#1 Job Hunting

#1 Job Hunting for Grads: Virtual Internships  and Other Tips from a Job Expert

Experts say new college graduates will need to change their approach to finding a job during these unprecedented times. Job Consultant's Career Center's senior director provides advice on where they should begin. 

Houston-Unemployment has hit record highs, as the economy continues to take a deeper hit. We are committed to helping people get back on their feet through our Job Consultancy and  Hiring campaign.

For graduating seniors it's a very uncertain job market. Lori Shreve Blake, senior director and Consultant a  Career Center, joined us via Skype to talk about where to start.

How have internships changed?

"Internships are virtual now. With COVID-19 we're in the situation where some of the major employers are converting their physical on-site interviews or internships into actual virtual internships," said Shreve Blake. "We encourage our students to get those micro-internships, special projects and be resourceful during these times."

What's the best way to do an informational interview?

"The best way to do an informational interview is really to contact the person. I know at USC we have something called the Trojan network, which is a database of alumni who agreed to talk to students. LinkedIn is great and it doesn't matter where you went to college. You can research alumni that are working in your industry of choice and send them a an email and request an informational interview. And 80% of jobs come through networking. We know it works. And so, informational interviewing is the number one thing that people should be doing lots of. And then the most important question to ask is there anybody else that you recommend that I speak with?"

What do you tell students who are feeling bored  in this job market?

"What we need to do is keep moving forward. Don't put the brakes on your job search. Understand that there still are jobs out there. I know of a few cases. General Mills hiring for supply chain management. What I really want students and graduates to know is that in addition to the big Fortune 1000 companies, there are midsize companies, there are small companies. There are companies you've never heard of who are doing very well during this time of COVID. And seek out opportunities in those organizations. So it's gonna take a little bit more research, a little bit more work, a little bit more determination, but they will succeed if they keep on trying."

"And what a great story to tell after COVID is over: About how they were resilient and they found work even during these tough times."

When You're Over 40 Then 5 Best Weight Loss Tips for You

 When You're Over 40

Then 5 Best Weight Loss Tips for You

Hitting your 40s has plenty of benefits, such as earned wisdom, increased self-awareness, and self-confidence. Truth be told, though, it's tough getting used to some of the physical changes. A biggie is a downshift in metabolism, which can make weight maintenance trickier and weight loss more challenging. However, losing weight after 40 isn’t impossible. You absolutely can shed pounds at any age—and do so while simultaneously optimizing overall wellness. Here are five tactics that work for my clients. And yes, one involves a daily dose of dark chocolate!

Cut back, but don’t cut out carbs

Carbs are fuel, and whole food sources, like fresh fruit, whole grains, and potatoes, are bundled with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Cutting out carbs completely deprives your body of important nutrients. This can lead to unwanted side effects like constipation, fatigue, and irritability.

But after age 40, your daily carb requirement may decline. Many of my clients find that they can’t eat large carb portions without either gaining weight or struggling to lose weight. The best resolution is to optimize the quality of the carbs you eat (say butternut squash over processed bread), and think of carbs as a smaller add-on to a meal, rather than the main attraction.

For example, one client frequently ate veggie burritos, made with a whole grain flour tortilla, brown rice, black beans, salsa, and guacamole. Despite being a walker and practicing yoga, the scale wasn’t budging. The culprit: a carb surplus. That burrito packed 120 grams of carb, and even half of it was more than her body could burn in a given meal.

We worked out that in order to get to and maintain her healthy weight, her daily calorie needs were about 1,750. I find that a target of 40% of total calories from carbs is ideal for most of my over-40 female clients who are active, but not athletes. For her, that meant 175 grams of carb per day, or roughly 40-45 grams in each of her four daily meals. This moderate carb budget does allow for carb-rich foods—just in smaller portions, paired with larger servings of non-starchy veggies, lean protein, and healthy fat.

When we swapped her burrito for a salad made with a base of leafy greens topped with fajita veggies, salsa, black beans, and guac, the carbs came down to 42 grams. She still felt full, satisfied, and energized, and the scale started moving. The lesson: carbs aren’t inherently fattening or bad, so you don’t need to banish them completely. Nixing carbs altogether generally isn’t sustainable long-term, and it’s not optimal for health. The goal is to opt for quality carbs, and aim for balance—enough to meet, but not exceed your body’s fuel needs.

