Found yourself reaching into a family bag of chips when feeling down, stressed, or bored? You’re probably an emotional eater.

Many of us turn to food for comfort when things get tough, and you probably don’t even realize you’re doing it. It’s a common and completely normal response to difficult feelings like anger, sadness, loneliness, and boredom, but it’s a pain when you’re trying to lose weight.

Why do we comfort eat?

Sometimes eating just feels good, especially when we’re feeling far from happy. Eating triggers a release of dopamine (aka the pleasure hormone) in the brain, so we’re hardwired to seek out these pleasurable foods.

But while it feels like it’s helping in the moment, eating doesn’t fix the underlying issue, so we end up still wrestling with our emotions but with the added complication of feeling ashamed or guilty about overeating.

How can I stop emotional eating?

It’s a tough one, because when we’re in that cycle of turning to food when we feel down (or angry, or stressed, or lonely), nothing else feels like it’ll help, and the more you do something the harder it is to change.

Here are some ways you can begin to break the habit:

• Feel your feelings. Get into the habit of asking yourself ‘how am I really feeling?’ because all too often we try to bury unwanted feelings. Acknowledging that you feel angry, low, or lonely is the first step to figuring out what to do about it that doesn’t involve food.
• Learn to question why you want to eat. Sometimes you’ll be genuinely hungry, and that’s fine! But we tend to know the difference between emotional urges to eat and actual hunger, so if you think you want to splurge on snacks because you need a pick me up, stop and think about whether it’ll help. Most of the time it won’t.
• Have an action plan. Ok, so you’ve figured out that you want to eat because you want to cheer yourself up. What can you do to lift your mood that doesn’t involve food? Perhaps you could go for a walk, watch a few episodes of your favorite sitcom, play a video game or meet up with a friend. It always helps to have a few things you can turn to.
• Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry or stressed. Honestly, if you go shopping when you’re hungry or you’re looking for comfort food, you’ll buy the whole store. Save the food shop for when you’ve eaten and have written a meal plan and a shopping list.
• Avoid buying foods you’ll overeat. Some people can have loads of snacks in the kitchen for weeks and not bother with them, but others can and do eat them all at once. If you know you’re likely to overeat when you’ve got tempting foods in the house, stop buying them, at least for now.
• Plan your menu and weekly shop. Getting into a routine with what you eat can help cut back on those moments of uncertainty where you end up calling for a comforting takeout because you’ve got nothing in. Make a meal plan and shop for it, and then you’ll know exactly what the plan is for food.
• Look after yourself. If you’re really struggling with how you’re feeling, it’s time to take a good look at how you can improve things. Work, relationships, money problems…our headspace gets battered when things aren’t going well, so taking steps to improve your situation can help you feel more in control.

Above all, be kind to yourself – emotional eating is a hard habit to break, but it is possible. Take it slow, and don’t beat yourself up if despite your best efforts you end up sprawled on the couch with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s after a hard day.

You know you want to lose weight, but do you know how much you want to lose and why it matters? Grab a pen and let’s make a plan.

Sweeping statements like ‘I want to be healthy’ and ‘I want to feel confident’ are well meant, but they do little to spur us into action.

Setting yourself some healthy ambitions, goals and targets, on the other hand, can be really motivating. Finding out why you want to lose weight, really digging into the reasons behind it, can mean the difference between plodding along as you are and dropping the pounds.

Finding a healthy weight

A body mass index (BMI) calculator can tell you what your healthy weight range is. It’s imperfect as it’s not accurate for everyone, including athletes who have a very high muscle mass. Many experts consider the waist-to-height ratio a more accurate way to measure things.

A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 25, so picking a goal weight between these two numbers is a great place to start. Or aim to lose 5% of your body weight as studies have found this to be a point where you’ll see great health improvements.

Track your progress in different ways

This is so important as weight loss isn’t always linear. Hormonal changes, what we’ve eaten and even the time we weigh can all affect the numbers on the scales.

Even if you’re doing all the right things, sometimes the numbers don’t head straight down. We’ve all been there and know how disheartening that is, so try taking photos to see your progress instead of relying solely on the scales.

Sometimes losing a few pounds might seem insignificant but you’ll be able to spot the difference in a photo. Taking measurements weekly and seeing the inches melt away can also be extremely satisfying.

