Gibson, 30 years old, shares the secret of his successful 18-pound weight loss: "For years, I have struggled with controlling my diet. It was emotional eating, and I felt immense stress. Eventually, I decided to use my willpower to overcome this need. Now, I really don't know how to describe my feelings—I can fully control my eating habits. My emotions no longer influence me to put junk food into my mouth."
**Step 1: Create a plan:**
"I want to lose 40 pounds."
**Step 2: Plan how many kilometers you walk daily:**
"Whenever I go out, I never forget to bring my pedometer. My goal is to walk 10,000 steps per day, and now I can reach 12,000 steps daily. Using my pedometer to track how many steps I take each day gives me a great sense of accomplishment."
**Two: Stop underestimating yourself:**
"I had a very bad habit—I often belittled myself. For example, I thought I couldn’t walk for 20 minutes; at most, I could only walk for 45 seconds. Or probably, I believed I would never be able to stop binge eating at night. I had to learn to think more positively and say to myself, 'How much fatter will you get if you keep this up?' instead of 'I’m already so obese.' — Wendy, 40 years old, lost 41 pounds."
**Three: Use willpower to control emotional eating:**
"For years, I have struggled with controlling my diet—it was emotional eating, and I felt immense pressure. Finally, I decided to use my willpower to overcome this need. Now, I really don't know how to describe my feelings—I can fully control my eating habits. My emotions no longer influence me to put junk food into my mouth." — Marco, 41 years old, lost 35 pounds.
**Four: Get enough sleep:**
"When I started sleeping 8 hours every night, I looked completely different. I can't definitively say that my weight loss success was entirely due to this, but at least I did feel it was easier to lose weight. I think it might be because I rested sufficiently, allowing me to focus more on my eating habits." — Alison, 32 years old, lost 36 pounds.
**Five: Follow through:**
"I label the lunches I prepare for my children with their names. Especially when I'm shopping in the store, I always put labels on the packaging of the food I buy for them, making it clear that these foods are for them and not for me to eat." — Olivia, 49 years old, lost 16 pounds.
**Six: Stop eating bread:**
"In the past, I often used bread as my main food, sometimes even as a snack. Now, I only eat it once a day, and it’s always whole wheat bread. I’ve already lost 9 pounds. I think, besides eating less bread, I’ve also eaten less butter that I used to spread on the bread." — Apr, 30 years old, lost 9 pounds (and still going!).
**Seven: Set achievable goals for yourself:**
"I often hear people say that setting achievable goals is very important. But at the time, I didn't understand what it meant. However, when I spent a year trying to lose 14 pounds, I reflected deeply and truly realized that the goals I set for myself before were not good enough. I would never fit into the dress I wore to the dance when I was young. Only after losing another 5 pounds did I feel satisfied with my weight." — Shannon, 51 years old, lost 40 pounds.
**Eight: Reduce dinner portions:**
"I have a very simple tip: use smaller containers to serve dinner." — Jane, 29 years old, lost 21.5 pounds (and still going!).
These are some simple secrets of successful weight loss shared by people I know who have successfully lost weight, including my friends, family, and other slimming individuals. I hope they help you too.
Related article: [01/04] Everyone discusses the secrets of success.