’m here for you!

I hope you had a great weekend! Coming back to reality can be stressful if you’re not prepared for it.

Just like bodies in motion stay in motion – when we get into a rut, it becomes easier to stay in a rut.

When you fall into the habit of overeating it gets easier to repeat that behavior. One binge can lead to three.

One episode of late night emotional eating can lead to a whole week of late night emotional eating.

When our brain is under stress there is a vicious cycle that gets created. In a study of chronically stressed rats the brains atrophied in the areas of decision making, while becoming overly developed in the area of habit formation.

Scientists note that behaviors become habitually faster in stressed animals than in the controls, and worse, the stressed animals can’t shift back to goal-directed behaviors when that would be the better approach. <--- A.K.A. a vicious cycle.

This might explain why when we're under stress we abandon all that we know - and all that we consciously want to do and fall back into old habits.

Scientists note that we're lousy at recognizing when our normal coping mechanisms aren't working. Our response is usually to do it five times more, instead of thinking, maybe it's time to try something new. <--- A.K.A. the definition of insanity --> Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

So, even though overeating doesn’t really help us feel better, we can’t stop ourselves from continuing to do it because we’re used to doing that when we we’re stressed. It’s simply how our brains are wired to act when we’re under stress.

Although stress is a huge killer and leads to many diseases it’s also necessary for us to survive.

Fortunately, we no longer stress about what our ancestors did.

Our bodies have the most complex systems on Earth. What’s the benefit of our brain being prone to habit formation anyway? (I’m a nerd. I think about these things.)

Perhaps to help shift as many behaviors as possible over to automatic pilot so we can better focus on the crisis at hand.

And even if the crisis at hand is our boss yelling at us or our kids being disrespectful – if we feel stressed, we’re stressed. Perception is reality.

What to do?

Besides, taking a vacation and changing up your routine for a bit which can rewire your brain there is also a big opportunity for us to change.

If you can plan ahead what you’ll do before you’re stressed and actually start doing it when you’re stressed it’ll become a habit as well.

Our biggest opportunities for growth are always when we’re most uncomfortable.

Here are 5 ideas:

1. Listen to music.

2. Gather a few favorite emails or youtube videos that make you smile and read and watch the videos when you’re stressed. Be sure to save them all in one place so they’re easy to get to.

3. Get up. Take a big deep breath. Go for a 15 minute walk.

4. Read a juicy gossip blog that might make you feel otherwise guilty for doing so. (You’ll feel way less guilty reading than eating!)

5. Call your favorite person.

Pick one and try it next time. But instead of stressing how you’re actually going to do this each time you’re stressed, let’s make it simple: The very next time you feel stressed, try one of these. That’s it.

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

A lot of people are off for the long weekend so I figured I’d give you some tips on how to deal with the extended weekend which means another day without structure.

People always ask me what my top tip for losing weight is. And it’s always the same answer:

Eat less. And move more.

It’s that simple. (HA!)

Let’s explore the eating less part of the equation, though.

Most people think about food often. Whether it’s a company luncheon or a BBQ, many of us use food as an escape.

The interesting part is that those who think about food all of the time – don’t actually think about it while they’re eating. Instead, they’re just shoveling food into their mouths.

Instead of tasting and actually eating and chewing it.

When someone eats a pint of ice cream there’s no way they’re tasting every spoonful. They’re just eating mindlessly or emotionally.

Here are some tricks for you to think about this weekend:

1. Put down your fork or knife after every bite. Sandwich? Put the sandwich down. It takes 20 minutes for our mind to realize we’ve eaten. That’s why when we eat quickly we still feel hungry. Slow it down! What’s the rush?

2. Drink a sip of water in between every bite.

3. The most important step of all – savor every bite of food. Taste and chew each and every bite. Feel the texture. Taste the veggies. See how much more fresh your salad tastes! Pretend you’re a food critic.

4. Focus on how you feel! If you really pay attention while doing all of the above you’ll realize you don’t need nearly as much food as you think you do. And you’ll be full before you expected.

5. Focus on the food. When you’re watching TV, or hanging with friends and family, it’s very easy to forget about all of the above. So try to only eat when you’re sitting. Make it sort of a ritual. Don’t eat on the go. Stop and sit down. Put a napkin next to your plate. The more you can ritualize your food experience – the more chances you’ll have to realize what it is you’re actually doing. Conscious eating is the goal – not mindless eating.