Eat a lot more veggies

Start with veggies first, then build your meals around them. I often recommend including one full cup of non-starchy veggies at breakfast, and at least two cups in each lunch and dinner. A minimum of five cups a day (think five tennis ball–size portions) will provide valuable nutrients and offer disease protection. But these veggies are also going to increase fullness, add volume to meals, help regulate blood sugar and insulin levels, and support healthy digestion, all of which add up to sustainable weight management. Most of the 40+ women I work with overestimate their veggie intakes, and according to the CDC, only 9% of adults eat the minimum recommended intake of two to three cups of veggies per day. (Note: that’s less than I recommend.)

At breakfast, whip a generous handful of greens into a smoothie, fold shredded zucchini into oats, add veggies to an egg or chickpea scramble, or simply eat veggies on the side, like sliced cucumber or red bell pepper. Rather than sandwiches or wraps at lunch, go for salads or bowls, with a large base of greens and veggies. At dinner, sauté, oven-roast, grill, or stir-fry veggies, and make them the largest component of the meal.

Again, pair your veggies with a source of lean protein, good fat, and a smaller portion of healthy carbs, and you’ve created an ideal balance for both weight management and good nutrition.

Be careful with alcohol

Many of my female clients over 40 don’t see the scale move until they cut back on alcohol or take a break from drinking. Alcohol is tricky, because in moderation it may actually support weight management, research suggests. But women who drink heavily or binge drink have an increased obesity risk.

Moderate alcohol consumption means one drink a day (and no, they don’t carry over), which equals five ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or a 1.5 ounce shot of distilled spirits.

If you’re downing half a bottle of vino most nights, there could be several issues at play. First, alcohol tends to lower inhibitions and stimulate appetite, so you may wind up eating more, often mindlessly. Also, when alcohol is consumed, breaking it down becomes the body’s top priority. That means foods consumed with alcohol are less likely to be burned. Finally, too much alcohol can disrupt sleep—and a healthy sleep cycle is directly tied to metabolism, weight management, and belly fat accumulation.

If cutting out alcohol altogether isn’t realistic, consider committing to a specific drinking strategy. Cut back gradually, limit alcohol to weekends only, or curb your consumption to a one drink per day max. 

Don’t eat diet food (or go on a diet)

A lot of my 40+ female clients remain stuck in outdated weight loss mind-sets. One involves eating diet foods, those highly processed products made with artificial chemicals engineered to be lower in calories, carbs, sugar, or fat. I recommend nixing this entire lot for good! In addition to being completely unsatisfying, diet foods can wreak havoc with your appetite, trigger inflammation, alter the healthy bacteria in your gut tied to weight management, and overtax your immune system.

Research also shows that switching from processed foods to whole foods increases calorie burning, meaning that eating real food may help you lose weight even without cutting your calorie intake (an outcome I have seen many times). Instead of a low calorie frozen meal, opt for hearty lentil soup and an avocado-topped salad. In place of a few reduced fat cookies, reach for a sliced apple dipped in almond butter or a few squares of high quality dark chocolate (more on this below).

Healthy, sustainable weight loss isn’t about dieting. Deprivation and go on/go off approaches ultimately backfire. Instead, adopt a mentality of balance, meaning not undereating or overeating, with a focus on nutrition, not restriction. It may seem boring, and it’s not a quick fix. But it feels best both physically and emotionally, and this approach is maintainable.

Treat yourself to dark chocolate daily 

Research backs something I can attest to myself and witness with my clients: building in dark chocolate as a daily treat helps curb cravings for both sweet and salty foods. Dark chocolate can also help reduce stress, a major emotional eating trigger. One study found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in volunteers who rated themselves as highly stressed.

Five squares of 70% dark chocolate contains under 250 calories, yet provides antioxidants, fiber, and magnesium, a mineral tied to relaxation, improved sleep, and enhanced mood.

Knowing that they have a chocolatey treat to look forward to has helped many of my clients pass on other less satisfying and higher-calorie and carb-laden goodies. Spread it out throughout the day, or enjoy an ounce or so of dark chocolate as part of a daily “you time” ritual.

What Is Sirtfood Diet? Can It Help to Lose Weight ?

What Is  Sirtfood Diet?

 Can It Help to Lose Weight?

While the world has been waiting for Adele to drop new music, it’s been getting just a little bit obsessed about her weight. There’s no doubt that she looks incredible (um, hasn’t she always?) and it’s rumored to be down to the Sirtfood Diet.

