This is going to be long-so yeah.
Well first off you have to understand that diets don't lead to effective or long-term weight loss. If you want to lose weight, you have to change your lifestyle which includes choosing healthier food options and exercising. Also, just because something works for someone does not necessarily mean it will work for your body since we all are different so don't try to follow the latest diet trend (i.e. atkins diet, vegan diet, etc.). To do those diets, you have to understand a lot more about food and your body's response to food than the average person does. For example the vegan diet. You give up meat or anything animal related so you're going to be deficient in heme-iron (iron found in meat-most absorbed by your body), B-vitamins (important for cell regulation, DNA, brain...much more if you want me to go into the physiological importance of it all you're gonna have to pay me a fee of 5K LOL), protein, or even calcium from dairy products, etc unless you choose vegetables, bars, fortified orange juice, soy products, or cereals that can provide you with those missing nutrients.
So aside from my rant, I say the best way to stop eating so much is to track what your eating. Do a food diary log. Write down everything you eat, the amount, the time, and even include how you're feeling at the moment while eating it. Depressed? Hungry? Happy? and so forth. I say track your diet everyday over the course of 2 weeks and see if you notice any similar patterns. Focus on what you're eating and why. Most people tend to eat because of all their emotions and not because they're actually hungry. I know I for one don't only eat when I'm hungry. But doing a food log it will help you see when you tend to eat and why. Once you figure that out, try to pay more attention to what you're eating. I suggest that when you feel like you need to eat-eat healthier foods. Choose to put into your mouth a fruit or vegetable, or a bar that is nutrient dense instead of calorie dense (watch out for those bars that have various health claims but instead are all sugar!)-instead of that big bag of chips or box of cookies that look so tempting. If you drink soda-try to limit to one can a day and eventually no cans if you can (this is hard for a lot of people but think about it-you'll decrease your risk of diabetes and improve your dental health!) If you keep doing this, you'll eventually lose weight since your 'junk' snacks will be replaced by nutrient dense foods like fruits and vegetables. Now I know this is extremely hard to do. It doesn't happen overnight and you can't/shouldn't force it to happen overnight (because if you do then I suggest you might have an eating disorder). Also, READ FOOD LABELS. Most people make the mistake of eating the whole bag of whatever junk it is when in fact there might be more than one serving per bag-so you're adding more calories than you think. Look for key words like whole grain when selecting cereals and be aware of how the food industry tries to trick you into believing that their food is not sugary by listing sugar content out in different varieties. For example: sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, glucose, brown sugar, organic brown sugar syrup, cane juice and so many more damn fancy sugar words in the end ALL means sugar!!!!!! Be wary of trans-fat contents in foods. If it contains words like hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil-you can certainly bet that food contains trans-fat even if the label says 0g trans fat because the food industry does not have to list trans fat if there's less than 0.5g. So don't be fooled and read carefully. I know you probably don't want to spend hours in the middle of an isle reading the ingredients list but it's helpful. Say for example you have a friend or family member that's allergic to a certain ingredient-it'll be helpful to know that what you're purchasing doesn't contain that ingredient to trigger their symptoms! Oh yeah please don't fall into that organics food trend that almost everyone at Berkeley, CA is a fanatic of. Seriously, unless there's strong research evidence that proves to me that organic is better than non-organic, I don't see why I should spend more money on it unless for ecological reasons. Organic food does have a lesser impact on the environment than non-organic and if you're into sustainable living then definitely check into it. I support buy fresh & local more than organic. At least less fuel energy will be spent transporting my food
Like I said previously, losing weight is a lifestyle change. That's why I went on a rant about choosing healthier foods, reading food labels, etc because these all need to happen if you want to change the way you eat. Studies have shown that those who are able to lose weight and keep it off change the way they eat and not only because they diet. Don't rely on diet pills either especially since those are not regulated by the FDA at all so it might have adverse effects on your body!
As for exercise, I say to gradually add it in. Most people gain weight because of a difference of 100 calories a day (roughly what's in a banana!). Remember that 3500 calories= 1lb so if you consume more than that without expending it through physical activities, be ready to see more bulge lol. Start off by taking advantage of physical education classes (if you're in highschool) or your campus' workout facility (if you're in college-more often than not, these are free to students-well not technically free since it's included in your tuition-but it is 'free' so use it. There's lots of machines you can use!) I think the thing about exercise that makes people cringe is because it's boring. At least I think it is. So go exercise with your ipod or iphone/blackberry/droid so you have something to distract your mind so that you won't be constantly staring at the calories burned and time you've been on the machine. Also exercising with a friend helps too, especially when you're new at it. I love buddy systems lol. Try to walk/bike more instead of sit or drive if you can. Start out with 30 minutes, then gradually increase your workout length to five minutes more each day. Pretty soon you'll be working out for an hr which is good for people who want to lose weight. Don't pay attention to those athletes working out besides you-their body are trained to work out longer but yours is of course not yet.
Oh yeah, keep in mind that everything I suggested here might not work for you since we are all different both by genotype and phenotype but it will lead you to a more healthier lifestyle. I in no way can say if you'll lose the amount of weight you want to lose or how fast you'll be able to do it. Keep in mind to not do all these changes at once. If you deprive your body of say a chocolate bar that you want really badly, then the next time you're most likely going to crash and binge so if you want something, have it. Just be aware to not have too much. More is not always better when it comes to health unless the food you're eating is high in nutrients. My job is just to let you know that weight loss=lifestyle change. Good luck!