6. If you’re going to a BBQ, a party, etc., wear something a little tighter than usual. If you have a lot of room in your clothes you won’t feel your belly expanding. And you also won’t want to make yourself feel overly stuffed by eating too much.

7. Exercise before you go out. Your chances of exercise decrease significantly as the day progresses on weekends. Get it done first thing in the morning and feel amazing!

8. Keep pace with the slowest eater at the table. That’s right. Find someone to pace you.

9. Stop being a finisher! If you’re not hungry anymore – stop eating. It’s okay. Really! Your eating isn’t going to save any kids across the Atlantic (unfortunately). It’s only going to make you feel more full and less happy.

10. Have fun! But remember – it’s not entirely about food. It’s about laughing and Interacting. And when it is about food – slooowww it down.

Enjoy your weekend! And if you follow these rules you’ll enjoy it even more so!

Who doesn’t want to do that?

Because as much fun as eating poorly is, it’s even more fun to eat healthfully.

Many people feel so in control during the day but when nighttime comes it’s very hard for them to not overeat.

Overeating is simply a way for us to change the way we feel. Or more so numb how we feel so we don’t have to feel it. The only way to overcome overeating is to let yourself feel.

I think night time is the time many of us overeat because it’s the first chance we actually have all day to feel. However, if nighttime eating isn’t your thing, this still applies.

It’s important to ask yourself some questions at night (or whenever).

Here are some to get you started:

What does the nighttime represent to you?

Are you lonely?

Do you wish you were with a lover?

Are you dreading another day of work?

Are you overwhelmed by the stuff all around you?

Are you extremely bored?

Are you not intellectually challenged?

Do you have a significant other/spouse that makes you feel even more lonely because you don’t connect with them in a way that you want to be?

If you want to crack the code on why you overeat at night start asking yourself these questions.

Here’s the deal though: Deep down we may know (even though we might not want to know) the real reason. And if you don’t, asking these questions will help you.

For a lot of people making big life changes is terrifying. I hear you! Change is absolutely 1000% scary.

But if you’re going to ’stick it out’ whatever it is and choose (because it is a choice) unhappiness over uncertainty here’s my advice:

Make the best of your situation and accept it.

But don’t fight reality. A reality that’s in your control to change.

Because you can change it. Or you can make the best of it. But complaining is just useless.

Start thinking about these and if you need some help, I am here for you, as always!

Super Bowl Sunday has practically become a National holiday here. Over 100 million people watch the game (or the commercials) globally and more junk and food is consumed today than any other day. The pizza industry estimates 350 slices of pizza will be eaten per second during the game.

So here are some tips and tricks to help you eat better today.

I’m going to preface this as I always do: I’m not saying eating junk isn’t fun. All I’m saying is that eating healthfully is way more fun!

1. Finishers. We love finishing things! That’s why it’s so hard to leave things on our plate; like the last few bites we don’t even want. Our clue that we are done eating is that our plates are clean.

The game plan: Use smaller plates, dishes and glasses. We drink more from a wider glass than a taller glass so use taller glasses instead of wider ones.

2. Never Forget. There was a great study in which one group of people ate chicken wings and the bones were kept in front of them. In the other group, the plates were cleared every 15 minutes or so. Who do you think ate less? The group who saw all of the bones. You can do the same with alcohol. Always serve new glasses and be sure to leave the old glasses out and the bottles, too!

The game plan: Keep all of your bones and food remains on your plate. Do not throw ‘em out. Keep all of your cans and bottles too.

3. Stop reaching. Always pour or put the snack into something. Otherwise, the hand always reaches into that bag. Having endless portions in front of you is a sure fire way to overeat.

4. Less is more. The first bite is always the best so just reduce your portions. In general, when food is out of your sight – it’s out of your mind because the more we’re cued, the more emotion and billions of dollars of advertising are at work.

5. Are you actually hungry? Remember: Companies spend tens of millions of dollars advertising because it works. In fact, it can work instantly. Many of the commercials are for food and alcohol.

The game plan: As much fun as the commercials are, maybe, it’s not a good idea for you to watch them. Stand up. Stretch. Help out in the kitchen. Besides, the best commercials will be all over TV and the internet in the coming weeks.

