When starting the weight loss journey, so many people don’t seem to know where to begin with! Well, if you are unsure about how you should start your weight loss program, start by changing your eating habits. For a healthy diet is the first step to successful weight loss. In this article I want to share 5 basic steps to changing the way you eat.

1. Know your calorie intake: This is obvious, but it’s the foundation of weight loss. Your body needs a certain number of calories in order to function properly. If you consume more than the required amount of calories, you will gain weight, and if you eat less, you will suffer from malnutrition. The key to fast weight loss is in following a balanced and healthy diet that will give your body the required amount of nutrition but consuming less calories than you had been at the higher weight. Pay attention to the caloric value of individual food items that you consume daily. Be it fruits, vegetables or snacks, skip nothing! If you are unsure of the caloric value of a particular food item, check the label of the package, or search for it online. More often than not, such types of information are available for free online!

2. Watch your eating habits: This goes hand in hand with step number one. Become aware of everything that you are eating. A snack here and there may not seem like a big deal, but it begins to add up. Don’t let these seemingly insignificant habits sabotage your success.

3. Avoid fried and oily foods: Try to eat vegetables and fruits in their raw forms; this way, fewer calories would enter your body than if you had eaten them fried. Try to avoid fried and oily foods as much as you can, and minimize the seasoning in your foods. You should also stop consuming red meat. This doesn’t however mean that you cannot eat meat at all! The best type of meat I can recommend for overweight people is the lean, skinless meat of chicken.

4. Cut down on food intake with care: When you cut down on your food intake, make sure that you are not depriving your body of the necessary nutrition; if you do then your body too will pay you back in the same coin. There are folks who follow crash dieting course for sometime and then they usually gain back all the weight they had lost, with some more pounds as added bonus! Never starve yourself. A healthy diet plan is all that is necessary to make yourself slimmer.

5. Use a non-stick pan: If you feel that you are consuming too much oil, why not replace your cooking pan with a non-stick pan which requires little or no oil for cooking? This is good way of controlling your oil intake!