Are you interested in losing weight? Whether your goal is to lose twenty pounds or two hundred pounds, you have come to the right place! Research shows that healthy, long-term weight loss simply cannot be achieved by fad diets, quick gimmicks, or unhealthy pills. So how CAN it be achieved?

Break those 3 meals up into 5. Eat less more often. Instead of 3 meals, break them up and spread them out over the course of the day. This will prevent you from getting hungry as often. Consequently, it will also stop you from snacking as much between your meals.

Don’t do a ton of crunches if you’re trying to lose belly fat. Crunches don’t burn much fat, and too much attention on your abs can cause problems for your back and your posture. When you exercise for weight loss try to keep a balanced approach so you can lose weight all over.

If you want to lose weight, keep your stress under control. When our bodies are stressed out they tend to hoard onto calories and fat as a defense mechanism. Although you may be aware that this is a simulation, your body will react with adrenaline and help you push yourself. Stay as calm as you can to try and lose weight.

Instead of weighing yourself once a week or once a month, you should try weighing yourself maybe once a day or more. By doing this, you allow yourself to make any adjustments needed so that you can lose weight faster.

Use cinnamon instead of sugar. Fruits can get a little boring after a while. Before you give in and go after a more sugary dessert, give cinnamon a try. Put a little cinnamon on your fruit before eating it. It changes things up a bit and is a delicious alternative to sugar.

Try eating more grapefruit to help you lose weight. Grapefruit is a great low-calorie snack that is quite filling, too. The high content of soluble fiber fills you up, which helps you resist the urge to overeat. Plus, you get the bonus of such healthy nutrients as Vitamin C, beta-carotene and pectin.

Congratulations you’ve reached your weight loss goal. Now, you need to maintain. This might be harder than the actual weight loss. Keep doing what you were doing. There might be days when you feel like you don’t need to walk for those 30 minutes, or you want to cheat and have a huge piece of cake. That’s ok, just don’t let it become a habit.

To look your best and maintain your weight loss, make sure to maximize the amount of protein intake that you get. Before you go to the gym, eat a protein bar or have a protein shake, which will help to convert the fat in your body to muscle after your workout.

Be sure to pay attention to your portion sizes. Most foods have nutritional info that will tell you what a portion size is. Take up measuring your food into these portion sizes so that you can learn what they look like. If you know how much you should have, you can be sure to only eat that much.

Before you start any exercise and diet plan, consult with a doctor. He will ensure that you have no medical reasons that will prohibit exercise. Hormone imbalance and thyroid malfunction may cause weight gain. Seeing a doctor for a specific diagnosis can ensure you are not setting yourself up for disappointment.

If you find yourself struggling with portion control, try switching to a smaller set of dishes. Serving sizes can be hard to estimate, so many people simply fill their plate or bowl and then eat whatever is in it. If you’re eating out of smaller dishes, you will probably eat less of some foods without even thinking about it.

Get together with a friend or family member and split things. Decide to go out to lunch and split a plate of food instead of eating it all by yourself. You can also split other things in half such as gym memberships or halve the cost of a personal trainer. It not only saves you money, but keeps you motivated with someone else.

We live in a modern world and that should be taken advantage of. This includes all kinds of things like applications for smart phones, online calorie trackers, websites and communities for support and tips and even online magazines. Make sure you are finding the tools that you believe will help you and then using them to their fullest.

We hope that, through reading this article, you now have a much clearer idea of the ways in which lasting weight loss occurs. Learning about the basics of healthy, long-term weight loss is one of the most effective steps that you can take towards achieving your weight loss goals.