About 42% of Americans reported unwanted weight gain during the coronavirus pandemic, packing on an extra 29 pounds on average, according to survey results from the American Psychological Association.

Changes in daily routine, combined with the added stress of navigating a global health emergency, caused many adults to fall away from their healthy eating and fitness habits, and turn toward less-desirable comfort foods.

Dr. Geri Williams, supervising doctor for Ideal You Health Centers, called it the perfect storm for weight gain.

When we feel stressed, we naturally create higher levels of cortisol and when its elevated, our body is primed for movement, our blood sugar goes up and if were not running it off it stores as fat, she said. So stress alone can make us fatter.

Another thing we do is we get rid of stress by eating ... so stress from changes in lifestyle and all the unknowables created the perfect storm and we made food choices that were not heathy.

With the help of widely available vaccines, COVID-19 cases counts are on the decline and the economy -- along with daily life -- is regaining a sense of normalcy. As a result, many are starting their efforts to regain old healthy habits or begin new ones.

Williams noted a handful of strategies that can help you not just reach your goals, but maintain the lifestyle choices to keep the positive gains. They include:

Another important recommendation is to avoid eating after dark. Williams said the bodys internal clock is typically directed by daylight, meaning during the day the body is designed to look for, eat and digest food and to move around.

Meanwhile, at night, the body undergoes a hormone shift and prepares for rest and repair.

Were hungry and were eating at a time when our body isnt designed to be digesting, Williams said. Food regularly consumed after sunset is generally stored as fat. Simply changing that habit could have a huge impact on people, and that includes alcohol too.

Adding exercise to your daily routine can be beneficial in several ways, including improved strength and circulation. Its valuable for improving your overall health, but Williams noted, When it comes to weight loss, it doesnt tend to cause scale movement as much as the focus on food does.

That notion was echoed by Carrie Holland, a family physician and professor at Michigan State University, who also works as a health and life coach through her business, My Why Fitness.

Exercise and nutrition are both important but for totally different reasons, Holland said. My philosophy is dont use exercise for weight loss; use it for mental health benefits.

The nutrition piece, she said, is the hardest part to implement. Unhealthy eating and drinking can be a coping mechanism for more challenging issues to work through like the anxiety, fear, anger and disappointment that many have felt throughout the pandemic.

But it will also make the biggest difference, Holland said. How do you stop over-eating? .... These habits we developed are now autopilot and to undo it, you have to wake up that part of your brain and pay attention to what youre doing and why. When you reach into the pantry for a bag of chips, ask yourself Why am I doing this? Am I really hungry or is it out of habit?

A lot of Hollands work with her clients in recent months has been not just discussing what are better foods to buy at the grocery store, but discussing the link between mental and physical health.

A lot of diets and exercise plans focus on action -- do this and youll lose weight, she said. What I spend time working on is the thoughts and feelings. It all starts with our brains and if youre not thinking and feeling the right way, it doesnt matter if youre doing the right things, it wont happen.

Some of Hollands tips for developing healthier habits include:

While conditions during the pandemic created opportunity for weight gain, obesity isnt a new challenge for Michigan. In 2015, about 31% of adults in Michigan were obese and 35% were overweight.

The state ranked 32nd in obesity in 2018, reporting slightly higher rates than the national average, according to a federal health survey.

Read more on MLive:

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The COVID weight gain: Professional tips for losing the pandemic pounds - MLive.com

JGI/Jamie Grill - Getty Images Intermittent fasting is a trendy way to lose weightif done properly. These three mistakes explain why you are still fasting but not losing weight.

People do intermittent fastingnot eating for set periods of timefor many reasons. Some say they do it because they're aiming for better focus, others are pushing to better their health by reducing inflammation or improving lipid levels. Yet others do it because celebrities like Terry Crews, A-Rod, Hugh Jackman and Chris Hemsworth do it. But probably the biggest reason people turn to intermittent fasting is because they're looking to lose weight.

