How do Italians eat pasta every day and not gain weight? Why do they have the lowest obesity rate in Western Europe? Why they don’t gain weight as easily as Americans do?  In October, I was really fortunate to spend two weeks in northern Italy. I visited  Venice, Verona, Florence, and Tuscany, specifically the medieval walled hill towns of San Gimignano, Siena and Volterra. They were each wonderful in their own way. I had a fantastic time, and really loved it there.  While I was there, I...

How many times have you heard this saying? “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So many people get stuck and have difficulty reaching their weight goals (and any other goal for that matter) because they get caught in a repetitive pattern of doing the same thing that doesn’t work, or that makes things worse,, over and over again. Maybe you keep stopping at that bakery on your way to work, buying three pastries under the pretense that you’ll...

Do you eat foods you don’t like very much because they’re low in calories or carbs, then feel unsatisfied afterwards and still crave something tastier?  There’s a scientific reason behind that! I have something exciting and NEW to share with you about mindset and eating.  Surprising evidence supports the role of mindset in weight management in a totally unexpected way.  How you think about what you’re eating affects your weight! What that means is what you think about your food affects how...

Do you have family members who make comments about your weight, other people’s weight, their own weight, or what you should and shouldn’t eat? Do you have friends or family who are always talking about their latest diet? It’s summer vacation, which for many of us means eating meals with family members we don’t see all the time. For some of us, that’s a blessing. For others, it can be very difficult and stressful.  For many people, dealing with their extended family is wrought with all...

When was the last time you felt physically hungry?  Do you eat in response to your body’s hunger signals? Or do you eat for all kinds of other reasons that have nothing to do with your body’s need for food? One of the most important tenets of the Weight Loss for Foodies approach is to only eat when you’re physically hungry, and stop eating when you’re lightly full.  The reason this is so important is that when you only feed your body when it’s hungry, and stop eating when you’re lightly...

If you want to lose weight, how you THINK about food is even more important than what you eat. You see, your mindset about food and eating, especially if it’s a diet mindset, could be the single biggest thing standing between you and weight loss success.  The good news is all you have to do to change that is change how you think! And that’s one of the few things in life we can actually control.  The reason why diets don’t work for sustainable weight loss is because they teach you to think of...

Do you have a lot of rules about what you can and can’t eat?  Some people have lists of food rules that are almost as long as the United States tax code.  No sugar.  No carbs.  No refined flour.  Only eat fruit before noon.  No fried foods.  No dairy.  No gluten.  Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.  Drink apple cider vinegar before every meal. Only eat during an eight-hour window.  You get the idea.  Well guess what? These rules are probably keeping you from losing...

Eat what you love and increase your metabolism? That’s entirely possible,  and there’s even science to back it up. Eating mindfully and savoring food away from the distractions of your smartphone, the television or other distractions, can actually help you lose weight. I was surprised to learn this, too, but a study done a few years ago at North Carolina State University backs it up! I am not saying that simply eating what you love will help you lose weight. It’s more complicated than...

You’ve decided you’re going to finally do what you need to do to lose those extra pounds. Starting today, you’ve resolved to eat better.  You’re going to eat only when you’re hungry.  You make a yummy salad and bring it to work for lunch.  You vow to eat fewer sweets and exercise for an hour three times a week.  Then you stop in the grocery store, and they are giving away free doughnuts to customers. You had oatmeal for breakfast and aren’t hungry, but you grab a chocolate glazed one and...

Do you get derailed from your efforts to lose weight because you lose your inspiration?  How do you stay on track long enough to get results? So often, people ask me how to stay inspired to eat right and lose weight.  Many people believe that inspiration is what you need to be successful, but that’s a fallacy.  Sure, inspiration is great! It feels good, and it makes doing certain things easier.  For a little while.  The problem is that you CAN’T stay inspired for very long, no matter how...

Is exercising easier for you than managing your eating, but it isn’t producing the results you want?  Do you exercise like crazy to make up for overeating?  Do you hate exercise and avoid it like the plague?  Unless you’re training for a half-marathon or something else intense, exercise alone isn’t going to get you to your weight goals.  Are you surprised to hear that? While you can  lose some weight through exercise, it doesn’t make up for bad eating habits.  It takes a lot less time to...

I think women spend way too much time and energy trying to meet some societal standard for how we should look, and this confirms patriarchal ideas that what women look like is the most important thing about us.  In this episode, I’m talking about how we unknowingly do things that perpetuate this problem and what you can do to change that.  I’m not blaming you.  I think many people are unaware of how their behavior on social media and elsewhere contributes to or exacerbates a problem we...

