Sometimes, it can feel that no matter what you do, you just cannot drop the pounds and keep them off. Everyone who has ever tackled this weight-loss dilemma, has felt that at some point in the journey. The good news is, you can do it, and this article is going to show you how.

If your goal is increased weight loss, try keeping a journal. It is so easy to eat more, and more often, than you realize you do. By keeping a journal, you can track when and what you eat, and what you were doing and feeling at the time. Over time, this information can give you tremendous insight into your eating habits and help you to make beneficial changes.

One thing to help you lose weight is to set realistic goals. If you set realistic goals, they will be much easier to achieve and you will feel great satisfaction when you’ve reached them. From there you can set even greater goals that you can achieve.

You should remember that there is no such thing as a magic pill that will let you lose all the weight while sitting at home doing nothing. You need to get up off the couch and start working out and eating correctly if you really want to lose weight.

Many people eat more than one portion of food at each meal. The best thing you can do if you want to lose weight is take a regular sized portion, cut it in half and eat each one separately. It will seem as if you ate two portions without consuming twice the calories.

If you want to effectively lose weight, remember to eat plenty throughout the day. Purposely starving yourself is not an effective weight loss measure and is just flat out, unhealthy. Eating your regular three meals a day with snacks between meals and combining that with regular exercise, is proven to be the most efficient way to lose weight.

Although potatoes can be a really healthy food item for you, you should try to avoid this starchy vegetable most of the time. A potato every now and again won’t hurt you, but this vegetable contains those carbohydrates that will go straight to your waistline, especially if you’re eating fries or chips.

Eating foods that have healthy fats such as olives, salmon and walnuts will help you to feel satisfied for a longer period of time. Eating these foods will help you to eat less throughout the day because you will not be hungry, and it will prevent you from just eating anything you can find at the moment.

Don’t forget your diet when you are eating out. If you are unsure of what a certain dish contains, don’t be afraid to ask. If your server doesn’t know, the chef will be able to answer any questions. Speak up as to how you would like your dish prepared. Ask for salad dressing on the side, otherwise your nutritious salad might end up containing more calories than your main dish. Always choose a dish that is baked, grilled or steamed, rather than something that is fried.

Keep track of everything that you eat. If you are struggling with your weight loss, there may be a reason for it. One of your snacks may be really unhealthy. Keeping track of your food intake can help you keep up with the calories that you take in, so that you can know how much exercise you will need to put out to lose weight.

A large majority of people attend school, work at an office, live in a multi-floor building, or at least regularly visit places with steps. A lot of the time, we opt to pass up on these steps and grab the elevator. Well, go for the obvious choice when on a diet and just take the stairs. You’ll be happy in the long run.

One way to cut back on calories when you are on a weight-loss program is to cook with vegetable sprays and nonstick cookware. Each meal that you cook with a nonstick pan will eliminate 100 calories from your diet since there is no oil, butter or margarine used to grease the skillet or pan. If you need a bit of grease to fry or saute a certain food item, simply spritz your cookware with a small amount of vegetable oil cooking spray.

What’s in your soup? If you are trying to eliminate fat from your diet, stick to lean soups made with vegetable stock or broths. Steer clear of soups that use a lot of cream and meats and you’ll be able to have a guilt-free bowl of hot delicious soup, without packing on fat.

You have to tell yourself that defeat is not an option. You may stumble and you may fall, but you can not stay down. Use what you have learned here, is to help you get up and dust yourself off. Each day is a new opportunity to succeed. Make today your day.