Losing weight will increase your chances for a longer, healthier life. It will also give you a much more attractive, sexier body. But, quality of life is also important: nobody wants to starve themselves just to lose a few pounds. Many studies have shown that people who go on harsh diets just start craving the food they have been missing and end up overeating again.

If your goal is to eat all you want and still lose weight, try these 6 tips.

Tip #1: Eat enough food: The biggest mistake that dieters make is that they try to eat too little food. This ends up backfiring because all they do is end up slowing down their metabolism. If it is not getting enough nutrients, your body will try to conserve its own nutrient stores by putting on the metabolism brakes.

Tip #2: Eat the right kinds of foods: Go ahead and eat that pizza or burger, but try filling up first on as many high fiber and high water content foods as you can. This way, when you are eating that hot dog or bag of chips later on you will be less likely to reach for more than you need to feel full. Great examples of filler foods are whole grain breads, veggies, fruit, yogurt, soup, meats, and poultries. And for dessert, try a rich sweet like a piece of chocolate. The chocolate will satisfy your sweet tooth without filling you up. Also, try cutting out the diet soda and substitute it for water with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Tip #3: Eat more slowly: Your body tells you to stop eating whenever sugars and other nutrients reach certain levels in your blood. The trouble is that your body must first digest your food and get those nutrients into your blood stream, and this takes time. By slowly down your eating, you will feel full before eating more than you really need.

Tip #4: Get up and move around about once per hour: Most of us are not able to work out at the gym more than a couple of times a week, if at all. The good news is that your body can benefit just as much from less intense but regular exercise. If you spend your time during the day in a sedentary way, try taking extra walks to the water cooler, up the stairs, or around the neighborhood. Take 5 or 6 ?mini-walks? during your day and keep your body burning those calories. Hint: buy a pedometer to count your steps. They start at about $1.

Tip #5: Have less food around: Recent studies are revealing that we humans tend to eat whatever happens to be around or in front of us - eventually. By buying less food and by serving smaller portions, you will reduce your ?want? and thereby still end up eating until you are satisfied.

Tip #6: Get enough sleep: Science tells us that we burn calories when we sleep and that sleep deprivation actually slows down our metabolism. In other words: getting more sleep increases your chances of weight loss. So, get the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night and watch the pounds drop off.