Many individuals trying to lose weight focus on what foods they should avoid, however weight loss is a much bigger picture. It’s not so much what we eat as it is our relationship with food.

Simple guidelines to approach weight loss:

#1. Hunger cues: How many of you eat when you’re hungry? Most of us eat because it’sbreakfast, lunch or dinner time, so much of our eating is dictated by the hands on the clock and if we were tuned into our bodies many of us wouldn’t be hungry when the clock said 8 am, 12 pm or 6 pm. Test yourself on a day your schedule is more flexible, maybe a weekend, don’t look at the clock and eat only when you feel hungry. Listen to your body and feed it when it signals hunger.

#2 Emotional hunger: Recognize the difference between physical signs of hunger and emotional. Emotional eating can be triggered by loneliness, sadness, anger, anxiety and boredom. Emotions can be very powerful and cause one to lose control overeat and lose touch with physical hunger. Pay attention to why you are eating.

#3 Fullness cues: Do you feel the need to finish everything on your plate? Were you raised by a parent who made you finish everything on your plate because of all the starving children in Africa? Or are you a parent who can’t bare to see food left on your child’s plate for fear they may starve? Sound familiar? Believe it or not most of us finish our food in 8-10 minutes, however it takes our brains 20 minutes to register we are full. So try something new. Try putting your fork down between bites, take sips of water between chews, or here’s a novel idea talk with your family and friends while eating. Don’t mindlessly munch but instead tune back into your body.

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