In my personal experience,  losing weight can be an extremely demoralizing journey. You might successfully lose 2 pounds in one week. Because you had this big event coming up, therefore you want to look slim and toned in your new outfit. Before, you realize what hit you in the face, you've already gained 4 pounds the next upcoming week. There are multiple reasons that contributed to your weight gain; you've probably binged eat because you had unrealistic goals such as eating salad everyday. Also, you probably liked eating mini snacks at night to cure your insomnia; the land of fluffy dreams (Oreo, Smarties, Coffee crisp, Skor, Hershey, everybody knows the toxic song). You might have regularly danced to this song when you were fifteen, but as you get older ( especially in your forties), your metabolism slows down and you can't eat junk food everyday. These are my top 5 advice for losing weight when you refuse to immediately change your bad habits in one week. My goal is to assure you follow these steps in a working in progress state of mind . You should never feel unmotivated just because you didn't get the desired results. You might have not reached your weight goal but you've reached your standards. If the standards matched your values ( ex: improvement), then you will progressively lose weight with a positive state of mind.

Eating Oatmeal has many benefits for your body. You should definitely eat a bowl of oatmeal in the morning with a Fixed Schedule ( ex: 6:30 a.m.). Why ? because it will gradually facilitate your intestines to evacuate all the toxins in your body. Oatmeal contains a lot of fibers and it can be beneficial when your have constipation problems. You can actually quit coffee if you consistently eat oatmeal every morning; oatmeal brings a lot of energy with its rich minerals. It can actually prevent diabetes because it keeps you from craving sugar and junk food; it can keep you relatively full until lunchtime or early afternoon (1:00 p.m.)

You should consecutively sleep 7.5 hours a night. But, the hours are not quite important. It's the fixed schedule. According to studies, sleeping before 11 pm will eventually decrease your food cravings. Your brains isn't asking for energy anymore because it's already prepared for nighttime. You will maintain a stable weight and your mood will improve (the balance of hormones). Therefore you won't be craving for coffee like it's your oxygen mask. In my opinion, the optimal sleeping schedule should be from 10:30 p.m to 6:30 p.m. But it's totally unrealistic, if you have a an unpredictable work schedule or  family responsibilities to take care of. The importance is to sleep before 11:00 p.m and not be attacked by night worries. ( obsession about the bleak future)

Forget about hitting the treadmill, it can be a demoralizing experience for a beginner. Signing up to an expensive gym membership (100$/month)will be a blow to your self-esteem. Don't compare yourself to people at the gym with their hourglass figures. They've probably been training for that spectacular body for a very long time . Mild exrecises are sufficient for a beginner; if you do it every day, you can easily lose 250-300 calories during a 30 min sketch.  You can combine the sketch with a 20 min walk outside. A working in progress mindset is very important for losing weight. Youtube videos are a great way to familiarize yourself  with the fitness world.

Most of your problems would be solved if you stop eating at night. The metabolism slows down at night and sugary food can be extra work for your digestive system. My recommendation is to

eat a healthy snack 30 minutes before 8 P.M.  A teaspoon of peanut butter with whole grain crackers can be extremely satisfying for your night craving. My number one tip is drink  2 glasses of water ( you can put some drops of lemon) with your healthy snack. Discipline is the key to success. Don't restrict yourself to a disgusting 1000 calories per day. You might end up with unhealthy symptoms such as dysmorphobia, low-self esteem, mood swings etc.