I believe that there are two types of hunger: physical and emotional hunger. I eat not just because I am hungry;  I eat when I am bored, stressed or lonely.  I have always battled with my weight since I was a teenager, trying the latest fad. On my journey to weight loss, I have tried the following program.

1. Yoyo diet -  everybody must have tried this diet one time or another. This is probably the easiest because it does not entail too much physical effort and it's not a permanent deal.  Starve yourself for a few days until you lose those pounds then resume your usual eating habits. It does not work in the long haul.  You will gain back those pounds sooner that you can say "So soon!?"  I have researched about this diet and they say one thing, yoyo diet further slows down your slow metabolism.  I will spare you the medical jargon that bores me to death it make me want to eat.  A sub category would be the cabbage soup diet.  It works until you start eating real food, enough said.
2. Diet pills - I do not want to brand any pills that I have taken so far but in my experience the potential dangers from side effects outweighs the benefits.  I took one particular metabolic enhancer and it gave me palpitations that scared me to death, so much for die trying.
3. H.I.I.T. - this is not actually a diet but an exercise to speed up metabolism. I tried it about three years ago but my poor old heart can only take so much.  As a disclaimer, you need to check with your physician before engaging in any exercise program.  You need to need to check with your doctor if you are physically fit to try this.  I had a thorough physical check up before getting into this program.  Yes I did lose weight;  I had a tone body but the physical demand was too much that I break down in tears after each routine.  I just gave up.
4. South Beach diet - this program is great but it took me three attempts to follow the program by heart.  There are a lot of good resources on the Internet about South Beach diet.  It really help curve down your physical hunger.  It is more of a lifestyle though than just a diet.  But the thing is there is the "emotional" hunger.
5. "Emotional therapy" diet - hey, do not nail me to the cross yet.  Quiet a few experts ( Dr Phil, Mayo Clinic) tackled this issue but they did not gave any specific name for the program.  After South Beach diet, I was not physically hungry most of the time but I was still an emotional eater.  I am now trying to address the emotional hunger.  I tried to reconnect with old friend;  I email them or chat with them when I am lonely.  I picked up a new hobby which is gardening to relieve stress.  I blog or research on the Internet when I am bored, anything to keep my mind off those tempting chocolate fudge or potato chips.

     I am five feet and four inches tall;  my heaviest weight was around 160 pounds.  Now I am down to 130 pounds  for six months now.  It is going to be a long journey but I am sticking with the program, keeping my emotions in check and my fingers crossed.




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