Lexi Larson, a 19-year-old from Hingham, Massachusetts, told People that she met Adele on vacation in Anguilla and that the music superstar told her she had “lost something like 100 pounds,” describing it as a “crazy positive experience.”

Adele hasn’t confirmed that her weight loss is down to the Sirtfood Diet (or any other diet), but she is featured on the official Sirtfood Diet website with the words, “Adele’s top-secret fat-melting diet.”

So what’s the big deal about the Sirtfood Diet? 

The eating plan is based on polyphenols, natural compounds found in plant foods that help to protect the cells in the body from inflammation or death through illness. According to health consultants Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten, who devised the Sirtfood Diet, a small group of polyphenols can mimic the effects of fasting and exercise by activating the body’s sirtuin (aka “skinny”) genes.

“Based on consuming a certain list of healthy, polyphenol-rich foods, the Sirtfood Diet promises weight and fat reduction without muscle loss,” says New York-based dietitian-nutritionist Tanya Freirich, RD, at Sweet Nova.

What’s the plan? 

There are two phases to the Sirtfood diet; the first lasts for one week and the second for two weeks. During the first three days of the plan, you’re restricted to 1,000 calories from one meal of sirtfoods and three green juices. For the rest of the first week, you can consume two green juices and two sirtfood meals per day. During phase two, the daily meal plan consists of three sirtfood meals and one green juice.

Balanced sirtfood-rich meals include Asian Shrimp Stir-Fry with Buckwheat Noodles and Strawberry Buckwheat Tabbouleh.

Beyond the initial three-week “jumpstart” period, Goggins and Matten recommend continuing to include sirtfoods in your meals to continue seeing results.

What does it promise?

“If you don’t deviate from the plan, the Sirtfood Diet promises a seven-pound weight loss in the first week (without losing muscle mass),” says Freirich. “It also claims to have anti-aging effects, to help improve memory and blood sugar control and reduce the risk of chronic disease.”

But does it deliver?

The research on the role of sirtuin is pretty thin—mostly laboratory studies involving yeast, lab animals, and human stem cells. One study, published in 2013 in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, suggests polyphenol consumption has the same beneficial effect on human metabolism as calorie restriction. But until this dietary approach is actually tested in human clinical trials, it’s impossible to say with any certainty how people might fare.

What can you eat? 

While some sirtfoods are standard in any supermarket or health food store (and might already be in your kitchen), others may not be so easy to find.

“Sirtfoods include kale, dark chocolate, red wine, cocoa powder, turmeric, onions, parsley, garlic, walnuts, and strawberries,” Freirich says. “Most of the ingredients are easy to find and are well-known as healthy choices. However, additional ingredients may be harder to source, like lovage, buckwheat, and matcha green tea powder.”

What can’t you eat? 

Officially, no foods are “banned” on the Sirtfood Diet, but the calorie restriction is serious—particularly during the initial three days, when you’re limited to 1,000 calories.

To put that in perspective, 1,000 calories is the recommended intake for a sedentary 2- to 3-year-old, according to the USDA Dietary Guidelines for 2015-2020,

Are there any drawbacks? 

The toughest part of the Sirtfood Diet is calorie restriction and the reliance on green juice, and this could be unsafe for certain groups of people, Freirich says. She wouldn’t recommend this diet for people on some medications, like Coumadin, or with health conditions like diabetes. She’d also give it a miss if you’re training extensively or are pregnant or breastfeeding.

“Generally, I don’t recommend any diets that rely on overly restrictive external rules,” Freirich adds. “However, many of the recommended ‘sirtfoods’ are health-promoting, and I’d recommend people incorporate these in their meals. As always, I strongly encourage people to listen to their body's hunger and satiety cues for guidance on when and how much food to eat.”

Can the coffee diet promote weight loss?

What is the coffee diet, exactly?

The plan, based on the 2017 book The Coffee Lover’s Diet by medical doctor Bob Arnot, involves drinking a minimum of three cups of light roast coffee daily, due to its higher polyphenol antioxidant content. (Coffee polyphenols are linked to a reduced risk of a number of diseases, including type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.) In fact, you can have as much coffee as you’d like, either decaf or regular, as long as you hit the three-cup minimum.

