does the whitening gum actually whiten? and if yes, please do tell the brand name!

Me and the BF watch Dirty Jobs, Weird Foods with Andrew Zimmerman and No Reservations wth Andrew Bordain while we eat dinner. They can be eating the nasty food ever and we are still chowing down. LOL Don't think this tip will help me out.

I love 'You Are What You Eat'. They never play it where I am anymore

But yeah, there is no better show to motivate you! I don't think I could ever do the diet she puts them on but she definately has a 'no BS' type attitute towards weight loss.

I LOVE Jillian McKeith (I have no idea how it's really spelled). I wonder what she's like to just hang with, like if she ever really cuts loose, or is just obsessed with never drinking and never eating red meat, etc.

As to the gum: I chew Orbit White, and while my teeth are lightening a little, it's hard for me to say if that's the gum, or the fact that I use whitening mouthwash and have quit smoking and drinking coffee. If you really really want to whiten teeth, I recommend a whitening-light home kit. I think they are sold at Walmart. I use mine every now and again (which I bought off an infomercial for more money than I care to admit, right before I found out they are available for like $20 at Walmart - d'oh!), but once I ran out of the fluid you paint on your teeth first, that came with it, I just started using the light while I had Crest whitestrips in. My mom gave me a set of whitestrips more than once (ostensibly they were BOGO, I think it was a thinly-veiled hint), so I've got those in abundance.

Wow I love all you people's tips. I don't know where I can find the TV shows mentioned here in Tokyo though. And brushing your teeth (and the shower) right away when you get home are great ideas too.

I think I need to find some alternative, gross TV shows after I come home from the gym at night. I am always sooo hungry I feel like I can swallow the whole fridge.

You can also watch reruns of Kitchen Nightmares on fox.com or hulu. But tv, regardless of what's on it, makes me want to eat.

What DOES work for me are video games or computer games, knitting, cross stitching, anything that's entertaining and requires two hands. Things like tv or movies, reading, even sitting down to write a letter or a journal entry, just give me the opportunity to plug food into my mouth while I sit. :-(

lol, i have an even better tip. My two dogs are such moochers when I even go to the fridge for water, much less if I'm actually getting food. They act like I don't ever feed them when there is food around, so they stalk me like prey to get the tiniest morsel of food. So, needless to say, unless I want to be attacked by two food-crazed doggies(25 lbs and 7 lbs) I watch myself. The only time they aren't like that is for dinner when my fiance is home.

Another thing that I do for nights like that, is that I have some frozen dinners in the freezer that I can just pop in the microwave. I knew when I started this journey that there would be times that I can't make dinner, or when time doesn't permit me to cook as healthy as I need to. In addition to that, I ALWAYS have a huge bag of spinach in my fridge for salad. And carrots and celery and various fruit in the fridge.

one of my favs is frozen grapes and pears!

Another vote for calorie counting here. It really helps me as a go through my day. I write things down and keep a running total. Sometimes it's a game to see how many calories I can save for my dinner. I was a huge NIGHT eater now I make myself go to sleep most nights after dinner, dishes, baths and lunches.