Welcome to my diet plan.  First and most importantly, you have to tell yourself that you are going to lose the weight and keep it off. Losing weight is not only a physical concept but a psychological one as well. Don't use the words "hope" or "try to", KNOW you will. With over 400 diets available, people are going from one diet to another hoping for that right one. Unfortunately, that is a set up for failure because with each new diet you try, your willpower diminishes for the next diet. Why? Because you tell yourself , "that diet didn’t work", so you already feel more hopeless for the next. No diet will work unless you are committed to it. The weight is not going to stay off if you don't change your eating habits. Diets are not long lasting, your eating habits are. The diet is a plan to bring down your weight to a reasonable weight for your body. Good eating habits not only keep weight off but allows you to manage your weight and still enjoy food you like at the quantity to keep you healthy. Perhaps all the diets offered work for certain people, but finding the one that works for you based on your physical and emotional needs can be overwhelming. Not all of the diets are sensible, so let's discuss "sensible" first.

First, a sensible weight is a reasonable weight based on your body mass and physique. You have probably heard of the BMI with regard to figuring what your average weight should be. This is not the "super model" weight. This is a reasonable, healthy weigh.

Let's begin to look at ways to get the weight off and maintain it.

The first and most important part of any diet is to eat and drink less food and to burn more calories. If you burn more than you eat, you will lose weight, unless of course there is some medical condition that affects you, but we're talking about the average person. So to start your new life style of consuming less calories, you will have to change your old habits and create new ones.

Let's measure and keep track of what you eat now, first. Before you start dieting, don't change anything during the first week. No, this is not crazy! In order to see what you are eating and what activities you are doing, you need to establish a baseline. So keep a log, a diary or whatever you need to write down what you eat, when you eat, and what kind of activity you did for that day. Do not weigh yourself!

If you do not have one already, get a calorie chart or book. Look up the amount of calories for each item you consume. Yes, this goes against some of the other diet plan rules, but unless you know what you are eating and how many calories you are consuming, you probably will jeopardize your diet. Calories are very important in weight loss. You might discover that you didn't realize what you were eating and in what quantity! Oh, and don't forget to list the sodas, juices and any other liquids! Write down everything, even if it is a single piece of raisin!

On the third day, look at your chart and add the calories if you haven't done so already. You'll start seeing a trend in your eating habits and what foods temp you most. By the end of the week, you'll have a good indication of your average calorie intake and exercise. You’ll be able to see the amount of calories you consume, whether it be because of emotional stress or just a bad habit you got yourself into, but you CAN and WILL get back on track.

Okay, your at the end of the week one. Now weigh yourself! This will be your starting weight. Don't let seeing your weight get you off track. Think positive! Think of your health! Think of YOU!! You are going to make a record of your weight as of this day. You are now going to weigh yourself each and every day, preferable at the same time. Your weight will vary due to the amount of fluids you have consumed, salt intake and many other reasons. If you work outside on a hot day, the following day you may actually weigh more. This is all normal. Do not be disappointed! In the long run, you want to see the overall trend. You will see that you are improving your health and winning your battle with the weight that you want to get rid of. Healthy weight loss just does not happen overnight!