The practice doesn't guarantee you'll drop pounds, but many people do, largely because restricting eating to certain windows of time also tends to reduce the calories people eat.

As a refresher, there are different ways to fast, but people generally follow three common schedules: alternate-day fasting, whole-day fasting, or time-restricted fasting. Melanie Boehmer, R.D. at Lenox Hill Hospital, recommends starting with time-restricted fasting. One popular way to do this is eating only during an 8-hour window, a format known as the 16:8 format (16 hours of fasting, 8 hours available for eating).

Sometimes you're doing an intermittent fasting plan to lose weight and the scale's just not moving. If this sounds like you, it's a good time to analyze your strategy. These common reasons may explain why you're not losing weight on intermittent fasting.

Restricting the time you get to eat doesn't always cut back calories as much as you might think, if you over-consume during your eating window.

What's over-consuming? Do a reality check on how many calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. This can be done using a formula or the body weight planner by the National Institute of Health.

Gallery: The most nutritious plant-based proteins, according to dietitians (INSIDER)

Track everything you eat in a given week using FitDay.com, Lose It!, or MyFitnessPal, and see if you're eating more calories than your body needs, even though you're restricting the timing of those calories. If you are, you know what to do.

If you're not losing weightdespite staying within your calorie needsthen it's time to look at serving sizes. It's common to miscalculate how much you're actually eating. This is particularly true with calorie-dense foods such as cheese.

For example, a one-ounce serving of full fat cheese equals about four cubes of dice. Use a food scaleor eyeball portions with this tutorialto more accurately calculate food intake. And keep in mind that you don't have to eat skimpy looking meals. Beef up a sandwich with crispy lettuce and a bunch of tomatoes. Add broccoli to your pasta to fill your bowl and look satisfying.

If you've hit a weight loss plateau after losing a few pounds, says Melanie Boehmer, R.D. of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, you may be eating too few calories.

That's because our bodies adjust to whatever we throw at them, she says.

"If, on average, youre only taking in 1200 calories, which is something none of us should be doing on a regular basis, your body is going to learn to function on 1200 calories," she says.

Reduce calories slowly and aim for more moderate weight loss, says Boehmer. She advises cutting enough calories to lose about a pound a week.

"When we talk about losing weight, the goal is always to lose as much weight eating the most that you can so you dont create that metabolic inhibitor," she says.

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Friday, 2 July 2021, 9:09 amPress Release: Weightless

Food is important. It is a necessity for all of us. Itprovides us with energy to go about our day, supports ourimmune system to keep us healthy, regulates our hormones tokeep us happy and provides everything we need to heal andkeep our bones strong. Objectively, it is easy to understandthe vital role it plays in our lives. We are biologicallywired to enjoy food in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle- the consequences of chronic undereating are just asserious as overeating.

Modern day conveniences havemade food highly accessible. It is now easier than ever toindulge in foods from different cultures and convenientsources such as fast-food restaurants. The world has becomea literal smorgasbord of delicious options.

Readyaccess to convenience foods have however had a drasticeffect on lifestyle. Many of us are more sedentary thanprevious generations. This has resulted in many peoplegaining excess weight. Excess weight affects not only ourphysical health, but mental health too.

We may try tolose weight to improve our lifestyle, but if we are notcareful, we can end up vilifying food along theway.

At the end of the day food is ALWAYS going to bepart of life. As such it is important that we develop apositive relationship with it. If we develop badrelationships with food through dieting, we place ourselvesin a position to have to continually fight it. This canimpact our mental health. A good relationship with food isnot just about diet quality, the types of food you eat, oreating protocols you have chosen to implement, but ratherhow and why you choose the foods that you eat. If you canimprove your relationship with food, eating will become amore enjoyable and stress-free behaviour.

Food shouldbe an enjoyable part of life, even when losingweight.

