-
Step 1
Determine how many calories you need per day. Don't eat more calories than you can burn (see Resources).
-
Step 2
Plan a diet to include vegetables, fruit, whole-grain foods, fish and lean meat. Eat fish twice a week, and replace poor diet choices with more fresh fruits and vegetables for better results.
-
Step 3
Trim fat off meat and skin off poultry. This makes your meat healthier, so you don't have to cut it out of your diet.
-
Step 4
Cut back on sugar and alcohol. Sweets can be a big dieting saboteur, so the less you consume, the quicker you'll see results.
-
Step 5
Avoid trans fat found in partially hydrogenated oils. Olive oil and canola are healthy oils.
-
Step 6
Use fat-free or low-fat dairy products. This includes low-fat cottage cheese, reduced fat sour cream, skim milk and cheeses made with skim milk, and nonfat or at least low-fat yogurts.
-
Step 7
Exercise at least 30 minutes per day. You can do it in 10-minute intervals for those short on time.