Dr. Arnot includes a good deal of research in the book about coffee’s ability to curb appetite, reduce fat absorption, boost metabolism, improve circulation, and burn fat. (Some of the benefits Dr. Arnot promotes are linked to caffeine, while others are true for regular or decaf coffee.) He advises skipping the sugar, cream, and milk, however, especially since the latter reduces polyphenol absorption.

He’s also particular about the beans, which are technically seeds inside coffeeberries, the whole fruit of the coffee plant. He recommends coffee selections from high altitude regions with rich, volcanic soil close to the equator, which produce the most antioxidants. Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, and Brazil rank at the top.

Apart from the three daily cups, the remainder of the plan is similar to other weight loss regimens. It involves avoiding refined carbs and processed foods while following many principles of the Mediterranean diet, with a calorie intake of around 1,500 per day. The book also includes recipes, much like a traditional diet book.

Can the coffee diet promote weight loss?

So is coffee really the solution to shedding pounds and keeping them off? Due to the aforementioned benefits, which are research-backed, it may help. Yet keep in mind a few important points.

First, sipping java throughout the day without regard to the rest of your diet will probably not yield results. Simply displacing healthy meals and snacks with black coffee can become a form of restriction that deprives your body of nutrients, plus zaps your mental and physical energy. In other words, it's not just the coffee itself but the balance of your overall eating pattern that's key to weight loss.

For some people, coffee can trigger digestive irritation, including heartburn, and an upset stomach. Too much caffeine can also increase blood pressure, cause anxiety, rapid heartbeat, rebound fatigue, dehydration, and interfere with sleep.

I generally advise my clients to cut off all caffeine at least six hours before bed, and to listen to their bodies for signs that they may be overdoing it. It’s also important to consume a consistent amount of caffeine each day. This helps the body adjust, and can offset caffeine’s diuretic effect. Fortunately, decaf still offers a number of benefits, so if you want to try to increase your coffee intake for the polyphenol benefits, you may want to stick with "unleaded" entirely.

Bottom line: Coffee is good for you, especially without the add-ins. But it’s not a magic bullet, and too much can lead to unwanted side effects. If you’re a coffee lover, enjoy it in a healthy balance. But if you’re trying to lose weight, remain focused on the bigger picture. Eating clean, being active, getting enough sleep, and managing stress are still the pillars of healthy, sustainable weight loss.

Top 10 Trending Diets of 2020 According to Google

 Top 10 Trending Diets of 2020

 According to Google

Today, Google is putting out its annual Year In Search report, which includes the top trending diet searches of the year in the US. You’ve probably heard of most of them, if not tried a few yourself. Some are actually sound, nutritionists say, while others don't necessarily have much scientific backing...and a few are a little off the wall. Here's the entire list of the top trending diets of 2019, starting from the top.

Intermittent fasting diet

The intermittent fasting diet caught everyone’s attention recently when Jennifer Aniston revealed that she does it. There are different versions of this diet, which involves periods of going without solid food—Aniston favors the 16:8 version, which means she eats within an 8-hour window then fasts for 16 hours. But does it actually work? It can.

“It’s suspected that the reason it helps people lose weight is that eating within an 8-hour window simply limits the total amount of calories consumed in a day,” New York-based nutritionist Lauren Harris-Pincus, RD, previously told Health.

Dr. Sebi diet

The Dr. Sebi diet is a controversial one. The guy behind it is the late Alfredo Darrington Bowman, aka Dr. Sebi, who wasn’t a medical doctor but a self-educated herbalist. It didn’t help that he claimed (until a 1993 lawsuit ordered him to stop doing so) that his diet could cure conditions like AIDS, sickle cell anemia, lupus, and leukemia. Basically, the Dr. Sebi diet promotes consuming plant-based foods and supplements that supposedly decrease disease-causing mucus by bringing the body into an alkaline state.

Noom diet

“Noom diet” was one of the top trending diet searches in 2018, and it’s high on the list again this year. Noom is actually an app—one that lets users log meals, access workout plans, track exercise, set goals, rate their motivation level, and connect with like-minded people. It also has articles, recipes, and support from personal health coaches (although not RDNs).

If that’s not enough, if attempts to address emotional eating and looks at how factors like stress and boredom can affect eating decisions. That all comes at a price, however: around $50 a month, and the plan is designed to last for four months. “While the app provides support, the user ultimately has to make his or her own eating and exercise decisions,” Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, Health contributing nutrition editor, previously told Health.

