When I coach clients on losing weight, I help pinpoint the causes of overeating. The biggest reason is eating to soothe negative emotions, rather than eating for hunger. This is called "emotional eating." I'd like to help you identify when this happens and find alternatives so you can lose weight.

Some people eat large amounts of junk food to curb feelings of depression, stress, and boredom. When your emotions trigger you to overeat, you may beat yourself up for getting off track, feel sad, then turn to food again. It's time to break this cycle!

Whatever emotion causes you to overeat, the results can sabotage your weight-loss goals. Try to recognize what moods trigger you to overeat. Major life events or even minor hassles of everyday life can trigger emotional eating.

Emotional eating tends to be automatic and habitual, so be mindful of when you use food to feel better. Many people find it helps to keep a food journal to identify emotional triggers. Then you can begin to take control of these situations.

I encourage you to learn how to directly address feelings of emotional distress, rather than covering them up with food. The solution is to find other outlets that bring you relief.

Alternatives to Emotional Eating

Here are a few of my favorite ways to manage moods without food. I'd love to hear about your favorite strategies too!

Depression
If you find yourself eating to comfort sadness or find energy, I encourage you to discover other ways. Find activities other than eating that bring you joy and life:

• Go for a walk or jog in nature
• Get plenty of sunshine
• Exercise to release feel-good endorphins
• Call a friend who makes you feel better
• Plan a dream vacation or social function
• Spend time with family and friends
• Play with a pet
• Look through your favorite photos
• Go to a museum or gallery

Stress
If you find yourself turning to junk food to relieve stress and anxiety, know that there are many healthy and better ways to find peace:

• Get a massage
• Strenuous exercise to blow off steam
• Take a bubble bath
• Read your favorite book or magazine
• Listen to soothing music
• Meditate
• Visualize calm and pleasant memories
• Breathing exercises
• Relaxation exercises
• Light some candles
• Yoga or Tia Chi

Boredom
If you find yourself eating simply to fill time and alleviate loneliness, consider other ways to find fulfillment:

• Get lost in your favorite hobby
• Dance to your favorite songs
• Watch a comedy show
• Plan a social event
• Call a friend for good conversation
• Do housework, laundry, or yard work
• Explore the great outdoors
• Join a sports league
• Nurture your creative side with painting or writing

As a fitness professional, my primary goal is to help my clients lower their risk for diseases. In this article, I want to talk about the amount of fat you have on your body and how it affects your health.

The more fat you have, the greater your risk for illnesses. Being overweight or obese is a significant hazard. It's a factor in heart disease, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. It's also associated with gall stones, gout, respiratory insufficiency, impaired heat tolerance, congestive heart failure, and injuries like back and knee pain. Fat that is held in the abdomen poses a greater risk than fat in the hips and thighs.

There are two ways to predict your health risks based on the amount of fat you have on your body.

1. Body Mass Index

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a ratio of your height and weight. As shown in the chart above, your BMI will place you into four categories: underweight, normal, overweight, or obese. To find out where you stand, CLICK HERE to use the BMI calculator from the Centers for Disease Control. Two out of every three Americans are either overweight or obese. If you're in these categories, I encourage you to take action immediately to lose enough weight to reach the normal range.

2. Percentage of Body Fat

I calculate the percentage of fat my clients have compared to their overall weight. I do this using calipers which measure the amount of fat. The chart above tells you how your percentage corresponds to health risks. The lower the percentage of fat you have, the lower your risks.

I encourage my clients to be in the lowest health-risk category. Men should have less than 20 percent fat out of their total weight, and women should have less than 27 percent, according to the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. If you don't know your body-fat percentage, please ask me to measure it for you.

How to Lower Your Disease Risk

I encourage you to lower your risk for diseases to the lowest level possible by reducing the amount of fat you have stored on your body. You can accomplish this two ways: you must burn your fat through exercise and by reducing your food intake with smaller portions of lean foods.

If you aren't already a client of mine and would like to improve your health, I invite you to schedule a free introductory consultation.

Try these healthy and delicious suggestions which will keep you fueled with plenty of energy (but won't add inches to your waistline).

• Hummus with whole wheat pita bread
• Can of tuna or chicken (water packed), mixed with relish and mustard
• Air-popped popcorn (no oil or butter)
• Piece of fresh fruit
• Bowl of oatmeal (made from 1/2 cup dry oatmeal)
• Small handful of nuts
• Small serving of canned baked beans
• Fresh vegetables (carrots, broccoli, etc.)
• Leftovers from last night's dinner
• Small bowl of low-sugar cereal with skim milk or soy milk
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Small serving of canned vegetarian chili with beans
• Non-fat, vanilla yogurt with berries
• Whole wheat fig newtons
• Baked tortilla chips with salsa
• Baked soy crisps
• Whole grain crackers
• Raisins
• Whole wheat pretzels
• Fat-free cheese
• Make a large batch or chili, stew, or soup, and save in small containers