There are a few behaviours that we need to beaware of that can be indicative of a bad relationship withfood. You might feel guilty about eating and you avoid orrestrict foods that you have deemed bad. People maydevelop a list of rules that isolate allowed foodswhich can make eating at social events stressful and asource of great anxiety. Yo-yo dieting and bouncing betweenrestricting and binging, while being drawn towards fad dietsor reliance on calorie counting apps are all signs of a badrelationship forming with food.

By building a healthyrelationship with food you can experience food freedomwhile reducing weight to a healthy level. Developing apositive relationship with food isnt an overnight fix, ittakes time and patience. Here are some steps you can take toimprove your relationship with food.

Humans arethe only creatures that dont eat food purely forsurvival, we eat to celebrate, for enjoyment and culturalreasons. However, this often means food becomes entangledwith emotional responses. We eat when were happy, we eatwhen were sad. Our reliance on food to curb emotionalresponses is further muddied by the fact that many of us areconditioned from childhood to eat everything on ourplate. Overtime, these factors disconnect us with ourability to autoregulate our hunger. We eat when we think weshould eat, rather than taking a few moments to considerwhether or not we are actually hungry. We are also moreinclined to eat everything we have served ourselves, ratherthan stopping eating once we aresatiated.

Spend some time learning tofeel your hunger levels before eating, and whilsteating take note at what point you are actuallyfull.

Modern life is full ofdistractions. When was the last time you ate withoutwatching TV or looking at your phone? These distractions doexactly that, distract us from our natural hunger andsatiety signals. Mindful eating involves removingdistractions and being present in the moment whilst eating.Take the time to focus on tasting your food, taking note ofthe texture as you chew and how the experience makes youfeel. Be present in the moment. Consciously question howfood is affecting your appetite, is the food the solution tothe reason you chose to eat? Does eating bring you joy,guilt, or something else? By staying in the moment andconsciously evaluating the experience, not only will youform a healthier connection with the reasons behind yourfood choices, but youll also be more conscious of satietycues.

When you createrules around when you can and cant eat you are likely toexperience feelings of deprivation, further fuelling a fearof food. Having a healthy relationship with food meansallowing yourself unconditional permission toeat.

Overeating at lunch or indulgingin a few snacks doesnt mean you should deprive yourselfwhen youre hungry later. This behaviour reinforces thenotion that food is bad. Eating when youre hungry andmindful eating are skills that develop over time. Try not topunish yourself if you feel you may have taken a meal toofar. Be kind to yourself.

Some foods are morenutritious than others. Some are more nutrient dense, andsome are more calorie dense. None of them should beconsidered bad. Labelling them as good orbad gives them an undeserved power over your emotionalwellbeing. Just as the grass is always greener on the otherside of the fence, the foods that you cant have mayappear more tempting. No one single food will affect youroverall health. When we eventually break our self-imposedrestrictions we are more likely to overindulge as aconsequence and feel as if we should make the most ofit!

By allowing yourself to consumeforbidden foods in moderation rather than restrictingthem, you are far more likely to regulate your intake as youknow that they are alwaysavailable.

We understand thatyour relationship with food is a complex issue with manynuances that cant always be solved on your own. It can bea challenge to overcome lifelong habits and detangle youremotional relationship with food without professionalguidance. Weightlessis a team of experienced dietitians, nurses, psychologistsand gastroenterologists who take a holistic approach toweight loss, helping you lose weight and keep it off. Weunderstand that everyones reason for coming to us isunique, and we provide services that are tailored to eachindividual to help them reach a healthy, lifelong,sustainable transformation.

If yourelooking to build a strong, healthy relationship with yourfood, our first piece of advice is to be kind to yourself.Give yourself time to work towards goals that will make youhappy and take pride in the small steps that lead you onyour journey to health. To find out about all of theservices our expert team of health professionals have tooffer, contact Weightlesstoday!

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Dr Michael Mosley has appeared on several television shows throughout his career, offering weight loss tips and tricks. Although not a fast process, there are ways in which you can help the body lose weight and according to Dr Mosley, this is to eat foods high in protein.