6. Double fist. Not necessarily alcohol but any beverage. I know this tip is a little ridiculous but it just might work. Double fisting means holding a can (or bottle) of beer (who says we can’t make it anything though?) in each hand. If you’re always holding something in each hand, you can’t eat!

7. Eat with your non-dominant hand. It takes 20 minutes to digest and realize the affects of the food we ate. Hence, you keep eating when you are no longer even hungry.

The game plan: Make it harder to eat. Use chop sticks. Eat with your other hand (and laugh a lot!). Try pacing yourself with the slowest eater.

8. Distractions. If you eat while you watch TV, or do anything in addition to eating, you’re going to eat more. Smell the grass. Live in the moment. Taste your food! Pretend you’re a food critic.

9. The health halo. Watch out for Subway or any other healthy eateries. Most people, because they think they are eating healthfully, will eat a lot more. The calories will add up and before you know it, you’re ‘healthy’ meal is not so healthy!

10. Groups: When you are with 1 other person you’ll eat 35% more, with a group of 4 it’s 75% more and with 7 or more it’s 96% more!

The game plan: Put whatever it is you’re eating down after each bite. Only take another bite once you’re done chewing the previous bite. Take a sip of water in between each bite.

11. Don’t call it a comeback. Towards the end of the game, you might find yourself just eating to eat. Are you really still hungry? If you’re not hungry but choose to eat anyway — say out loud, “I’m not hungry but I’m going to eat this anyway!” (Or at least say it to yourself.) This helps to wake you up because many times we’re just eating to eat.

12. Make it harder! If you’re having your own party, only serve in the kitchen. Being able to roll over and grab more food is going to make it very easy to eat a lot.

The game plan: If you’re at a party, do not ask anyone to get you anything. Get up. Stand up. And get your own food.

13. Wear tight, tight pants! It’s a lot easier to stop eating when you know you’re full. One telltale clue is when your clothes and belt starts telling you. Sounds obvious, but stopping when you’re full is probably one of the hardest things to do, especially when everyone else is helping themselves to seconds and thirds.

The game plan: Wear very tight pants because then you’ll have to stop eating when you’re stuffed. You’ll just be too uncomfortable otherwise.

14. To drink or not to drink? Is alcohol a trigger? Our irrational mind tends to get a lot louder after a few drinks. Alcoholic drinks are not only loaded with calories but they are likely to lower your inhibitions and might trigger you to eat more than you really want to.

The game plan: Don’t drink tonight and the Body Tutor on your shoulder might just be a little louder than the devil on your other shoulder.

15. Focus on the special stuff. Don’t waste your calories on large portions of food you can eat every day. Limit the variety you have.

The game plan: Only two items on your plate at any one time. Having a lot of different items on your plate stimulates your appetite.

16. Is it worth it? Ask yourself, “Is this really worth it” before you dig in. Many times, we’re just eating food simply because it’s available.

17. The easiest tip of all! Eat before the game! If you have a wonderful meal before the game, you’ll be a lot less tempted to eat during the game!

18. Perfection doesn’t exist! Most importantly, and this is somewhat counterintuitive, don’t sweat it if you make a dietary mistake or two or three.

Just like any other day, Super Bowl Sunday will have its ups and downs too. There is no perfect day much less perfect Super Bowl Sunday.

As always, if you’re consistent with your diet (and exercise) for the other 364 days you should be in great shape. If you’re not, I guarantee it’s because you’re not staying consistent with your diet and/or exercise.

Go Saints!

A client writes, “Wow, it’s hard to not want to let it all go and figure I can start anew in January. There are so many temptations! So many rationalizations! I just have to focus on one meal at a time.”

Here’s a solution: Instead of focusing on what you can’t eat, focus on what you can. Instead of focusing on eating perfectly MBT approved foods, focus on eating MBT approved foods 90% of the day.

I’m not saying you should give in. I’m not saying you should indulge.

But if the discomfort you’re facing is unbearable, why not pick and choose?

When I say discomfort, I’m referring to the internal chatter many of us have. “Should I have this? I shouldn’t have this! I want it though! I don’t want it!” That dialogue is not fun. And many times, we just give in to silence that chatter. Not because we want what we think we want!

For the next week or so, what if you focused instead on only picking one indulgence per day?

