It is not so tough to slim down; the hardest part is actually maintaining the weight loss long term, that's what many dieters seem to forget about! You must plan to modify your eating habits for life, not just a few months! If you change a number of of your bad habits now you will have a much better shot at both losing the weight and keeping it off!

1Do not weigh yourself more than once or twice weekly as your weight will fluctuate and you don't want to be discouraged if there has been a slight gain. 2Ensure that you reward yourself for mini goals, for example each 7 pounds you lose, buy yourself a little non food treat. 3Take your lunch with you to work at least twice a week; this will help you to avoid situations where it could be easy to break your diet (e.g. the canteen or vending machine!) 4Feeling stressed, don't reach for the chips, go for a 30 minute walk or jog, when you get back you won't feel like eating junk food. 5Make sure you have some low fat frozen meals in stock for the days when you just don't feel like cooking. When shopping for these try to stick to meals with under 10 grams of fat (for the total meal) but also make sure you check out the sodium content, if it contains more than 800-900 give it a miss as high sodium diet is very bad for your health. 6Ensure that your friends and family know that you are trying to change your eating habits and ask that they respect this and don't try to tempt you - you know what I mean "Go one, just have one, it won't matter!". This doesn't help you at all, and you should try to avoid these people if at all possible during this time. 7Never eat when watching TV or reading.. How many times have you managed to eat a whole packet of chips or a whole block of chocolate during a gripping movie or book? Avoid this situation altogether and don't eat either in front of the TV or whilst reading. 8If possible ask another member of the family to store the leftovers as it is so easily to just pick at them a little more. 9Make an effort to get hold of some low fat, low calorie recipes. If you can't afford to buy some new recipe books or magazines then either look online (you will find lots of great sites) or try your local library. 10It is important that you eat breakfast every morning, this is the most important meal of the day, it helps to get your metabolism burning. It will also help you avoid the mid morning snack attack!

Most importantly remember that if you slip up and overindulge don't give in, just continue on with this healthier eating plan!