Set mini goals

It can feel daunting if you’ve got a lot of weight to lose. It might be some time before you’ll get to your goal weight but break it down into manageable chunks so you can celebrate each step.

Ticking off every 7lbs lost and every stone is very encouraging, with each mini goal bringing you closer to your ultimate goal. You can also add in a celebration when you lose 5% and 10% of your body weight. Don’t forget, every loss brings health benefits as well as goal points for your team too.

Set SMART goals

Set yourself some SMART goals to help you reach your weight loss targets. Don’t forget, weight loss isn’t all about the numbers on a scale, it’s how you feel, how your clothes fit etc., so factor this in too. Your goals should be:

• Specific
  • Be clear about what you’d like to achieve. “I’d like to lose 16lbs, which is 5% of my starting weight” is better than “I’d like to lose weight”.

• Measurable
  • “I’d like to be able to wear my favorite jeans again” is better than “I’d like to fit into smaller sizes” because it’s something you can easily measure.

• Achievable
  • Be realistic. As much as we’d like it to, 5 stone won’t come off in a week, nor will you be able to run a marathon in a month if you’ve never run before. But committing to tracking what you eat every day for a week, or sticking to the couch to 5k running plan is achievable and something you can keep building on.

• Relevant
  • Not everyone who wants to lose weight will have the same goals. If you’re not interested in going to the gym, that’s fine, instead focus your attention elsewhere. Don’t give yourself the goal of going to the gym 3 times a week because you think that’s what you should be doing. Make your goals as personal to you as you can. If, for example, you enjoy cooking, make it your goal to cook more healthy meals as a way of eating better.

• Time-limited
  • Give yourself a realistic timeframe for achieving your goal. If you don’t, you could find excuses can sneak in and you’ll easily justify putting things off for another day.

Try writing down your SMART goals to give yourself a real goal that you can visualize and are more likely to achieve.

Setting rewards

It’s important to mark your achievements, you’re working very hard to get them. Try and reward yourself with things that’ll help you reach your goal. Treat yourself to a new workout shirt or a sports massage for those newly worked muscles.

Other ideas include activities like a trip to the cinema or a gig, something active like bowling or ice skating or even just a PS5 game you’ve had your eye on.

Another motivating way of marking special achievements is adding a coin to an empty jar for every pound you lose. This is a great visual representation of your weight loss and can be built on until you reach your goal weight. You can then treat yourself with the proceeds – since you’ll probably need it to buy new clothes in smaller sizes.

Bit by bit, you can lose all the weight you need to. By setting SMART goals, you won’t feel overwhelmed by the challenge, and you’ll enjoy achieving each milestone.

Heard of a calorie deficit but not sure if that’s good, bad, or just another fad? It’s actually the fundamental of weight loss, so let’s see what it means.

No wonder weight loss feels like a minefield when there are so many different approaches and so much jargon to wade through. But this one is different, and it’s worth taking the time to understand it.

You’ve probably heard of a ‘calorie deficit’, but if you’re not a personal trainer or someone with extensive experience of weight loss, you might not know what it means.

What is a calorie deficit?

To lose weight, you need to eat and drink fewer calories than you burn. When you do that, you’re creating a calorie deficit – where the number of calories from food and drink is smaller than the number of calories you’ve burned through activity and body processes.

But how do I know if I’m eating fewer calories than I burn?

There are two ways you burn calories – through the activity you do every day (which includes exercise and other movement like walking around) and through the necessary things your body does to stay alive (which includes things like breathing, your heart beating, cell production, etc.).

The number of calories your body uses is known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR). It’s influenced by a lot of things, like your age, height, weight, gender, and even the temperature of your environment.

As well as your BMR, for weight loss you need to figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) – yep, another bit of lingo for you.

While your BMR is how many calories your body needs to stay alive, your TDEE also includes the activity you do (both exercise sessions and general activity). It’s an estimate of how many calories you burn in a day in total, which includes your BMR.

Confused? It’s a lot to take in, but once you figure your own BMR and TDEE numbers out it gives you a great start for counting calories, which will lead to weight loss.

