Weight Loss Secrets that Anyone Can Use

Almost everyone has gone on a diet at least once in their lives. It's hard to change your eating habits, but the desire to shed those pounds steels your resolve. Ironically, many a diet fails due to this steely resolve. Just because you want to lose weight doesn't mean you have to administer punishment to yourself to accomplish your goal. Here are several sure-fire weight loss secrets.

If you get too extreme in your diet program, you're setting yourself up for failure. No one is going to stick with a diet that consists of a glass of juice and a container of plain yogurt for breakfast, a couple of saltines and a cup of soup for lunch, followed by a dreary dinner of a tiny piece of meat and a dinner salad. You'll be down at the convenience store getting a bag of cookies by the second day. You do want to count calories, but be reasonable. Many people fail simply because they got too radical, cutting calories to 900 a day, in hopes of losing weight quickly. Nine times out of ten, this strategy does not work. Setting realistic goals and following a consistent program is the first weight loss secret of every successful dieter.

Keeping a food diary is a proven technique in keeping dieters honest. Get a small, 5 by 8 inch notebook and carry it everywhere. Whenever you eat something, jot it down. You'll be surprised when you review your notes at the end of the day. Food seems to go into our mouths, unnoticed, unless you use this method of keeping track. Many studies have shown that dieters who keep a food diary, lose more weight than those who don't, and also tend to keep the weight off.

Keeping a food diary also helps you discover certain eating patterns which contribute to those unwanted pounds. When you log your weight, once a week, you'll also start to notice foods that work for you. For example, you've been adding more fruits and veggies to your menus, while cutting back on sweets. Your taste buds and appetite adjust, over time. Now you prefer the produce and, lo and behold, you're losing weight at a steady pace! This is a new addition to the weight loss secrets arsenal, fast gaining a huge following.

Spreading your food consumption out with more frequent, but smaller meals works well for many people. Five or six small meals can help you feel satisfied, while gradually shrinking your stomach and improving your digestion. Another technique is to eat meals, one course at a time. Take your time eating your salad and chew your food slowly. You'll know when your full, you'll get more enjoyment from eating and your overall digestive system benefits as well. This simple change in your eating patterns is one of the best weight loss secrets, but not well known.

If you have a voracious appetite, you may not be satisfied with that well-known and  recommended 4-ounce portion of meat. If it now takes a 12-ounce portion of meat to make you happy, cut it down gradually over the first three weeks. Start increasing the veggie content of that meal. You should feel satisfied with the 4-ounce portion and a load of veggies by the end of the first month. Choose lean meats you like, eating fish a couple of times each week, as possible. Broiling or grilling reduces fat and calories. Olive oil, with no saturated or trans fats, is a no-cholesterol and heart healthy choice for salad dressings.

If you like to butter your veggies, wean yourself away from this fattening habit. Try substituting a sprinkling of herbal seasoning mixtures to add interest and  taste. Too much salt causes water retention, so check out salt substitutes, including herbal blends which are reminiscent of salt, without containing salt.

So many dieters never eat breakfast, thinking that practice should allow for a larger lunch and dinner. While it's true the calories not consumed at breakfast may be divided between lunch and dinner for a net target calorie intake, this is a self-defeating technique.

Breakfast, like Mom always said, is the most important meal of the day, supplying fuel to get you going. By the time lunch rolls around, you might well have burned all the calories consumed at breakfast! Burning calories is good! Breakfast is also a good time to get your fiber in a whole grain cereal or bran muffin. A glass of juice and some yogurt completes this nutritious and low calorie meal. You'll be happily surprised as you discover that the best, truly effective, weight loss secrets are really common sense.

Lunch should be your largest meal. Again, you have a much better chance of burning those calories off in the course of your work day than you do settling down to a big meal on the couch in front of the TV. Dinner should be light. Taking a walk, after dinner, weather permitting, is a good exercise strategy. You burn calories, relax and avoid that sluggish feeling.

Snacking between meals can help you avoid overeating at mealtime. This weight loss secret works only if you choose healthy snacks, such as a piece of fruit or sunflower seeds. The secret here is to choose a snack that is low in calories and takes a long time to eat. For example, unshelled sunflower seeds are a lot more work to 'prepare' than a cup of peanuts or a bag of chips!

While a thoughtful diet plan should steadily reduce your intake of forbidden foods – we all know what they are – there's no need to get on a total guilt trip over a pastry. Occasional treats are allowed. Just be sure to log these in your food diary!

Our last two weight loss secrets are well known, but not well received by dieters. Yep, you guessed it: drink lots of water and exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. If you don't like water, jazz it up with a teaspoon of lemon or lime. Do your chosen exercise, without fail.

If you put all of these weight loss secrets to work for you, you'll lose the weight! Secrets like this are meant to be told to all your friends. You'll be a hero or heroine to everyone with whom you share these common sense weight loss secrets.