How can you expect to lose weight if you don’t know exactly how you gained those pounds? Dieting, like quitting smoking, is about a lot more than just eliminating certain foods or cutting back. For true success, you have to know your weaknesses and understand their underlying causes. So many diets are destined to fail because people don’t restructure their lives to support their changed eating habits. Without addressing underlying causes and habits, no diet is sustainable.

The first step to diet success is to understand why you eat. Let’s face it, hunger is not the only answer to this question, or you wouldn’t be overweight. Boredom, depression, pleasure, stress and tiredness are all potential reasons. People also often associate activities like watching TV or going to the movies with eating. There’s something about those dark theaters and that glowing screen…

Why do you eat? Try this simple exercise (see photo for an example): take a blank sheet of paper and write down the word eating in the middle of the page, then make an individual branch for all the moods and situations that prompt you to eat. (I will make an example chart we can insert as a picture) Then, write down why you eat in those situations. For example, you may eat when you’re depressed because it’s comforting and it fills the emptiness you feel. You may eat when you’re watching television because it gives your hands something to do, or because it’s relaxing.

Okay, once you’ve accomplished that, start branching out onto solutions for each reason. Think of alternate ways to fulfill the role that eating plays in those situations. For example, if eating gives you something to do with your hands while you watch TV, you might consider keeping a pair of free weights under your couch to do bicep curls while you watch, taking up knitting, or keeping a supply of carrot sticks or grapes on hand for guilt-free noshing. If you eat when you’re tired, you may consider going to bed earlier, or exercising or drinking green tea instead for an energy boost.

Set up an alternate plan for when you’re feeling stressed. Instead of taking a trip to the vending machine, sit at your desk and do a few minutes of deep breathing, then drink a glass of water or a cup of tea. If you eat for pleasure, find non-food-related ways to spoil yourself. Get a massage or buy a few tabloids and sit in a bubble bath for an hour (this is my personal favorite). If you eat out of boredom, take some time to decide on a meaningful hobby or activity. Make yourself get outside for a walk around the neighborhood. If you eat junk food because it’s convenient, banish it from your cupboards. Have a husband and kids that like their munchies? Get them on board and make sure you’re well stocked with healthy snacks for them also.

Obviously, not all solutions will work for or appeal to all people. You have to choose or invent the solutions that will work for you. Remember, this is your life, and you’re the only one who can change it, so once you figure out what you want, you have to develop strategies to outsmart your old habits.

Now, take the paper and place it somewhere prominent, where you’ll see it daily. Once you’ve identified the situations in which you eat (other than hunger), it’s easier to prevent yourself from getting in those situations in the first place. Implement your solutions as necessary. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to control your weight when you understand your motivations for eating.

Click here for 13 simple rules for weight loss success (tip #3: eat enough fats)

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