The most accurate way to get your BMR is to be monitored in a lab, fasting beforehand and breathing into a special mask for an entire day and night to see how many calories you burn when resting.

Since we’re guessing you don’t have access to a lab and a team of scientists, you can use a widely accepted equation that has been found to be pretty accurate. It’s called the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and will give you your individual number based on all the variables we mentioned above.

Don’t fret about the math! This free online calculator will work it out for you.

Your TDEE is how many calories you’d need to eat to maintain your weight. For weight loss, you need to eat fewer calories than your TDEE. It’s usually recommended that you subtract 500 from your TDEE to lose weight at a safe pace.

If you’re thinking the number seems higher than what MyFitnessPal gives you, remember that MyFitnessPal tends to give everyone a 1,200 calorie goal based on sedentary, smaller people. Your TDEE and subsequent calorie goal is personalized to you.

An example

Let’s take Bob as an example. He’s 36, weighs 280lbs and is 5ft 10. He does little to no exercise.

Using the calculator mentioned above, his TDEE is 2648. To lose weight, he should subtract 500 and start off by eating 2148 calories a day.

How to eat in a calorie deficit

The number you end up with after subtracting 500 from your TDEE is how many calories you should aim to eat every day. You can track calories using an app like MyFitnessPal (free with a paid premium version) or Lose It! (also free with a paid premium version), or you can do it the old school way and use pen and paper, although apps make it way easier.

How to eat for weight loss is personal preference, but in general you should aim to increase your fruit and veg intake, cut down on processed foods and booze, and eat plenty of foods high in protein and fiber.

Your calorie needs will change as you lose weight, so it’s a good idea to recalculate after you’ve lost a chunk of weight or if you feel your weight loss has stalled.

he thought of cooking meals from scratch is daunting, especially when you’ve got to worry about them being healthy too. But it’s not all you’ve built it up to be in your head: it can be as simple as you want. 

But I don’t know what I’m doing! 

Lower your expectations. Ok, so you’re not serving up a Michelin-starred meal, but you don’t need to. Find a simple recipe and take it one step at a time. You can read, you can follow instructions, there’s not much more to it than that. 

But I might get it wrong! 

There will be times when you forget to add a vital ingredient, or something doesn’t rise in the oven. Mistakes are part and parcel of learning something new, and it’s ok to get it wrong sometimes.  

It’s all a learning curve; the trick is to actually learn from your mistakes. Use a timer, read the recipe thoroughly, keep an eye on your food while it’s cooking, and you can’t go far wrong. 

But I could give people food poisoning! 

You could. But if you follow the recipe and practice good kitchen hygiene, it’s highly unlikely. Wash your hands regularly, clean surfaces, cook things thoroughly and you’ll be fine. 

But I don’t have the time! 

Sorry, we’re not buying it. You really don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen to make something nutritious, delicious, and satisfying. Sure, it might take a bit of planning and sacrifice to fit it into your day, but how long do you spend scrolling on social media?!

• Make a meal plan. Writing down what you’re going to make and when helps you know what’s what, and you can plan around any busy days you’ve got in the week. 

• Try doing some batch cooking. That sounds daunting, but it just means making more of what you’re making anyway, like making chili for 6 when there’s only 3 of you eating – that’s 3 extra portions you can store in the freezer, ready to reheat when you need it. 

• Use a slow cooker. You can pick them up cheaply, and they’re easy to use. Just add vegetables, stock, and a joint of meat in the morning and you’ll come home to a hearty stew ready for serving up. They’re also great for making sauces, soups, casserole, and even baked potatoes.  

• Take shortcuts. There’s nothing wrong with taking the easy option. Buy your vegetables pre-chopped and frozen, use pureed garlic instead of fresh, bottled lemon juice instead of juicing fresh lemons, etc.  

