I LOVE February!

There’s Valentine’s day and a 3 day weekend (I’m old enough to remember when there were 2 days off in February!). Winter is ending, the days are getting a bit longer and the promise of Spring is in the air.

But, mostly I love February because it’s my birthday month.

I adore birthdays!

Who doesn’t love a day of love directed at you? That’s how I see it—a day that friends and family think of...

Many people I’ve helped tell me they think of me fondly . . . every time they go to the bathroom.

It’s because their symptoms were eased by my suggestion for increased water and daily Metamucil (or other such psyllium husk product).

I love this recommendation and I’ve been making it for years and years—it’s so simple, affordable and effective for those who need it.

I always thought the psyllium husk worked by increasing...

You just got off the phone with your sister who, once again, dropped the ball when it came to doing her part in caring for Mom.  So typical and frustrating and unfair!  Ugh!!

Why does a muffin sound so good right now?

In this 3 part Hunger Series, we were introduced to the Hunger Scale (get yours free here) and discovered how to avoid getting Over-Hungry (Part I) and learned to eat until satisfied, not full (Part II).

Now that you have a handle on...

In last week’s Ounce of Prevention, Hunger: Part I, we talked about, you guessed it, Hunger—specifically Over-Hunger and how to prevent it with the use of the Hunger Scale (download your printable version here).

Have you been practicing?

Today we turn our attention to the flip side of Over-Hunger and that’s getting very full from . . . over-eating.

Over-hunger reliably triggers over-eating.

Many people have the habit of eating...

Claire wanted to lose weight.

So she woke up Monday morning, made herself a cup of coffee (black) and went to work.

No breakfast.

She figured she wasn’t that hungry anyway and she’d be saving calories, right?

Not likely.

We discovered in last week’s Ounce of Prevention that eating something small (lower calories and higher protein) could save you hundreds of calories at the next meal.

That’s because Hunger...

I can tell without even looking at a clock, when it’s close to 10:30am.

How?

Because my stomach starts grumbling a bit and my focus is a little off—I’m getting hungry. It’s time for my mid-morning snack!

I eat a modest breakfast at 7:45. So, no surprise, I get hungry by mid-morning.

• Do I wander into the breakroom and grab whatever donut or bagel is lying around?

• Do I resist the hunger, ignoring it until it gets so...

Weight-creep is when your weight consistently increases over time.

Very slowly.

You may only notice it only in hindsight. A pound or 2 in a couple of months, barely noticeable, right?

It adds up.

Whenever I determine it’s time to get any weight-creep in check the first thing I do is note if I’ve started a nightly wine habit.

I usually have.

I can so easily get sucked into the habit of pouring a glass of wine after homework...

Now that we’ve Debriefed the Holidays (Step 1) and Stepped on the Scale to assess our current situation (Step 2), we need to decide on a strategy and start (Step 3) if we want to get back to our pre-holiday weight.

Decreasing the calorie intake and/or increasing the calorie output is a basic for weight loss. But the question is: How?

It may be as simple as knowing that there aren’t as many parties this month as last, so your calorie heavy days are a...

It’s official—the New Year has begun!

There are many reasons to feel hopeful with the start of a new year, but often when it comes to our weight, we’re more likely feeling regretful, judgmental and maybe even disgusted.

It might be that the weeks between Thanksgiving and January 1^st flew by in a blur of overeating, overdrinking, overspending and overdoing.

But now it’s over.  Done.

And what do you do at the end of a...

When the last wine glass has been washed and dried and the chocolate crumbs vacuumed from the carpet, it’s time to . . . rest.

Yes, first rest.

Then it’s time to get to some essential mental work: debrief your holiday.

Evaluate your experience to see what went right and what could be done better next time.

This practice of a postmortem—looking at an event and learning all the lessons possible—is what we do year-round...