1200 calories diet

Just as the name of this diet implies, it's an eating plan that limits dieters to 1200 calories daily. Many variations exist, and the diet doesn't restrict any one food group or type of food. While sticking to 1200 calories a day might sound feasible for the short-term, keep in mind that the USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises that moderately active women between ages 26 and 50 should take in about 2,000 calories daily to maintain a healthy weight. Cutting back to 1200 might be too restrictive to sustain.

Keto ultra diet

The high-fat, low-carb keto diet was at the top of last year's top trending diets list from Google. Quick refresher: the goal of the diet is to get your body to a state of ketosis, where you burn fat for energy rather than carbs, which leads to weight loss. This variation of the super popular keto diet is basically keto with supplements, which claim to put your body in a state of ketosis or increase fat burning while you're in ketosis already.

GOLO diet

The premise of the GOLO diet is that hormone imbalances lead to stress and anxiety, and this in turn makes you hungry and tired...which triggers overeating. While diet and exercise are part of the GOLO plan, users are also advised to take a supplement called Release to help bolster those healthy habits and boost weight loss. "Without independent data on Release, it’s difficult to say if it indeed leads to better results, and if it’s safe for all," Sass previously told Health.

Dubrow diet

Created by Heather Dubrow of Real Housewives of Orange County and husband Terry Dubrow, MD, one of the stars on Botched, the Dubrow diet is an intermittent fasting plan with three phases that focuses on whole foods and restricting calories. The diet features sample meal plans and it doesn't eliminate carbs. But all the phases and fasting windows could make it a bit complicated to follow, Sass previously told Health.

Sirtfood diet

The Sirtfood diet can be filed under “Is this too good to be true?” It claims to be the only eating plan which actively encourages red wine and dark chocolate, which are both high in sirtuin activators. (Sirtuins are a type of protein that protects the body’s cells from dying and from inflammation, and research suggests they can help regulate metabolism, increase muscle, and burn fat.) This diet has actually been making headlines for a while due to (unsubstantiated) claims that singer Adele followed it to lose weight.

No carbs no sugar diet

This plan appears to come from Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, who announced on Instagram back in January that they would be attempting a 10-day no carb, no sugar challenge. Apparently J. Lo discovered that cutting out an entire macronutrient was not easy and reported this on social media: "So it turns out, when you don't have sugar and you don't have carbs, you're really really hungry all the time. So we're trying to figure out a lot of good snacks."

Endomorph diet

This diet is inspired by research from the 1940s, when a psychologist classified people into three body types: ectomorphs, mesomorphs, and endomorphs, the latter having excess fat and less muscle tone. Supposedly, endomorphs have slower metabolisms, and their bodies are more likely to convert excess calories to fat. They're advised to eat more protein and fats while keeping an eye on carb intake.

If Google's 2019 list has inspired you to try any of these diets, just remember that most diets don’t work, insofar as they don’t lead to sustained weight loss. The worst case scenario is that a structured eating plan (no matter how “healthy” it claims to be) can lead to disordered eating habits.

The 12 Best Weight Loss Tips in 2020

I’ve been writing about weight loss for years. But I have also counselled real people for decades, and here’s what I know: What makes headlines, generates buzz, or becomes trendy doesn’t always pan out in everyday life. I’ve talked to countless clients whose attempts with cleanses, extreme diets, and popular weight-loss tactics completely backfired, leaving them right back where they started (or worse).

While I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to losing weight, the reality is that there are a few truths that apply to nearly everyone. For one, if your weight-loss method leaves you feeling hungry, cranky, run-down, or socially isolated, it’s probably not healthy or sustainable. Losing weight should enhance your health, not come at the expense of your health. Also, if your weight loss approach doesn’t become a lifestyle, you’ll likely slip back into old habits, and the weight will creep back on.

So, what does work? Here are a dozen strategies that truly hold up in my experience working in the trenches. Each has the power to support healthy weight loss, while simultaneously enhancing health (the ultimate win-win), and they all have an essential criterion: stick-with-it-ness.

Eat real food

Eat real food

A calorie isn’t a calorie. Three hundred calories worth of cooked oats topped with blueberries, cinnamon, and nuts isn’t going to have the same effect on your body as a 300-calorie blueberry muffin made with refined carbs, sugar, and artificial additives.