Tips for the novice cook 

1. Invest in a few sharp knives. They’ll make chopping and slicing so much easier and safer. 
2. Read the recipe and method thoroughly, from start to finish, before you begin. You don’t want to come across any surprises halfway through. 
3. Taste it as you go (apart from raw meat and fish of course). It’s much easier to add more flavor than to remove it. 
4. Clean as you go. This’ll help you avoid being swamped by pots, pans, and messy worktops when you’re finished. 
5. Start simple. Think about healthy meals you enjoy and go from there. A basic tomato sauce is a good one to master: chopped onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, seasoned with black pepper and salt. Add basil for Italian dishes (Bolognese, lasagna, etc.) or paprika for Moroccan-style dishes.  
6. Buy a spray oil to minimize the use of oil in your cooking. A tablespoon of olive oil has 119 calories, so it soon adds up. PAM cooking spray is 1 cal per spray and widely available. 
7. Get to know your flavors. Lots of cuisines have classic combinations of herbs and spices that can really elevate your dishes, so it’s worth buying a few to keep in: 

   – Italian: Onions, oregano, garlic  

   – Mexican: Cumin, chili, coriander  

   – Indian: Turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom  

   – English: Bay leaf, sage, parsley

8. Get online: YouTube and food websites are your friend when you’re looking for healthy recipes and explainer videos to show you methods. BBC Good Food, for example, has this fantastic piece to show you 25 basic skills every cook should know 

Weight loss feels a lot easier when you know you can cook whatever, whenever. Play some good music, relax, and get stuck in – you’ll soon find that it’s not as hard as you’re expecting, and you might even enjoy it. 

Sometimes, the scales are not our friend. It’s all too easy to get hung up on what they say each week, and it can be distressing when things aren’t going the way you’d hoped. When that happens, try not to take it to heart – there’s a whole lot more to weight loss than just the reading you get at a specific time.

Weight loss isn’t linear, which can be a hard thing to wrap your head around. That’s why you should focus on your non-scale victories as well as keeping a log of your weight. Keep a list on your phone or in a notebook and make a note of them when you notice them, so you can go back for a hit of motivation when you need it.

What are non-scale victories?

Non-scale victories (NSVs) are anything positive you notice about your weight loss – but as the name suggests, we’re not talking the number on the scales. Here are some examples of NSVs:

Measurements

A soft tape measure is a handy bit of kit for checking your weight loss progress. Take regular measurements of the same parts of your body: hips, waist, chest, thighs. You’ll soon see the inches falling away as you lose weight.

Photos

Take regular, full-length photos. You’re probably not going to feel comfortable taking them or looking at them, but no one has to see them but you, and sometimes we only see how much we’ve changed when looking back at photos.

Clothing

Pick a non-stretchy, structured item of clothing like jeans or a shirt and try it on once a month. As your body shape changes, you’ll notice how it feels (and looks) different on you.

Mood and energy

Eating better often leads to an increase in energy, as you’re fueling your body with what it needs to flourish. Losing weight can also help with your sleep quality too, especially if you snore or have sleep apnea.

Your mood may improve too, thanks to the feel-good hormones released when you get active, plus the sense of accomplishment when you start hitting your weight loss goals.

Fitness

Your strength, flexibility and endurance will get better and better the more you move. Make a note of your workouts, and you’ll soon see how something you found difficult in week 1 is a breeze by week 12.

Ease of movement

Losing weight is good news for your joints, which will start to move more freely and won’t ache as much. This is often a big one for guys losing weight, so if you notice your knees aren’t aching at the end of a long day as much as they were before, that’s a huge deal!

Everyday tasks

As you lose weight and your fitness improves, you’ll find that doing things like housework, climbing the stairs, and carrying shopping all become easier.

Comfortable digestion

Gone are the days of seemingly never-ending bloating and gas. Good food moves through your body better, and you’ll feel much better because of it.

Improved medical markers

Losing even a small amount of weight can help improve many medical markers, like your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and glucose levels. Each step you take towards losing weight is a positive step towards lowering your risk of developing serious health conditions.

All these improvements to your health and wellbeing are something to celebrate, but try not to fall into the trap of rewarding yourself with food. Instead, reward yourself with:

• Playing your favorite video game, or treating yourself to a new one you’ve had your eye on
• Binge-watching your favorite show
• Meeting up with a friend for a coffee
• Reading a good new book
• Meditating
• Listening to your favorite music
• Going to the cinema

Whatever you choose is up to you. Have fun, but remember not to go too nuts – you’ve still got weight to lose, after all!

A common misconception is that you’ve got to give up all the foods you love when you’re trying to lose weight. It’s easy to see where this has come from: it probably doesn’t seem possible that you can still enjoy your favorite candy and still lose weight, for example.

