Skip the starvation - Taking in fewer than 1,200 calories per day for women or 1,500 calories a day for men forces the body to start eating muscle while it burns fat. Don't starve to lose - unless you want to lose muscle.
Get moving - While exercise alone will not make you lose weight, combining exercise with a healthy diet will. So, get up and get moving. Walk instead of ride. Take the stairs instead of using the elevator. Stretch and bend while doing housework.
Muscles burn fat - Since fat doesn't use calories, but muscles do, build up your muscles. You don't have to pump iron all day and look like a gym-holic. What you need to do is add weight training to your workouts to add muscle and strengthen existing muscles. Those muscles will burn more calories and help you lose weight faster, not to mention the beautiful, toned muscles that will be revealed once the excess fat is lost.
Eat more often - Hunger kills more diets than anything else. When you're hungry all the time, it's hard to stick to a diet. No matter what plan you are on, try eating six small meals throughout the day instead of stuffing in two or three large meals. Your body will have more sustained energy and you won't be hungry. Of course, if these meals are all chocolate donuts, the chances are that you won't lose weight.
Eight glasses of LIQUID - That doesn't mean eight glasses of water a day. That's right. You don't have to consume eight glasses of water a day. You can count the coffee, tea, diet sodas, and other liquids. Of course, water is useful in helping the body flush out toxins--especially when dieting--but you don't have to be a camel. Recent studies have proven that the eight-glasses-a-day-theory doesn't hold water. So, bottoms up for your favourite beverage.
Have a drink - Yes. You can still have a beer or a glass of wine while dieting. Just review your diet program to be sure that beer or wine doesn't interfere with it. But most diets, even the low carb-high protein diets, even recommend a glass of wine. Red wines help digestion and calm appetities. Of course, everything in moderation and never drink and drive.
Don't beat yourself up - Our final tip is the easiest to say and the most difficult to put into practice. If you find yourself ten bites into a piece of cheesecake, don't panic. Enjoy it. Just get back on your diet afterward. If you pig out at the firehouse bbq, just be grateful it was delicious and start your diet again tomorrow. Do your best to stick to your chosen plan, but don't beat yourself up if you sidestep once in a while. Learn from your mistakes.
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