Tips for Losing Weight and Keeping it Off

Why is it, that as soon as you start dieting, food suddenly becomes all the more tempting? Food mysteriously becomes all you can think about and everyone around you always seems to be eating fast food, sweets and loads of carbs, all of the things that you swore you would never ingest again. How can anyone lose weight and keep it off when they are constantly faced with temptation?

My advice: have patience. Many people try to make too many lifestyle changes too quickly. If you try to go from living on McDonald's to living on carrot sticks, you're almost doomed to fail. Instead, take it one step at a time. Slowly start to limit the amount of calories that you consume and make small changes that won't completely rock your world, such as switching from 2% milk to skim or from regular soda to diet. As you continue to slowly make more and more changes, you will eventually find that few traces of your former eating habits remain.

The same rules apply when it comes to exercise. If walking from the couch to the fridge is the most exercise you've gotten over the past few years, don't expect to be able to run a marathon your first day! Even a little exercise can go a long way. Go for a brisk walk with a friend several days a week and slowly increase your speed and distance. Once your body has adjusted to the exercise, you can try more strenuous activities. Starting out too strong might result in an injury, so take it one step at a time. It is always a good idea to talk to your doctor before starting any exercise routine. They can give you an idea of how much your body can handle.

When it comes to designing a diet plan, you should never try to eliminate all of your favorite foods. Unless you plan on eating celery sticks and lettuce for the rest of your life, you need to create an eating plan that includes some of the foods you love, even if they are high in fat and calories. You can still have pizza -- just don't eat the whole thing! Practice portion control and consider healthier alternatives to your favorite foods. People who cut out all indulgences may be successful at losing weight, but end up gaining it back because they can't keep up the strict diet and lifestyle over time. Think long-term rather than short-term when creating a diet plan - you might not lose weight as quickly this way, but you are more likely to stick to it and keep the weight off!

How and when you eat are also major factors when it comes to weight loss. As you may already know, you should eat 5 smaller meals per day, rather than 2 or 3 larger ones. Eat a sizable breakfast, lunch and dinner and have 2 smaller snacks throughout the day, so that you are eating every 3-4 hours. This keeps your metabolism in high gear and keeps you from feeling like you are starving yourself. Also, eat slowly and drink lots of water. Often times, when you think you are hungry, you're really just bored or thirsty. By eating slowly, you will eventually begin to realize when you are full and can prevent yourself from overeating.

Also, don't keep tempting foods in the house - if they're too convenient to you, you're bound to break in a moment of weakness. While you should allow yourself a few indulgences here and there, keeping too much junk food in the house will most likely result in over-indulgence.

Finally, avoid eating out whenever possible. Even the restaurants that you think are "healthy" can sabotage your weight loss goals. This is in part because the portion sizes at many restaurants are nearly twice what they should be. Even the so-called "lite" menu items are probably cooked in more oil or include more butter and other fats than you would use while cooking at home. Save eating out for special occasions and ask for the nutritional information of your favorite menu items. This way, you can make an informed decision -- the salad you assume would be a healthy choice might actually contain more calories than the burger that you are really craving!