Are you curious about whether those ads claiming you can miraculously lose weight effortlessly by boosting your metabolism are true?  You’ve probably seen some of the ads that say things like this:  Lose 30 pounds in 30 days (or fewer days).  Boost your metabolism and lose weight while eating all the food you want! To lose weight permanently, all you have to do is take this pill.  This amazing coffee diet will boost your metabolism & melt the fat off you effortlessly! Is this really...

It was a tough decision to make, but this is the last time I'm going to offer the Weight Loss for Foodies group coaching  program. Podcast listeners can register until March 30 or it fills up, whichever happens first. I’m not ending this podcast, just the coaching program.

Does your brain make lots of excuses for you to eat when you aren’t hungry, undermining your weight loss efforts? Excuses like:   “I had a hard day and deserve this,” or,  “I’ve been so good all day.” We talk about thoughts a lot in this podcast. Some thoughts are happy and some aren’t.  Some are helpful, and some aren’t.  But the fact is that they’re just thoughts.  And there are two things that thoughts aren’t: Who we are. We aren’t our thoughts. We’re the observers of our...

Do you often get the urge to eat when you aren’t hungry? Do you find yourself regularly having cravings for certain foods?  The inability to manage cravings can be the downfall of the best efforts of many who want to lose weight.  But why is it such a problem? And what can you do about it so you don’t routinely overeat and gain weight? Before you judge yourself too harshly for having cravings, craving food and eating when you’re hungry is a normal human thing.  The problem arises when you...

Does the idea of loving yourself and your body while you’re working to lose weight seem counterintuitive to you? Why would you want to change your body if you already loved it?   Your body does so much for you. It allows you to experience life on earth!  It carries you around, lets you feel and express love, hug people, and so many more things that it would be silly for me to attempt to list them all.  Your body works hard for you, and always tries to support you.  Even if you are...

Do you eat to avoid feeling shame? Do you feel shame because your body doesn’t conform to societal  ideas of what it should look like? Do you feel shame about your food choices or how much you eat? Were you ever told that you were somehow inadequate because of your body size?  Or because you chose to wear certain clothing that revealed too much of a body that someone thought was not worthy of being revealed? As a child or adult, did people make comments about your weight, including your...

How many times have you heard this saying?  “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  That’s how I think about dieting. Even if you try different diets, you’re still restricting what foods you eat, not listening to your body, and trying to lose weight by doing something unsustainable.  Diets are designed to be temporary, so even if you lose some weight on one, you ultimately go off it. Because you haven’t changed your eating habits, you’ve got...

Do you have a voice in your head that says things like:  “I shouldn’t eat that!” “Stay away from that food! It’s SINFUL!” “I can’t control myself around that food!” “I can’t keep that in the house, or I’d eat the whole thing in one sitting.” “I’m too fat to eat that,” or, “I’ll never lose weight if I eat that” Do you feel guilty because you ate an ice cream cone or a few cookies?   Over the years that I’ve been coaching people, there’s one thing everyone seems to agree is the best part...

Happy New Year! Ready to start AND end 2022 on the correct foot?  Here are four positive things you can do to change your relationship with food, eating and your weight so you can lose the weight for good while enjoying your life, including the foods you love! It’s been a tough couple of years for many of us.  In this episode I want to help you make this new year better. Listen below to learn the four most important changes to make in 2022 to change your relationship with food and eating,...

How many times a day, on average, do you think you make decisions about eating food and drinking beverages?  Years ago, a Cornell University researcher asked that question to 139 people. They estimated 15 times a day. But the researcher concluded that it was more like 226! I’m not sure how he figured that, but if we have 60,000 thoughts every day, surely a mere 226 could be decisions to eat or drink, or not.  The important question is how do you make those decisions?  Are they...

Today’s topic is about knowing when you’re truly physically hungry. The reason most people gain weight is because they eat for all kinds of other reasons. Some people are not even sure what physical hunger feels like anymore  because they confuse it with “head hunger.”  Tune in this week to learn the difference between head hunger and body hunger.  It's so important because getting in the habit of eating only when you’re physically hungry is the cornerstone to your permanent weight loss succ

Do you think it’s unfair that you keep gaining weight even though  you think you don't eat more than your slimmer friends? When I was about 50 pounds heavier, that’s what I thought. But I was wrong, and you may be, too.  There’s a good chance that if you weigh more than is healthy or comfortable for you, you’re probably eating more than you realize. Tune in to learn the two ways people overeat, the most common excuses for overeating, & what you can do to stop overeating and lose weight...