It will be difficult to cut calories when the people you live with don't share your same weight loss goals. Encouraging your family to eat healthy and be active with you will set you up for success. If the people you live with aren't on board, set some boundaries (like not keeping junk food in the house) and plan your own meals regardless of what they've planned to eat. Journaling and keeping a food diary is an effective way for you to see exactly how many calories you've eaten. It will keep you accountable and make you less prone to mindless eating in the coming weeks. Use a phone app or carry a small journal with you so you can log intake while you're on the go. My Fitness Pal's "Free Calorie Counter" is a good phone app to try. Shopwell is a free app that helps you make better choices when you're buying groceries by tailoring your shopping list to your fitness and weight loss goals. Mindful eating will help you slow down at meals, making you feel more satisfied and less likely to overeat. Slow down, chew your food thoroughly, and pay attention to the textures and flavors on your tongue. Remove all distractions when you're sitting down to a meal; turn off your phone, TV, computer, and/or radio. Put your fork down every three bites or so and sip on water to help you slow down and ease digestion. Eating fewer calories means you're taking in fewer nutrients, so don't overdo it. For the next 3 weeks, avoid eating less than 1,200 calories per day (for women) and 1,500 calories per day (for men) to stay healthy. Cutting too many calories can lead to malnutrition. It also makes you feel deprived, which can cause irritability and increase the chance that you'll overeat at your next meal. Eating smaller portion sizes is essential for weight loss. Whether you're cooking at home or eating at a restaurant, be conscientious of how much food you're actually eating. When dining out, ask for half of your entree to be boxed up to go (or you can bring your own Tupperware). Measure proper portion sizes using your hand: Cooked vegetables, dry cereal, chopped or whole fruit: 1 fist = 1 cup (16UStbsp) Cheese: 1 index finger = 1.5 ounces (43g) Noodles, rice, oatmeal: 1 palm = 0.5 cups (8.0UStbsp) Proteins: 1 palm = 3 ounces (85g) Fats: 1 thumb = 1 tablespoon (3.0tsp) This type of fasting can help you eat fewer calories, lose fat, andas a pluslower your cholesterol. Give yourself an eating window of 8 hours and practice intermittent fasting anywhere from 1 to 4 days a week. For instance, only eat between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM or 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Pay attention to how you feel during and after intermittent fasting and adjust the time window and frequency to suit your schedule. Keep in mind that skipping meals can send your body into starvation mode, causing it to hold onto fat and burn fewer calories. So when practicing intermittent fasting, eat 4 or 5 mini-meals within your eating window. Increasing your water consumption when you are working out is essential to stay hydrated. Dehydration causes your body to retain water, so while it may sound backward, you have to drink more water to retain less. Water will also help flush excess salt out of your body, making you less bloated. Drink half of your weight in ounces per day. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds (91kg), drink 100 fluid ounces (3,000mL) per day. Not getting enough sleep can negatively affect your metabolism and your stress hormones, causing your body to hold onto more calories. Plus, you're more likely to crave fatty, sugary foods when you're sleep-deprived. If you have trouble falling asleep, try to relax before bedtime by: Listening to calming instrumental music Avoiding your phone or TV for an hour before bed Drinking calming tea (like lavender, chamomile, or ginger) Doing some deep, meditative breathing
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Get your family and/or roommates on board. Use a food diary app to help you keep track of your daily caloric intake. Pay attention to your food when you eat for the next 3 weeks. Don't cut too many calories to ensure you're getting all of your nutrients. Watch your portion sizes for the next 3 weeks. Practice intermittent fasting a few days a week. Drink plenty of water to prevent bloating and dehydration. Aim to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.

You will need the following: 1 lb ripe tomatoes, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1/2 cup red wine vinegar 3/4 cup cider vinegar 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes 3/4 cup chopped scallions Put these ingredients into a medium sized saucepan: vinegars, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes. Cook these over medium heat. Bring the ingredients to a full boil. Stir the pot occasionally. Stir the vegetables into the mixture thoroughly. Simmer the mixture over low heat. Do not cover the saucepan. The chutney will need to cook down for about 75 minutes. It should reduce to make about 1.5 cups of chutney. Serve immediately for the freshest taste. You can store chutney in the refrigerator. It will keep for approximately 2 weeks in a sealed jar or container. Enjoy it as a companion to Indian food, lunches, crackers, and snacks.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Gather your ingredients. Begin cooking the vinegars and spices. Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, and scallions. Allow the chutney to cool completely.

Arrange the rocks into a loose open pattern. Direct one water jet, like the filter exhaust, along one side of the tank. Aim it slightly inward so that the water spins in a slow vortex. Add a power head as necessary. Water should be moving through the entire aquarium so the live rock and sand can filter it biologically. This keeps biological material from building up, and it keeps food suspended so the fish will have plenty of time to consume it. Saltwater fish, unlike freshwater fish, are generally used to keeping position in waves and are not upset by vigorous water movement. This removes undesirable material, including suspended algae, from the water so it does not dirty the water as it rots. While replacing a mechanical-filter cartridge more often might also be a good idea, a big protein skimmer is perhaps even more effective in removing organic sludge. Adding the skimmer air line will change the water level in the skimmer. Be prepared to adjust the skimmer so the water doesn't rise too high and spill out of the aquarium. The size of the skimmer will vary depending on the size of your tank. For example, a 60 gallon (227.1L) skimmer will work on a 29 gallon (109.8L) nano-reef. A magnet cleaner has two parts, one piece on the inside of the tank and one on the outside of the glass. As you move the outside piece, the inside piece moves and cleans the glass. This tool will allow you to do quick daily glass cleaning without putting your arm in your tank. This works best if the lights are not extremely bright so the glass will have little coralline algae on it. This will greatly reduces the risk of heater breakage. Heater capacity should be on the low side because the lights and pumps create some heat. Low temperatures from a cold house or insufficient heater capacity are less likely to kill the fish than excessive temperatures from a powerful heater.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary --
Use a circulator to move the water vigorously throughout the tank. Put a protein skimmer on your tank. Clean the glass with a magnetic cleaner from the outside. Buy a heater that has a solid, plastic body.