The best way to lose weight and not completely lose your mind while doing so is to keep a little of what you love, using simple swaps to cut calories and make things healthier. Here’s how you can do that in the kitchen, so you don’t have to give up your favorite dishes.

Swap refined grains for whole grains

Replace white flour with whole wheat flour, white rice with brown rice, and white bread with whole grain bread. Whole grains are rich in fiber, which helps to keep you fuller for longer.

Make it veggie

An easy way to increase the number of vegetables you eat is to make your recipe vegetarian or vegan. Take your usual chili and swap the ground beef for red (AKA chili or kidney) beans or black beans (AKA turtle beans or frijoles negros), or bulk up your favorite recipe by adding chopped zucchini, peppers or eggplant. Vegetables are low in calories, so you’ll be boosting the volume of your meal (good for feeling fuller) without adding unnecessary extra calories.

Use healthier fats

When cooking, replace canola oil, corn oil, and soybean oil with healthier options like olive oil, avocado oil or sesame oil. These oils are better for you because they contain monounsaturated fatty acids, which can help to increase levels of ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL) and lower ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL) levels.

Oil is high in calories, so be sure to measure how much you’re using. For example, 1 tbsp of olive oil is 119 calories, so don’t pour freely from the bottle! Get a set of cheap measuring spoons so you know exactly how much you’re using.

To further cut calories, consider using spray oil like PAM cooking spray. You can get different varieties of spray oil, so look for olive or avocado spray oil options. PAM olive oil cooking spray states that one ¼ second spray is 0 calories, and although we think that’s food labelling trickery (zero calories?!), it’s true that a short spray of oil is going to very drastically cut down on calories.

Choose lean proteins

Lean proteins like chicken, turkey, and fish, are lower in fat and calories than red meat like beef, pork, and lamb. Try switching ground beef for ground turkey or chicken when making burgers, and switch steak tacos for pulled chicken, ground turkey, or even shrimp.

Beans, lentils, tofu, and eggs are also examples of lean protein. Try swapping red and processed meats when making things like chili, spaghetti dishes, and stir-fries.

As the season progresses, it’s important to take a step back and consider how things are going. Are you making good progress towards those goals you set back in week 1? Or do you need to adjust them now that you’ve got a few weeks under your belt?

Reflect on your progress

This is a good time to take stock of what you’ve achieved in the last few weeks. Have you lost weight? Has your fitness improved? Are you enjoying yourself out on the field? These are all important things to think about, and if you’re happy with the progress you’ve made that’s cause for celebration!

• Celebrate your achievements. This isn’t a time to be modest: be proud about what you’ve done.
• Think about what went right. What went into your success? What really helped? Knowing these answers will make it easier to replicate your achievements as you work towards your next goals.
• Set new challenges. Take what you’ve learned in the past few weeks and use your knowledge to challenge yourself further. What will get you even closer to your overall goal? Can you challenge yourself to cook more, or to try a new workout?
• Continue to track your progress. You’ve made a great start, but don’t lose momentum! Keep going, and check in with yourself every few weeks to see how you’re doing.

Adjusting your goals

Things might not have gone exactly as you’d hoped, and that’s ok. Maybe life got in the way, or you had a few false starts with getting to grips with changing your eating habits. Maybe your initial goals were a bit too ambitious. It happens. If this sounds familiar, think about what you can change and how, and make a pledge to work on it.

• Are your goals realistic? We’d all love to lose a huge amount of weight in a short space of time, but that’s not how it works. Make sure your goal is something you’ve got a fair shot at achieving, otherwise you’ll just end up frustrated and demotivated.
• Can you try something new? If you’ve not quite achieved what you’d hoped to, consider a new approach. Switch things up and try something different, whether that’s a new workout, a way to increase your daily activity, or a new approach to eating better.
• Seek support. Confide in friends and family and you might find they’re a treasure trove of support and encouragement. If you’re not comfortable turning to people you know, don’t forget about your MAN v FAT Soccer teammates! They’ll know better than anyone what it’s like to be working towards weight loss goals.
• Speak to your coach. Your coach is also someone you should be leaning on when times get tough, it’s what they’re there for! Arrange to have a chat with them and they’ll be more than happy to help, whether it’s looking over your food diary to spot opportunities for change, or for a pep talk when things feel tough, your coach is there for you.