Then you can play the game of choosing what you indulge on and you won’t feel deprived. But remember, only one per day. So make sure it’s really interesting and it’s really worth it.

Don’t just give in because it’s in front of you.

Sometimes, picking and choosing your battles is much better than avoidance. Damage control is very powerful. Because if you expect to indulge, you’ll get away from the ‘all or nothing’ attitude many of us have, especially during this time of year.

Anyway we look at it, our body never lies. Eating 1 cookie is better than 2. Eating 1 hamburger is better than 2. Many of us get into this thinking that while we’re indulging, nothing counts and our body doesn’t register anything we eat.

Doing less of the bad things is as powerful as doing more of the good things.

Happy Friday!

I’ll tell ya. I can people watch all day sometimes. My favorite type is the person who insists on a smoothie for energy before they exercise.

As soon as they’re done exercising, 30 minutes later, they’re starving! So, they get themselves a wrap.

60 minutes after the start of their exercise journey, 1000 calories has been consumed, 30 minutes was used to eat and the other 30 to exercise. Interesting.

Trading 1 hour of your time in to exercise for 30 minutes so you can burn 200-350 calories for 800-1000 calories isn’t worth it, at all.

It’s worth it if you want to feel good. However, if you want to change how you look, that trade of time and calories for less time, more calories and sweat is not going to pay off!

If you’re exercising to change how you look it’s imperative to realize this.

You can run for 2 hours, be dripping in sweat, have burned 1500 calories, however, if you go grab yourself a milkshake and a turkey sandwich even, you’ll have been better off not exercising in the first place.

THE reason why you see people in the gym over and over – looking the same time after time  – is because they’re eating too much.

Think about that today and this weekend.

Are you exercising to change the way you feel or look? (No matter what it’ll make you feel good though!)

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Nothing like a good meal, great company and some football!

It’s impossible to be thankful and unhappy at the same time. The two emotions cannot coexist. Thankfulness magically gets rid of every other non-happy emotion there is.

However, for anyone who values their health and fitness, Thanksgiving can be the start of a downward spiral.

Here’s 15 ideas for you to use this Thursday so you can remain on point:

1. Your life isn’t a Normal Rockwell painting

We all have preconceived notions on how Thanksgiving should be. We can’t choose our family so you might as well make the best of it, right? Try lowering your expectations. The less you are disappointed, the more you are likely to appreciate and enjoy the day.

Example, for the first time in my life (at least I don’t remember the first 4 years of it) my father and mom are going to be at the same Thanksgiving table.

This is going to be extremely awkward for my sister and me. As anxious as we are, I’m trying to go into it with no expectations.

2. Wear your best belt and your tightest pants

It’s a lot easier to stop eating when you know you’re full. One telltale clue is when your clothes and belt starts telling you. Sounds obvious, but stopping when you’re full is probably one of the harder things to do at the Thanksgiving table when everyone else is helping themselves to seconds and thirds.

It will be easier to stop if you wear very tight pants because then you’ll have to push away from the table when you’re stuffed. You’ll just be too uncomfortable otherwise.

3. Save your calories for dinner

If you want to be a great guest and enjoy the meal the most, skip the hors d’oeuvres. A good basic rule-of-thumb is don’t eat anything that doesn’t require a knife and fork.

4. Always hold a drink and a napkin

Do you really need an appetizer before a huge meal? You can’t control what your gracious host does, but you can control yourself. Make it harder to reach for something by holding a glass in one hand (preferably filled with water) and a napkin in the other.

5. To drink or not to drink?

Is alcohol a trigger? Our irrational mind tends to get a lot louder after a few drinks. Alcoholic drinks are not only loaded with calories (especially the sweet drinks and the eggnogs!) but they are likely to lower your inhibitions and might trigger you to eat more than you really want to.

6. Don’t talk politics

My mom is very intense about politics. My mom can go from extremely calm to extremely angry in less time than it takes to break a wish bone. If someone says something that annoys you – let it go! If you’re annoyed, you’re more likely to overeat.

7. Focus on the special stuff

Don’t waste your calories on large portions of food you can eat everyday. Limit the variety you have. Let’s make a rule: Only two items on your plate at any one time. Having a lot of different items on your plate stimulates your appetite.

8. Is it worth it?

Ask yourself, “Is this really worth it” before you dig in. Many times, we’re just eating food simply because it’s available.

