Don’t, just don't tell anyone you’re on a diet. That way you don’t get everyone’s unsolicited advice and daily check-ins like this: How’re you doing? I’ve lost x number of pounds, how about you? Don’t eat that. Are you sure you want to eat that? Remember, you’re on a diet. Gotta cut carbs. Blah blah blah.

After while if we don't keep up with everyone else's expectations, it's really easy to get discouraged and give up. So, yeah, this is usually one of those things where it's best to keep it to yourself.

I’m just as guilty as everyone else on this one. Every time I attempt to lose five pounds, I expect to see some amazing results in a few days or, at the least, within a week or two. Like me, most people give up too soon. This year I finally realized that I didn’t gain that weight in a week, a month, or even six months. (It actually crept up over a period of 15 years.) So we shouldn't expect to lose it any faster.

How many times has someone told you that the first few pounds you want to loose is just "water weight?" ARGH! What does that even mean?

The only resulting behavior I've seen as a result of this belief is that dieters want to stop drinking water. BAD idea!

Ok, here are two reasons I can think of that this is a bad idea:

• First, your body is made up of 70% water. When you cut it out you get dehydrated and then get to learn about all kinds of things that that causes like headaches, dizziness, nauseousness, low energy, and a real fun one, constipation.

• Second, water is your body’s natural laxative. It’s what you use to flush out waste, toxins and germs.

A few bonuses though:

Think of controlling your food intake and output like controlling your money intake and output.

I mean, have you ever put say, $50 in your wallet and two days later found it gone? And you have no idea how that happened?

The only way to really keep your spending (and your weight loss and maintenance program) under control is to always be aware of what's going in and what's going out. When you watch your food intake as well as your weight and measurement numbers daily you can see within 24 hours what's having a positive or negative effect. With that information in the forefront of your mind you can make positive adjustments immediately.

Personally I can gain 2 pounds in one meal, in one day, and it can take up two weeks for me to lose it! So imagine, if you don't check your weight for a week; you can put on 5-10 pounds and not even realize it until your "weekly weigh-in." Oh my gosh, and have you ever noticed how popular that practice is with most overweight doctors or nurses? (See how well that practice is working for them?)

The other thing is don't rely on your memory. In today's fast paced world, most people can hardly remember what they had for breakfast let alone what they ate the day before. (Seriously, how often do you lose your keys or cell phone?)

Besides, all you have to do to see if relying on your memory is working for you is look in the mirror...naked.

So, bottom line, if you want good, long term weight-loss results, keep a weight & food diary. This process alone will really open your eyes to your bad habits so you can ditch them asap.

There's a huge misconception that one must do extreme exercise along with a diet in order to lose weight. What usually happens then with most people, is that they don’t feel they have time for exercise so they give up pretty darn quick.

Well here’s a news flash: 90% of successful weight loss is accomplished by changing your diet. Yes, exercise is very good for your health in many ways, i.e., builds a strong heart, keeps your muscles strong and flexible thereby avoiding many back and knee problems. However, unless you are a professional athlete, exercise only contributes less than 5% to a weight loss effort.

Click below to read more.

A lot of people feel they need to cut out entire food groups or all of one ingredient. For instance, anything containing fat and sugar, and all carbs are the most popular. That’s all fine and good for a temporary loss. But all natural foods (things that are grown) contain one of those ingredients. For example, many vegetables contain carbohydrates, most meats contain fat, all berries and fruits contain sugars and so do some vegetables such as beets. These are the foods on which one should be filling up on a daily basis for the simple reason that every human body is designed to glean all nutrients from them and burn off the waste.

The only "food group" I'd recommend cutting out completely is anything "born" in a box. Think about it...that's the stuff that is all man-made and full of weird ingredients that most of us can't even pronounce. Imagine how our body is going to react to all that weirdness?

This goes hand-in-hand with wanting instant results. If you want to lose weight and keep it off for the long term, as in years, you must choose a diet that you can live with for that long. Period.

Losing weight and keeping it off doesn't have to be a ton of work. Just incorporating few easy changes in your daily habits over a period of time will net you good results over the long haul. Here are examples of routines that I've been doing for the last...hmmm 30 years! Check them out and never give up!