There are a number of reasons people don’t actually follow through with a resolution to lose weight. First, some people are more caught up with the idea to change in the New Year, but actually haven’t made a serious commitment to change. Others, start off great with some fad diet, and likely lose a few pounds, but the sustainability of the diet may not be realistic. Also, there are people that just don’t understand how much hard work is required to lose weight. Losing weight is hard, involves commitment, and takes a lot of time and effort.

If you are serious to follow through with your New Year’s resolution, there are some tips to help ensure that you succeed:

• Make smaller changes, that you can sustain! Fad dieting will make you lose weigh faster, but the odds are that next year you’ll be making yet another resolution to lose weight because you weren’t able to keep it up. Try eating smaller more frequent meals, finding lower calorie alternatives for foods, and eat out less often.
• Get competitive! If you are dieting with someone else it’s easier, you can talk about the difficulties, blow off steam if necessary, and get into the competitive spirit a bit. The only warning is not to get too competitive, this will only make you depressed if the other person happens to lose more weight than you or has a better week. If you don’t know anyone who is as serious about losing weight as you are, you can find a number of websites with forums, blogs, or chat rooms full of people trying to lose weight too.
• Keep track! Keeping track of what you eat, any physical exercise, and your progress will help. People who are honest with themselves and keep accurate records tend to do better. You don’t have to show anyone your records, so make sure that you write down EVERYTHING, you may not even realize how much you are eating in a day.
• Set a realistic goal! Saying that you want to lose 50 pounds in 2 months is not realistic, nor is it safe. If your goal is not realistic, you will just be disappointed and probably end up quitting. Make smaller goals and if you exceed your goal you will only be pleasantly surprised. Be sure, however, to make your goal challenging too, really think about it because it is an important factor in whether or not you will succeed.
• Don’t get depressed! Even if you slip or don’t do well for a week or two, just keep trying. People lose weight in different ways, you may hit bumps in the road, but don’t stress over it, just keep it up.

If you are truly serious, your New Year’s resolution can become a reality.

• Don’t look at it as a diet, but a lifestyle change. If you are truly serious about losing weight and keeping it off, you need to change the way you live and think about food. Changing the way you eat on a temporary basis usually results in you eventually going right back to your old eating habits and weight. Make smaller changes that are sustainable, you may lose weight slower, but the chances of keeping the weight off are much greater.
• Make time for food and don’t starve! Far too often, people eat nothing all day because they are either too busy or want to avoid the calories. This is not the way to diet! In fact, this is precisely how sumo wrestlers train. Not eating all day, no matter what the reason, makes you feel famished, and as a result, you end up eating everything in sight. Bring snacks or food with you to ensure that you never get to the point of feeling famished. If possible, keep a stash of healthy crackers at your desk or keep a granola bar in your car so that you always have something on hand.
• Eat more often and lower portion sizes! Eating smaller meals more often will ensure that you are never hungry, even if you are consuming less calories.
• Keep track of your results! Not everyone likes the scale, but it is important to keep track of your progress. If you are seeing results on a regular basis, you become even more motivated. It is important, however, that you are not checking everyday, as your weight may fluctuate. You should get on the scale on a regular basis, probably once every 1-2 weeks. If you really hate the scale, track your progress by finding a tight pair of pants or a dress. Try on your article of clothing every 1-2 weeks to see the progress you’ve made. Even when you have met your weight loss goal, you should continue to track progress to ensure that you stay on target.
• Don’t give up! Probably the most important part of long-term weight loss and maintenance is the idea to not give up. If you have a bad eating day, week, or even month, don’t just go back to your old ways. Don’t dwell on the past or make yourself feel guilty. Instead, start a new day and get back on track.

Let’s face it, losing weight is work! It takes time, patience, and is an ongoing project. The good news is that over time the lifestyle changes that you make become habits, good habits. As you build good eating and lifestyle habits, the whole process of losing weight and keeping it off becomes easier.

Moderation: You really don’t need to study food labels or weigh the fat content of food to know which foods you should limit. Everyone knows that eating too much junk is not good. Saying that you’re not going to have any junk food what so ever may be great for your health, but is this a realistic and sustainable idea? The key idea is moderation. Completely restricting foods may lead you to psychologically want that food even more, and if you do succumb to the temptation, you may find it difficult to stop yourself from going overboard. Instead of restricting yourself completely, try to moderate what you are eating by limiting portion sizes and frequency. For example, instead of a whole chocolate bar everyday, try eating half of a chocolate bar 3 times per week. Moderation will take practice and planning. If you portion your food in advance, when you are not hungry, it may be easier to ensure that you don’t just take a few extra bites!

Variety: Eating healthy is all about having a variety of different foods. In order to stay satisfied, it is important that you are not bored with your food. If you feel yourself getting bored with your regular food intake, look online or in a recipe book for a different light/healthy meal. Another great idea, is to look for fruits and vegetables that are in season, often you can find something that you don’t eat on a regular basis. Finally, you can find ways to make your favorite foods healthier. If you are absolutely craving a big bowl of pasta, you can modify the meal: have a starter salad, so that you eat less pasta; use whole wheat pasta; or use ground chicken in the sauce instead of beef, in sauce you won’t even notice the difference. Modifying foods that you love along with adding new foods to your diet will ensure that you don’t get super bored.

Write it down: It only takes a few seconds to write down what you eat, but it could make all the difference in the world. Psychologically, if you know you have to write down everything that you put in your mouth, you will eat less. In addition, sometimes you don’t realize just how much you are eating in a day. Even if you don’t count all the calories, you can tell when you’ve eaten way more than you should.

When trying to change your diet, it is important to realize that it takes practice. Healthy eating is important, and should be a lifelong venture, not a fad diet.