9. Don’t make a diet fopaux

Just like you wouldn’t wear every accessory you own at the same time, you don’t need to go heavy on the sauces, gravy, dressings, etc. Less is more!

10. Small seconds are better than big firsts

Some people show their love through food. Research on memory shows that your Aunt Grace won’t remember how much you take, but she’ll remember if you liked it enough to take seconds, especially, if you announce it.

Try taking a little bit of Aunt Grace’s ‘famous’ mashed potatoes. Tell her how great they are. Then go back for seconds and say something like, “Aunt Grace, your mashies are so good I’m taking seconds!” She’ll be really happy…and your body will be really happy too because you’ll actually be eating less even though you’re going in for round two.

11. Slow down!

Seriously! Slow down. Pretend you’re a NY Times food critic. Really taste each and every bite. Put your fork and knife down. Take a sip of water. Engage in conversation. There’s no rush.

12. Forget the post dinner snacks

We won’t starve if we skip the late night turkey sandwich. This is a great time to focus on the family and not on the food. Besides, are you really hungry? Most likely, you’re just bored.

13. Plan activities

The holidays aren’t only about food, are they? They are about enjoying each other’s company, having fun and laughter! How about planning a fun activity?

A football game, a big game of monopoly, or how about that game where you have to guess the word while receiving clues? You can’t say the actual word though. And there’s a timer. Got it! Catchphrase! (See what I did there?) All these can be tons of fun.

14. Come out of the closet

Eat whatever you like but only out in the open. No sneaking.

15. Perfection doesn’t exist

Most importantly, and this is somewhat counterintuitive, don’t sweat it if you make a dietary mistake or two or three. We all will. And we’ll have the other 364 days to do it right!

Just like any other day, Thanksgiving will have its ups and downs too. There is no perfect day much less perfect Thanksgiving.

As always, if you’re consistent with your diet (and exercise) for the other 364 days you should be in great shape. If you’re not, I guarantee it’s because you’re not staying consistent with your diet and/or exercise. You might want to consider giving yourself – or someone else – the gift of MBT.

Finally, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for reading! Enjoy your family and friends and, of course, have a happy, healthy and fit Thanksgiving!

Tea is a great drink. It’s soothing. It’s comforting. It’s relaxing. And best of all, it’s healthy! It’s a great way to wind down a long day.

What I love most about tea is that you have to savor it. You can’t just gulp it all down. (Well you can, but then you’ll burn your mouth like crazy.)

You must take a sip then put down the cup. And repeat that slowly and methodically. (Well you don’t have to be methodical, but then you risk having tea all over your pants.)

We should all eat, the way we drink tea. Or the way we drink any scorching hot beverage: Slowly, carefully and patiently.

It seems as though we have no patience when it comes to our food. It’s like a race. The faster we finish our food, the better.

So many of us think and dream about food all day long. Yet, when we’re actually eating, we don’t think about the food at all! We just shovel it into our mouths.

This weekend, I want you to focus on eating the way you drink tea.

You’ll digest better, eat less and feel better. Sounds like a win-win-win to me!

Who wants tea?

My #1 rule for success is to not let ourselves get super hungry. Because when we’re ravenous, it’s extremely hard to make good decisions.

Our irrational mind starts to make a lot of sense. It’s starts saying things like “Yeah! I do deserve that cookie. I do deserve that ice cream! What’s the difference anyway?”

This happens a lot less often when you protect yourself from getting ravenous.

But that doesn’t mean you’re supposed to never be hungry.

Let me explain:

The problem is we all think of hunger nowadays as not being full. If I’m not comfortably stuffed, then I must be hungry!

Satisfied and light is the goal. Not stuffed and tired. And I’m not saying after every meal you’re Thanksgiving stuffed full. But I believe we still all eat too much.

We also eat too soon.

We need to build up our tolerance because like anything it comes down to conditioning.

We fear hunger. We fear being satisfied and light.

It’s so easy to just keep on eating. It’s so comforting! Our distant ancestors would beg us to keep on eating.

But, food wasn’t so readily available back then. People weren’t cued 1000x a day to eat.

So, try to embrace the slight discomfort of feeling satisfied instead of stuffed. Try to embrace the slight discomfort of feeling like you could eat but you know you’re not really hungry.

Because eventually, you’ll feel uncomfortable when you eat too much. And are too full.