Trust Yourself
 

My dad used to have a huge belly even though he was skinny everywhere else, my mom and I always called him 9 months pregnant ;)

He randomly decided to lose the belly in August with a '6 months plan'. He has a labor intensive job lifting and cutting things. The only workout he does is to tense his stomach and use his core instead of his back to lift things. He also stopped eating restaurant food but eats any else --usually with smaller portions.

He's never checked a scale the whole time. He's never counted calories. But just like he said, his belly's half gone at the 3-month mark.

Despite what a lot of people say on the forum, I think its unhealthy to count calories. I don't think its hard to cut back on a few extra bites on meals eating the foods you like if you're in good company. I don't think its hard to add something green or a piece of fruit to your meals every once in a while. And I don't think anyone has to go crazy with dieting or even diet at all once they've gotten in tune with their bodies.

What I mean to say is that I've been through a lot of dieting and unless you can make it easy for yourself, its probably a self destructive behavior. The only times I lost weight was when I couldn't handle being on a diet anymore and stopped. My weight went up a little then naturally fell back down in 2-3 months and the longer I didn't diet, the more weight I lost. When I stopped 'dieting' and looked for foods that kept me energetic and satiated, the foods I craved were usually not the unhealthy choices.

I think anyone can lose weight by trusting their body, making the smallest changes, and being happy with themselves.