In addition to offering more overall nutrition, whole foods are more filling, satiating, and energizing, and they create a different impact on blood sugar and insulin regulation, digestion, and metabolism. I have seen numerous clients break a weight-loss plateau or start losing weight simply by switching from processed foods to whole foods—even without eating fewer calories. The effect is backed by research, but it also just makes sense. If you do nothing else, upgrade the quality of what you eat, and make this goal the foundation of your weight loss (and ultimately weight-maintenance) plan.

Eat more veggies

According to the CDC, just 9% of adults eat the minimum recommended intake of two to three cups of veggies per day. In my practice, I see that even health-conscious people often miss the mark. But for both weight loss and optimal health, consistently eating more veggies is one of the most important habits you can foster.

Non-starchy vegetables—like leafy greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, and onions—are incredibly filling and nutrient rich, yet they provide just 25 calories or less per cup. Their fiber, prebiotics, and antioxidants have been shown to reduce inflammation, a known obesity trigger, and alter the makeup of gut bacteria in ways that enhance immunity and improve mental health.

I advise my clients to build meals around veggies, so they’re never an afterthought. Aim for one cup (about the size of a tennis ball) at breakfast, two cups and lunch, and two cups at dinner, with the portions measured out before cooking if cooked (such as spinach, which shrinks way down). At breakfast, whip greens into a smoothie, fold shredded zucchini into oats, add veggies to an egg or chickpea scramble, or simply eat them on the side, like sliced cucumber or red bell pepper. Go for salads or bowls at lunch, instead of sandwiches or wraps, with a large base of greens and veggies. At dinner, sauté, oven roast, grill, or stir-fry veggies, and make them the largest component of the meal.

There is no downside to this goal, and it has a healthy domino effect on nearly every other aspect of wellness, from healthy sleep to beauty benefits—in addition to truly working for sustainable weight loss.

Drink more water

You’ve probably heard this one a million times, and it helps. But in my practice, I find that most people don’t follow through. Water is needed for every process in the body, including healthy circulation, digestion, and waste elimination. Studies show that water does indeed help rev metabolism, and while the effect may be slight, it can snowball to create a greater impact over time.

Drinking water before meals has also been shown to naturally reduce meal portions, which may help prevent slight overeating, which inhibits weight loss. According to the Institute of Medicine, women 19 and older need 2.7 liters of total fluid per day (over 11 cups) and men need 3.7 liters (over 15 cups). About 20% of your fluids come from food, but that still leaves 8-12 cups based on the IOM guidelines, not including additional needs due to exercise.

As a minimum I recommend eight cups a day. Think of your day in four blocks: 1) from the time you get up to mid-morning; 2) mid-morning to lunchtime; 3) lunchtime to mid-afternoon; and 4) mid-afternoon to dinnertime. Aim for two cups (16 ounces) of water during each of these blocks. Set your cell phone alarm as a reminder if you need to. And if you’re not a fan of plain water, spruce it up with healthful add-ins, like lemon or lime, fresh mint, sliced cucumber, fresh ginger, or slightly mashed bits of seasonal fruit.

Eat on a regular schedule

This is a biggie. In my experience, a consistent eating schedule helps to regulate appetite and better support metabolism, energy, and digestive health. My clients who eat at erratic times tend to be more prone to over or undereating. Both are problematic, as undereating can stall metabolism and lead to rebound overeating.

For most of my clients, a good rule of thumb is to eat within about an hour of waking up, and not let more than four to five hours go by without eating. This may mean something like breakfast at 7 a.m., lunch at noon, a snack at 3 p.m., and dinner at 7 p.m. Once you get into a groove with meal timing, your body tends to respond with hunger cues at expected meal/snack times and crave balance, meaning a drive to stop eating when full. I also recommend allowing at least two to three hours between the last meal and bedtime. This provides time for digestion, and averts eating during your least active hours, when your body is preparing for sleep and unable to burn an unneeded surplus of fuel.

Be strategic about meal balance

The bulk of my last weight loss book, Slim Down Now, was based on the idea of building your meals like you build your outfits. When you get dressed, you need a top, bottom, and footwear. You can get away without wearing socks, but you wouldn’t wear two pairs of pants and no top, and you can’t wear two pairs of shoes at the same time.

In the same way, there are three core pieces that make up the foundation of a healthy meal: non-starchy veggies (think top); lean protein (think bottom); and good fat (think shoes). These foundation foods provide the building blacks that support metabolism, and the ongoing maintenance and repair of cells in your body—from immune cells to hormones, red blood cells, enzymes that digest food, hair, skin, and organs.

