Dieting is easier than you think and doesn’t mean you have to starve yourself or lock yourself away for months.

 First though be honest about how much you eat. – If you think you don’t eat much but steadily gained weight then you need to be aware of what you are eating and how much you are eating. The what and how much are the two things alone that determine your weight gain. Not all foods are made the same and generally the tastier the food than the more calories that have been packed into it. So although you’re eating small amounts you’re probably eating a lot of calories. Keeping a food diary will show you what you actually are eating. Note every bite, snack, drink and even the bits you nibble on while you’re cooking. I am sure I am not the only one who eats the cheese as I grate it.

Stop the mad diets. It’s very tempting to follow a diet that promises easy weight loss, quickly and easily while eating all your favourite foods. However there is no miracle diet that will work in the long run. The only successful way to loose weight is to loose weight steadily through healthy eating. That means less rubbish and more of the good stuff. Following crash diets and you will mess up your metabolism and make loosing weight an even tougher job than it needs to be.

 Eat like a healthy person – a healthy person doesn’t police what they eat, feel guilty if they eat something bad or skip meals because they want to loose weight. They eat when they are hungry and stop when they are not. They also eat three proper meals a day including breakfast. It pays to focus on your morning meal as your body needs fuel/energy in the morning as it hasn’t eaten for ten hours.

 Have realistic goals – aiming to loose 3 stone in two months is not realistic. You can’t reach this sort of goal in that sort of time frame. Attempt it and you will feel cheated, get fed up and veer off course via a cake shop. You goal has to be realistic to your lifestyle, your end goal and your personality. Some people succeed through group weight loss or by a structured diet at home. Others might prefer going cold turkey and cut out all temptations. Choosing the plan that suits your character best and your chances of reaching your goal will increase.

 Take small steps – just like Rome achieving your new body won’t happen over night but can be achieved with a simple strategic plan that you put into action on a daily basis. Think healthy eating, exercise, motivation, effort and short and long term goals. Fight the ’stuff it’ moments too as a breakthrough of some sort will be just around the corner. If you’re truly having a bad day and can’t distract your self with something else, then give in to it in a small way and move on. What matters is always what you do next – not what you’ve done already.