Calcium is important for strong bones

You’ve probably heard that calcium is important for strong bones, and it is. But did you know it can also stimulate weight loss? At least six studies to date have shown that women who consume more calcium–either through food or through supplements–tend to weigh less and have less body fat than women who consume less calcium. For example, when researchers supplemented overweight African-Americans with 1,000 daily milligrams of calcium, the women lost weight effortlessly. Multiple studies have been completed since and have continued to find the same beneficial results. People who consume more calcium–through supplements of food–tend to weigh less than people who don’t. Dieters who take calcium lose more weight than dieters who do not.

Include vegetables at every meal

Vegetables contain fiber, so they fill you up and keep you regular. Vegetables also contain important antioxidants, nutrients that protect your cells from oxidative damage. For each level of diet, you’ll find a number of recipes that creatively sneak fiber-rich vegetables into everyday foods such as grilled cheese and even hamburgers. Add more veggies by rounding out lunch and dinner with side salads and heaping servings of steamed or sauteed broccoli, cauliflower, greens, or another veggie of your choice.

Emotional Eating

Do you eat when you are under stress? How about when you feel sad or angry? Although emotional eating is very common-among men and women-it’s also destructive. To overcome emotional eating-whether you eat out of stress, sadness, anxiety, or even happiness-you must break the association that links your emotional state with eating.

Get honest with yourself. There’s probably a little voice inside your head that’s whispering phrases such as “But I’m really hungry,” “But I really need it,” or “But I can’t stop myself.” Oh, hush. Try hunger comes on slowly. You can satisfy true hunger with any food, including broccoli. Emotional hunger surfaces quickly and centers on one or two specific finds. With emotional hunger, broccoli or a meatball won’t do. You must have the bread of bagel or cake or cookie or whatever it is that calls to you.

As soon as you realize that you are craving a specific food, you need to find a way to soothe yourself with something other than food. Thin about which emotions drive you to eat. Then think about other ways you can deal with those emotions.