To this core trio, add what I refer to as an “energy accessory” (aka healthy carb), which you can think of as an add-on to a meal, like putting on a jacket over your top, carrying a bag, or wearing a hat or scarf. These good carb foods, which include whole grains, starchy vegetables, pulses (the umbrella term for beans, lentils, peas, and chickpeas), and fruit, provide energy to fuel the activity of your cells and help them perform their roles. Cutting them out completely can lead to fatigue, and rob your body of important nutrients, including fiber, prebiotics, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. But overdoing it on carbs can result in overfueling (over accessorizing), which interferes with weight loss.

To strike the right balance, match your carb portion to your body’s energy demands, much like putting on a heavier jacket when it’s cooler out, and a lighter hoodie when it’s balmy. This outfit analogy can help you see where you’ve been out of balance, and how to tweak meals that allow for weight loss while still nourishing your body. For example, the alternative to a burrito isn’t veggies and protein only—it’s something like veggies and protein along with avocado and a small scoop of brown rice.

Contrary to what many people believe, balanced meals do result in weight loss (albeit more slowly), and extremes aren’t necessary in order to shed pounds. This kind of sensible meal balance is also far more sustainable long term.

Time your meals sensibly

Intermittent fasting is currently a huge trend. While the research is young, it does look promising. However, in my practice, I still see a consistent pattern. People who eat most of their food during their more active hours, and eat less or fast during their least active hours, get better results than those who do the opposite. In other words, the timing of your “eating window” matters.

If you decide to try intermittent fasting and limit your eating to eight to 10 hours a day, eat when you’re up and about, moving, and exercising, not when you’re resting and winding down. Over and over I have seen clients lose weight by simply shifting the timing of their meals. For example, for clients who do practice time-restricted eating, those who eat between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. typically get better results than those who eat between noon and 8 p.m.—if they’re sedentary in the evening, that is.  And I think it’s worth noting that I’ve seen many, many clients successfully lose wright and keep it off without practising intermittent fasting or time-restricting eating at all, if they implement many of the other principles laid out here.

Cook at home more often

This one may be pretty obvious, but it’s tried-and-true. Takeout and restaurant meals are notorious for oversized portions and a generous use of starch and sugar. And it’s really difficult to not eat too much, whether that’s due to the tastiness, or not wanting to waste food—even if it’s more than your body needs.

The caveat to cooking at home is that it generally needs to be fast and easy, especially when you’re tired and hungry! I advise my clients to select a few staple meals, and keep the ingredients on hand. When you know what to make, how to make it, how long it’s going to take, what it will taste like, and how you’re going to feel afterwards, you’ll be a lot more likely to get in the kitchen.

Healthy shortcuts and minimal ingredients are encouraged. A few go-tos my clients like include: ready-to-eat leafy greens tossed with salsa fresca, topped with a crumbled veg burger patty, sliced avocado, and a scoop of black beans; or a scramble made with veggies, extra virgin olive oil, Italian seasoning, sea salt, black pepper, eggs, or chickpeas, and a side of fresh fruit. Find a few meals you enjoy that leave you feeling simultaneously full, satisfied, and energised, and that aren’t too time intensive.

In addition to supporting healthy weight loss, you can also save a considerable amount of money, and you can use your cooking time to unwind, listen to a podcast, or catch up with your partner.

Re-evaluate alcohol

In addition to providing calories, alcohol tends to lower inhibitions and stimulate appetite. I think we’ve all experienced eating foods we wouldn’t touch sober, and/or overeating with abandon while tipsy. So alcohol is a bit of a double whammy when it comes to weight loss. Many of my clients who cut out the two glasses of wine or cocktails they typically sip with dinner have dropped a size without making any other changes.

But if cutting out alcohol altogether doesn’t suit your lifestyle, consider committing to a specific drinking strategy. Some of my clients limit alcohol to weekends only. Others curb their consumption to a one drink max per day. In some cases, finding new ways of socialising helps considerably. My clients that typically spend time with friends by eating and drinking have had success by expanding their activities to include outings that don’t heavily revolve around drinking like meeting for coffee, going to a museum, play, or doing something active, such as going for a hike or bike ride.

Develop a splurge strategy

It’s not realistic to go the rest of your life never having treats, including both sweet and savoury favourites. Repeatedly I have seen that trying to do so causes people to give up, abandon their weight loss goals, and slide back into old, unbalanced habits.

