Please, just because you want to lose weight, don't dump your nutritious foods and live on celery sticks and diet sodas. It will hurt you in the long run by depriving you of needed nutrition and fiber.

Instead replace some of your unhealthy foods with healthy foods. You can start a better diet and it will be a low calorie diet compared to what many people have been eating.

Focus on more vegetables in your diet. Especially the leafy green vegetables. Eat 7 or more half-cup servings of vegetables a day. This would mean two or three different servings of vegetables per meal.

Eat a variety of vegetables, with a variety of colors each day. This creates visual appeal, different textures and the good nutrition that you need.

Don't cut them out, but don't use as much of the root vegetables because they are more starchy. Example: potatoes, sweet potatoes.

Drink water instead of soft drinks and fruit juices. This will lower your calories and provide you with the fluids you need for health and weight loss. Yes, water and plenty of it will help you lose weight.

I saw a show in which an obese teenager did not have a clue about calories or nutrition, but she was very willing to learn. Dr. Phil told her that cutting out the sodas the teenager was drinking would allow her to lose 50 pounds of fat in a year. This may apply to you as well, if you drink a lot of sodas.

Be ready ahead of time for snacks. Don't reach for the nearest goodie or candy bar, instead get out the snack you thought about ahead of time. Maybe a little cheese and apple, a piece of fruit, or some cottage cheese with mixed fruit. Keep the serving small - it is not a meal, just a snack.

All of these suggestions give you an idea of how to have a low calorie diet without depriving you of needed nutrition.