Many people struggle with fluctuations in their weight. One day you fit into your jeans just fine, and then all of a sudden, your favorite pair of jeans will not zip up for anything.

If you’re not following a healthy, balanced, diet it can be very easy to gain weight. And often, we do not realize that our waist is expanding until it starts to affect our health.

With recent figures placing the United States as the second most obese country in the world, it is no surprise that weight gain is one of our country’s top health concerns. Though no one will dispute that gaining excess weight is nearly always bad for your physical health, many people fail to realize that it also affects our self-worth and our self-esteem.

Erin’s All too Common Story

Erin Stehl, from Ponte Verde Beach, FL, is like many women her age. She gained an extra 25 pounds within the blink of an eye—and she didn’t realize the effects of the excess weight until, one day, working on her farm became too much for her body to handle.

With the stress of caring for her family and their farm, Erin packed on the pounds and eventually she had to stop to catch her breath while doing her chores. Finally, raking hay became a challenge.

After being on Dr. Phil’s show and starting bistroMD, Erin lost those 25 pounds. Now the 51-year-old says she has more energy than she did when she was 25.

“I can’t tell you how amazing this makes me feel,” said Erin. “Before I lacked self-worth and I was hiding behind loose-fitting clothes. Today, I feel energetic and like I’m ready for anything.

Self Worth and Weight Gain

Like Erin, many men and women feel the effects of weight gain on their self-worth and unfortunately, the media has made it seem like there are only two body types out there—either fat or skinny—when in reality, we all come in different shapes and sizes.

Your body type does not define your self-worth. We’re conditioned to think that way because of what we see on television and read in the magazines—but who are they to tell you what you should look like?

3 Steps to Stop Weight Gain and Boost your Self-Worth

'Disappear' Your Negative Thoughts

First, write down all of the negative thoughts you have about your body. For each thought, take a step back and look at yourself from another, objective, person's viewpoint. Does the negative thought really exist, or is it simply a story you tell yourself to justify another belief? In many cases, we convince ourselves that we are deficient in a specific area in order to justify the true cause behind our negative feelings. An introspective look at what these underlying causes of our negativity is often the first step in finding ways to overcome them.

Play By Your Rules, and No One Elses

On your bathroom mirror, the visor in your car, or some other place that only you will be able to see, write out your commitment to yourself to think in positive terms about your body. While you should write your own version, it could go something like this:

I am a beautiful person who deserves the right to feel that way. I will not speak negatively about my own body, and I will not participate in group-talk that reinforces negative body image toward others.

Don’t Break up with Food - Change your Relationship

If you are an emotional eater, it's important that you change the relationship that you have with food. If you find that you often eat when you’re stressed, sad, angry, etc., chew a stick of gum or take a walk instead. Find something that works for you so you’re not reaching for food for comfort.

It can also be extremely helpful to tell someone that you trust that you are an emotional eater. In choosing someone to share with, be sure to choose a person that you trust, and to start the conversation by affirming to them your commitment to overcoming emotional eating. People who care about your well-being can help form the support structure that many people need to break their emotional eating cycle.

Also, keep in mind that food is fuel for your body, and not all dietary fat is bad fat. It’s important to have a healthy diet full of fruits, vegetables, protein and healthy fats.

Erin Credits Her Amazing Weight Loss to bistroMD

We make dieting easy. It takes just five minutes to heat up one of our delicious and nutritionally balanced entrees using your microwave. With the push of a button, we deliver healthy weight loss entrees that real people actually want to eat - we don't do bland and boring here.

We’re different from other diet delivery programs in our belief that food is medicine. Think of it like this - good and nutritionally sound food is what fuels your body, gives you energy and makes your brain function the way that nature intended.

We use this philosophy for every delicious entree that we prepare. We use only the freshest ingredients, and we have a menu of over 200 recipes and seasonal entrees to choose from. What's more? Our menu is fully customizable, allowing each and every program member to create a program perfectly suited for their likes and needs.

As Erin found out, with bistroMD in your corner, you have anything to lose but excess weight!

We have a men's and a women’s program with the option to receive five-or-seven-days’ worth of healthy meals delivered to your door.

The two programs range from $130-$160 and EATS, our essential and tasty snacks are just $1.50 per snack. Women receive two snacks per day, and men receive three snacks per day.