Instead, build can’t-live-without goodies in a balanced way. First, identify your very favorites. I ask my clients to rank foods using a 0-5 scale, with 0 being ‘meh’ and 5 a special food they can’t imagine forgoing forever. If something doesn’t rate at least a 4, you’re probably going to be OK passing it up.

But make room for those true faves. For example, if French fries are your thing, combine them with a lettuce wrapped veg or turkey burger, along with salad, veggies, or slaw. If you’re craving a decadent cupcake, eat a generous portion of veggies and some lean protein for dinner, and savor every morsel of your dessert. This is not at all about willpower, diet “rules,” or restriction—it’s about balance, and it feels good.

Most of us have been programmed to live in the all or nothing, but the in-between is a much happier, healthier place to be. And trust me, you can do this and still lose weight. Let go of the notion that weight loss requires extreme limitations. The real key is consistency, and this approach, although seemingly unconventional, is highly maintainable.

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Don’t starve yourself

I’ve eluded to this a few times, but let me be blunt: In my 20 years of counseling clients, I have never once seen someone lose weight and keep it off by starving themselves. Have I seen people lose weight this way? Yes. But, in every case they either got sick or became physically, emotionally, or socially unable to keep it up—and regained all of the weight (sometimes plus more).

As a health professional, my goal is to help people lose weight in a way that feels good, optimizes wellness, and reduces the risk of immediate and long-term health problems. Starvation checks not one of those boxes. I’ve seen clients pay tons of money to go to spas that underfeed and overexercise their bodies, try cleanses, extreme fasts, or adopt severely limited diets, and the side effects have been disastrous.

I completely understand the pull these types of methods can attract, but chances are you’ve already tried some version of this in your life, and it didn’t end well. If you’re tempted again, listen to your gut, and remind yourself that a quick fix is ultimately a dead end.

Differentiate mind hunger from body hunger

Many of my clients are surprised how much time we spend talking about this, but in my experience, it’s fundamental for both weight loss and a healthy relationship with food. Body hunger triggers signs that are physical in nature, like a slightly growling tummy and a need for fuel. Mind hunger has nothing to do with your body’s needs. It may be driven by habit, emotions, or environmental cues—like seeing or smelling food, or watching other people eat.

I use breathing, guided meditation, and mindfulness to help my clients differentiate between the two, and the results are profound. I’ve had many clients tell me they’re hungry one hour after eating a perfectly balanced meal. And when we drill down, they realize that it’s not hunger they’re experiencing, but anxiety, boredom, or maybe the desire for reward or comfort. We are practically programmed for birth to use food to meet non-physical needs. We celebrate with food, bring food to loved ones when something bad happens, use it to bond, show love, and even pass time. We also learn to self-soothe with food, and we pair eating with other activities, like watching TV or reading, which then become uncomfortable to uncouple.

Delving into your personal relationship with food, and the whys behind your eating choices, can provide a wealth of knowledge. If you keep a food journal, add your thoughts and feelings to it, including why you chose to eat when and what you did, and what body signals you were experiencing. Until you really understand your patterns, they’re nearly impossible to change. If you find that you often mistake hunger for emotional eating, test out some alternative coping mechanisms that address your feelings. You cannot transform overnight, but as you begin to replace food with other ways of meeting your emotional needs, you will alter how you eat forever.  And for many people, this is the final piece of the weight loss puzzle.

RELATED: The Best (and Worst) Diets of 2020, According to Experts

Seek support

All of the previous tips focus on forming different habits, letting go of approaches that haven’t served you well, and developing a new normal. This doesn’t happen in a vacuum. And you may even have people in your life who are unsupportive or disruptive to your goals.

Find support from somewhere. It can be a professional like me, a friend, co-worker, neighbor, even an app, website, or a like-minded person you’ve connected with through social media. I’ve had so many clients get talked out of healthy approaches because someone in their life convinced them it wasn’t necessary or wouldn‘t work. It’s difficult to see that happen when the approach in question felt right to the client and was helping them feel well. But this is bound to happen whenever you go public with any type of lifestyle change.

To counter it, find your person or people who will listen, allow you to vent, support your healthy choices, and even gently interject if your choices don’t line up with wellness-focused goals. Healthy weight loss is a journey, but it shouldn’t be a solo expedition. Find at least one resource to keep you from losing your way.