If you do not know the cause or the causes of a problem you would never be able to solve the problem. If you want to lose weight successfully, you must first know why you are overweight then you would be able to identify and get rid of the real reasons why you are the way you are.

Most of the common reasons why you have become overweight include the following:

1-You don't eat when you are hungry

When you do not eat on time when you are hungry, you would most likely end up binging on sugar laden foods when your hunger becomes overwhelming.

If you do not you eat balanced nutritional meals that are just big enough to meet your daily needs while you engage in regular exercise, you would not be able to shed excess fat.

2-You engage in emotional eating

Most people that are overweight are actually addicted to sweet foods. Most overweight people indulge in the bad habit of eating junk foods anytime they experience some form of emotional tension.

The "good feeling" that they get by eating sweet foods is the main reason why overweight people crave for sugary foods. If you want to overcome this binge eating of junk foods, you have to remove all these types of foods from your kitchen and replace them with healthy fresh fruits and salads that you can eat as healthy snacks.

3-You do not "treat" yourself occasionally

The main reason why some of you are overweight is because you do not take some of your favourite sugar laden foods like ice cream, chocolates, and cookies etc as occasional treats to suppress your cravings for such foods.

If you can discipline yourself to restrict the consumption of these sweet treats just once a week without becoming obsessed with these sugary foods, you can actually keep your weight in check.

4-You do not question your reasons for eating

If you do not always ask yourself why you really want to eat every time that you want to eat, you would not be able to overcome your bad instinct of wanting to eat almost every time. Every time you want to eat, you must ask yourself this question; "Do I want to eat because I am hungry or do I want to eat because I just want to change how I feel?"

Stop eating just because "It is time to eat". Don't just eat because it is ‘breakfast time'; don't eat just because it is ‘lunch time'; don't eat just because it is ‘dinner time'. The only reason why you should eat is because you feel genuinely hungry.

5-You do not give any thought to what you are eating

Most overweight people do not think about what they are eating at all; when they are eating, they just keep on eating till they empty their plates.

If you eat fast without thinking about what you are eating, you would most likely ignore the signals from your brain that inform you that your stomach is full and you would over eat till you bloat up.

Learn to eat slowly and think about the food that you are eating when you are eating. Look at the food that you are eating; think about the nutritional value of the food before you before you put it into your mouth.

Once the food is in your mouth, chew the food slowly about 20 minutes before you swallow the food. Stop reading, or drinking, or watching television while you are eating; all these habits will distract you from your food and you would end up overeating.

6-You carry on eating despite being full

Some people always feel that they must finish every meal set before them, so they tend to go on eating even after they sense that they are full.

You must learn to leave food on your plate once you are full. You can always keep the extra food in your fridge to store it for consumption later.

7-You are too hard on yourself

If you keep on punishing yourself emotionally every time you miss a workout, or whenever you occasionally make the mistake of eating those foods that are not part of your diet plan, you might not be able to attain your fat loss goals.

Learn to forgive yourself and move on when you make occasional inevitable mistakes.

8-You do not drink enough water

If you keep on drinking sodas, you will keep on loading your body with excess sugar which will invariably be converted into body fat.

Water is the best fluid that you can drink if you want to lose weight, and there is really no limit to the amount of water that you can drink every day. Also, learn to distinguish hunger from thirst and always try to first of all drink a glass of water anytime you feel ‘hungry' between major meals before you think of going  for a snack.

9-You check your weight too frequently

If you weigh yourself too often, you will get discouraged as it takes some time before you lose appreciable amounts of weight when you are on a weight loss plan.

Do not just use your weight as the only yardstick for measuring your progress; if you are eating right and exercising right; you would have more energy; you would feel fitter and your clothes will become looser.

If you want to monitor your weight, you should weigh yourself just once a month.

By the way, do you want to know how you can start off your effective weight loss plan?