Check in regularly

It’s important to check in with yourself regularly as you’re working towards your weight loss goals. People who are successful at losing weight (and keeping it off long-term) are the ones who are fully in tune with their body and mind, continually asking themselves if there’s anything they can do to better work towards their goals.

Thinking about your goals and evaluating your progress will help to keep you accountable and on track, but it’s also incredibly motivating to see the progress you’re making. Enjoy the process and make sure you take a moment to celebrate your success along the way.

You might think that when it comes to weight loss, the more you can lose, the better. But studies show that losing even 5% of your total body weight can bring amazing health benefits. 

If you want to lose weight, you probably have some idea of how much you want to lose. And while it’s great to have goals, saying you want to lose hundreds of pounds can feel incredibly daunting.  

Short-term goals are just as important as your long-term ones to give you focus and keep your motivation levels high. Aiming to lose 5% of your body weight is a great one to consider: it’s attainable, and it can be built upon if needed. 

What’s more, studies show that losing 5% of your bodyweight leads to incredible health outcomes if you’re overweight. Hitting 5% lost can lead to: 

• Reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. This is because losing weight can elevate HDL (good) cholesterol and lower triglycerides (bad fats). It can lower your blood pressure by an average of 5 mmHg. 

• Reduction in insulin resistance, decreasing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 

• Decreased risk of developing certain cancers. 

• Better sleep and reduction of sleep disorders like sleep apnea. 

• Reduced pressure on your joints. 

• Lowered inflammation levels in the body. 

• Boosted mood and self-esteem. 

• Reducing your risk of fertility problems.
  

By making small, sustainable changes to what you eat, how much you move, and prioritizing your sleep, you’ll lose weight gradually and consistently – and you’ll be able to keep it off. Every positive decision you make to eat well, move more, and get quality sleep will move you closer to that 5% body weight loss goal – you’ve got this. 

You’ve probably heard that you should be getting 10k steps a day, but where did this number come from, and does it have any basis in science? 

Setting yourself a target to reach 10,000 steps a day started as a marketing effort, created by a Japanese company selling pedometers in the run up to the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. A genius move if you ask us. The company’s pedometers, called manpo-kei (which means ’10,000 steps meter’ in Japanese), were a huge hit and did a lot to get the Japanese public more active. 

But why has this 10k target endured? Well, the original marketing campaign was created because doctors were concerned about low levels of activity among Japanese people, and the push to 10k steps definitely helped improve activity levels.  

It’s not so much that 10,000 is a magic number, more that having a goal to work towards helps to get us more active. Even if you don’t manage to get to 10k, something is better than nothing.  

How to get 10,000 steps a day 

If it feels like a difficult target, start small. Rule number 1? Get up! You could go for a walk around the block before breakfast, explore a local park at the weekend, and if you work at a desk, you could get up for a walk each hour for 5-10 minutes.  

Of course, it might not be easy for you to go for a walk, depending on where you live. If your neighborhood isn’t set up for walking (whether it’s unsafe, missing sidewalks, etc.), spending some time on the treadmill is an option.  

Walking pads are popular right now because they’re cheaper and tend to be easier to store than treadmills – if you work from home, consider investing in a standing desk and walking pad to really get your step count up.  

There are also workout videos on YouTube that help you increase your step count by walking in place at home.  

Track your steps using your smartphone (many have a built in pedometer, or you can download dedicated pedometer apps), or consider buying a smartwatch like a Fitbit, Samsung Watch, or Apple Watch. 

Don’t forget that every small effort adds up over time. Even just taking the stairs instead of the elevator and parking further away from the store entrance and walking across the parking lot can have an impact on your activity levels. 

The benefits of walking 

Studies have shown that walking can have a significant impact on your health, including reducing blood pressure and improving glucose levels. Walking outside has also been shown to have a positive effect on mental health. 

What if I can’t reach 10,000 steps a day? 

If you find it difficult to reach 10,000 steps a day, don’t worry. Like we said, it’s not a magic number and there are many other ways to get active that will burn the same number of calories and have the same impact on your weight loss.