I am a Registered Dietitian who has spent over 10,000 hours researching the lifestyle habits of thin people for my book Thin People Dont Clean Their Plates. In this research, I discovered striking differences between the choices that thin people make versus those of overweight people. The common dieting mistakes that overweight people typically make are those that tend to lump them into the overweight instead of thin people category for habits. Here is the list of the top four habits of overweight people, which will prevent them from losing weight:

1. Skipping breakfast to save calories. Almost all thin people do eat something for breakfast. The majority of overweight people skip breakfast. Breakfast will break the fast from the night before and wake up your metabolism. Your body will burn more calories all day long because you ate something shortly after waking up.

2. Not eating when you are hungry. This will cause the body to release lipogenic, or fat-storing hormones that prevent weight loss. Thin people tend to eat at the first sign of hunger. Carrying snacks will help you be prepared for unplanned hunger attacks and prevent a binge later.

3. Having the all-or-nothing way of thinking. Following a diet/binge or feast/famine cycle will cause your body to become more efficient at storing calories and fat. Diets do not work. If you want to lose weight, stop dieting and start listing to what your body is telling you.

4. Combining sugar with fat. The sugar-fat combination is the best formula for weight gain. The sugar causes a release of insulin, to lower your blood sugar and practically opens the door to your fat cells. By combining fat with sugar in a certain food (i.e. a donut), it will be very easy for your body to store it as fat. I do recommend that you allow yourself treats during your weight loss process, but keep the sugar away from the fat. If your treat is a slice of cheesecake, alter the recipe to make it low fat since it does contain a lot of sugar. If you are eating tortilla chips as a treat, do not drink lemonade with them.