This is because foods high in protein often keep you fuller for longer, reducing the need for endless snacking throughout the day.

Less snacking means slimmers will eat fewer calories, helping to create a bigger calorie deficit.

On the topic, Dr Mosley explained: It is well known that moderately increasing the amount of protein in your diet can help you feel more satisfied after meals.

What is less well known, though, is that the time of day that you eat protein also matters.

READ MORE:Michael Mosley shares best way to prevent hunger when on a diet

The expert added: Eating protein at the first meal of the day helps you to feel fuller for longer because after a protein meal, levels of a chemical called tyrosine, a building-block for dopamine, rise inside the brain.

This does not, of course, mean that you have to eat breakfast early in the day.

For many, a midday breakfast helps to extend the period of non-eating and so draws down the full benefits of fasting.

Eating a higher-protein meal can also help to keep sugar cravings away, which can help slimmers lead a healthier lifestyle.

Dr Mosley recommends keeping away from foods high in sugar as well as junk foods.

This is because they contain little to no nutritional value, making you feel hungrier and wanting more.

He explained: If you want to feel fuller for longer, keep away from it. When youre out and about, bring a packed lunch.

If you keep a stock of high-calorie snacks in the house for children, keep it locked up and away from the kitchen.

To feel fuller for longer, take a few simple steps, choose more of the right foods, especially good fats and fibre and avoid the wrong foods, eat protein and eat it early.

Like happiness, fullness really is a gut feeling.

Drinking plenty of water throughout the day will also keep you hydrated and feeling full.

Dr Mosley said: When youre not getting enough water, youll be sluggish, lethargic, and most likely mistake thirst for hungermake sure you stay hydrated.

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Weight loss: Michael Mosley shares key advice on how to feel more satisfied after meals - Daily Express

Healthy wife, happy life! Raven-Symon opened up about her new, healthy lifestyle explaining that it was very much inspired by her wife, Miranda Pearman-Maday.

This was because we want to have a life together, the Ravens Home star, 35, told E! News on Thursday, July 1. She doesnt want to take me to an early grave and I want to make sure I am there for her in the best health possible.

The Cheetah Girls actress shared that shed decided to make some changes after receiving horrendous numbers at a doctors appointment. She first opened up about her weight loss in a May Instagram Live, revealing while in the car with Pearman-Maday, 32, that shed lost 28 pounds.

Youre incredible honey. Youre doing so good,the social media manager said in the clip.

Later, Raven talked about her health journey during a June appearance on Good Morning America, sharing that shes trying to be low-carb as much as [she can] be, exercising minimally and having a minimumof a 14-hour fastbetween dinner and breakfast. She also makes sure to listen to her body and carefully educate herself about any fasting she participates in.

The Thats So Raven alum noted that her recent weight loss isnt about achieving a certain look. Instead, she simply wants to be as healthy as can be. She also shared that what works for her wont work for everyone she speaks only for herself.

Every time I lost weight in the past it was about size, the Some Call It Magic singer said. [This time] I want tomake sure that my body is healthyand prepared to deal with old age.

The Georgia native married Pearman-Maday in a secret ceremony on June 16, 2020.

I got married to a woman who understands me from trigger to joy, from breakfast to midnight snack, from stage to home, she wrote via Instagram a couple days later to announce the happy news. I love you Mrs. Pearman-Maday! Lets tear this world a new ahole!!!

Last month, Raven shared a lengthy Instagram post to wish her wife a happy first anniversary.

365 days ago we decided to stand with each other for the rest of our years on this planet. We promised that we would have each other backs, hold each others hearts in our hands and care for them like no one else has, she wrote in part. You have done something to me that I thought wasnt possible. Youve made me smile. Not the one where I know people are watching or because Im a girl and I need to. No babe the smile comes when my hurt brain tries to take over and then I see your face. A smile that reminds me everything is gonna be OK now.

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Raven-Symone Says Wife Miranda Inspired Her to Lose Weight: I Want to Be There for Her - Us Weekly