Step 1
Take a moment to figure out why you want to lose weight. Weight loss can be futile, and is usually unsuccessful, when it's done to please others (your physician is the exception). Or because you think if you only were slim and fit, you would be happy, you would find the right mate, you would land a terrific job, you would have more friends, you would conquer your fears, etc.

Good reasons to shed fat include having a strong desire to regain or improve your health, and thus reduce the risk of chronic diseases associated with being overweight such as diabetes. Losing weight also helps to build energy and stamina for the activities you enjoy doing and the work you need to get done.

Step 2
Let's take a close look at the "D" word. "D" as in "diet" has very bad connotations for many people. Perhaps they associate it with a poor grade from their early school years, or they are suspicious of any word with "die" in it. Or they have learned to equate diet with deprivation by trying to get by with too few calories to sustain an active lifestyle. Yet the original meaning of the Greek diaita, from which diet comes, actually means "a course of life." A diet, then, to preserve the original meaning, is a way of life – and that can be a positive thing.

Think weight management, not diet, and you will be less stressed out by making the necessary changes. In weight management, the goal is to achieve the best weight possible for overall health. To take charge of weight management is to make a lifelong commitment to a more healthful lifestyle. As in other endeavours, it eventually becomes a habit.

Step 3
Think back on all the ways you have tried to lose weight. If it will help, write them down. Which approach(es) worked? Why do you think others failed? Perhaps it's because of all the things you did to help – for example, drinking water (6-8 glasses a day), exercising to keep your appetite in check, snacking on an apple or other hard fruit in the afternoon so you don't binge when making supper.

A national survey of weight loss participants in the United States showed that the most successful reducers were the ones who combined a change in diet with an increased level of physical activity.

Consider the season, too. Is it easier for you to lose weight in spring, or summer than in fall and winter? Appetites often wane in warm weather, and the desire to get outdoors and be physically active is strong. The combination makes weight drop. This is a technique you want to adopt all year round – eat less, exercise more.

Your choice of foods will probably also change from one season to the next. Perhaps a reducing shake makes a perfectly satisfying breakfast or lunch on an 80 ° (27 °C) day, but it won't satisfy you as well on frosty days. That's OK. Make whatever adjustments are necessary to your diet to keep your body supplied with the nutrients it needs to support your daily activities, and steady your appetite.

Remember that calories are simply a measure of energy. If you take in more calories than you require, you will gain weight.

Use all the strategies that have worked for you in the past to customize your diet! Think of new ways that can help you this time.

CONCLUSION: Give it time!
Losing weight is a process, so don't throw in the towel after one week. You are tackling the very behaviour that led to your weight gain, and that takes real time. You are not alone if you find change difficult, and uncomfortable. It's actually easier to form bad habits than turn them around.

After three weeks of committed effort, the process of transformation should start to "kick in." For example, if you cut out sugar and sugar substitutes for three weeks, you will lose your cravings for sweets. That's because you are re-training your tastebuds. Practise portion control for three weeks, and your stomach will become satisfied with smaller amounts. Your body is adapting to a healthier lifestyle.

A three-week commitment is also vital for information gathering about your eating patterns. Monitor yourself, but make no judgments. Simply observe. Your daily food record and weekly weigh-in will show, for example, whether the four food groups are represented, whether you are consuming enough calories, whether your weight fluctuates for hormonal reasons, whether some days you are hungrier than others without any apparent explanation, and whether stress triggers food cravings. Knowing these things about yourself (that your food intake is balanced and you are not starving, that you are a classic emotional eater who needs to learn non-food techniques for dealing with stress, etc.) will keep you from becoming demoralized.