I actually have tons of health tips. I'll name a few possibly helpful things off the top of my head in a second. I'm like a walking health book. Really. I know a solution for most health issues.

I personally am pretty happy with my weight, and definitely ain't trying to lose--but also ain't trying to gain either. I'm at 93 pounds right now and that's a great size for me. I work out, preferably on my fitness pole, but these past couple weeks have been miserably hot so I have slacked off. I excersize though for my health, bone health and strength. Not so much to lose weight, but my health could absolutely use it. I take meds for endometriosis and they cause bone loss and I am only 22 so excersizing is necessary.

If you're trying to lose weight and your main problem is eating too much/controlling cravings, a few helpful things would be:

-Eat chia seeds. They are so weird. Once they're wet, they form this gel-like bubble around the seed. Kinda like the same effect rice has, or bread. These seeeds are good for certain health problems like, I think blood pressure and cholesterol. Not totally sure though. I've eaten them. They don't have a taste at all, but due to the gel bubble, they stick in your teeth really badly. I'd recommend trying to mix the tasteless guys into a smoothie or salad. Works better with a drink. This helps you get them down and not just in your teeth. They are very tolerable since they are tasteless.

They're so tiny that taking a handful or two is better. They'll take up a lot of stomach room, causing you to eat less. Eat them before a meal.

-The handy-dandy water trick. Try drinking a glass of water right before a meal. This works like the chia seeds. It fills you up so you'll eat a whole lot less. Also, the food automatically expands once it enters your stomach full of water, so you'll be highly likely to eat a lot less. Also, having a second glass AFTER the meal is supposed to be helpful.

-Try acupressure. Really. You can even learn easy, quick techniques from an online source, like youtube! I've always been interested in accupressure, accunpuncture and hypnotherapy. I plan to start classes for hypnotherapy and would love to venture into the world of accupressure/puncture. If you really felt like it, you could try accupuncture or even hypnosis if you think you truly have a problem with food, something that goes deep. However, I rarely think one should need to go through all that just for weight loss since so many other things work well.

About the accupressure though. I know there's a technique for those trying to lose weight, but I don't know it right off. I know the technique for cravings and pain... all too well! I recommend doing research on how to properly peroform it although it's so simple that anybody can do it. The craving technique involves tapping above both sides of the brow line, cheek bones, under the nose/above lip, under the chin, under the shoulder blades, etc. It's actually quick and once you've seen someone perform it, even in a video, you'll catch on. I swear it's helped my outrageous, uncontrollable sweet cravings around my menstrual cycle. In fact, I just broke down and had another Kit-Kat and could definitely stand to try that trick since the cravings are so intense tonight.

-Hmmm... I know I'm forgetting a bunch of good tips right now. I'll think of them and come back later though, if that'd be helpful.

-Coconut oil? Aloe Vera?
I know coconut oil can be extremely helpful for those trying to lose weight. I've used it for a very long time for health, but not weight loss. However, you should be careful if you suffer from digestive issues (like me) or candidiasis or IBS (me again.) I actually started eating coconut oil for these digestive and endometriosis problems. It helped, but I warn you to be careful if you're a sufferer of anything like I mentioned because coconut oil can cause herxheimer or "die off" and it is horrid! It's where the candida albicans begin to literally die off and as they do, they release toxins and it can leave you feeling nasty as hell. Happened to me once and I was sick as a dog. Actually, I remember it about a year or longer ago. I was feeling so bad, I came to the forums here asking if anyone else had been through it! It only lasts a couple hours, but you should take a little bit at a time so that it does not happen. I went and jumped the gun taking two large tablespoons when I should've only been taking one teaspoon!

I'm on the mini-pill for birth control because of my blood pressure and not the combined pill. It was fine for a while but now I feel like I get pms at random days through the whole month! It definitely makes it harder for me to want to work out when my back hurts, my head hurts, or I have cramps or just feel like crap. It sucks but there's nothing I can do. They won't put me back on the combined pill unless I lose a lot of weight and my blood pressure is normal. If my blood pressure doesn't go down in a few months I'll have to get blood pressure meds. =[ I want to avoid it if I can so I have to really work hard.

trying to slowly lose it, but not easy due to work.

I agree with you about the pop. When I was about 14 I had to lose about 15 lbs. The women in my family tend to get a little chubby during adolescence, and I had to lose it. I was also 14 and fairly broke, so I started not ordering pop with my meals when I went out with friends. Back then I walked everywhere, and had the metabolism of a teenager, so I lost the weight pretty quickly. I also would take one half of the bun off of my hamburgers and sandwiches (the low carb diet was a BIG thing then.) Soon after I became a vegetarian and had no problems with weight while I was a veggie.

I know I need to do more than that at my age now, though. I don't drink pop anymore, I weaned myself off of it, except for an occasional treat, during my last pregnancy. My migraines weren't being properly treated and I was drinking one or two liters of Pepsi or Coke a DAY to keep the caffeine levels in my blood high enough to help the pain. NOT recommended. When I got pregnant with my last one my neuro changed my meds and they worked and I was able to wean off of the pop. Just do it slowly, as caffeine withdrawal can cause headaches and all kinds of unpleasant side effects.

But, like I said, at my age I'm going to need to do more than that. Exercise is a challenge for me, but I have to get going on it.

Excellent advice! You did a great job.

Forcing children to eat, especially to "The Clean Plate Club" or things like "one more bite for mommy" or "You have to at least taste everything." has been found to be one of the most common causes of obesity. Of course, if force is used, it's even worse.

I had abdominal migraines as a child, (severe belly aches and nausea that are related to and evolve into head migraines) as well as food allergies. My pediatrician had to take both my mother and my grandparents aside and make it clear that if he heard I was being forced to eat anything he'd call DCFS. He was a force to be reckoned with, my Ped. If anyone said anything to me at the table, I'd quote, "Dr. P said "Never force a child to eat." He said so, he's right." I was 3 or 4 at the time. I was a force to be reckoned with, too.

Holy crap! I just realized I'm not already following you!.....problem solved .

While I didn't have abdominal migraines, I had stomach aches a lot at night as a child, I think because my mom made English peas three or four times a week, which are EXTREMELY unpalatable to me, even still. Like, they taste so bad to me that I actually vomited on myself once while eating them (I couldn't leave the table until I finished them).

...I can understand my parents "making" me eat all my vegetables (though I wish there had been more desirable options)...but not things like mac n cheese or spaghetti. It twists my innards around to see the things my brother and sister-in-law tell my nephew to eat, but they'll get annoyed with me if I try to offer them any sort of parental advice since I'm childless.

Thank you dear! If anyone needs support, please inbox me. I know how hard it can be but I believe in all of you!