A good weight loss programme can be put in place simply by keeping a food diary. Begin by consuming your regular diet for seven days. Write down everything you eat and drink (be honest!) throughout the day. When a week has passed, analyse the contents of your diary. Try to identify any patterns where poor food choices are more evident.

Obviously, if there are several take-aways and other high fat foods, cutting those out would be a start. But if that’s not the case, and what you’re eating looks OK, then just reduce the amount. Either way, use your food diary as the basis for the changes you wish to make.

Then take the next seven days and write down exactly what you’re going to stick to. Think of what you’re going to eat and drink, and what exercise you want to include. Where food is categorised, create a list of prohibited food and ‚treat‘ food. And then write down the food you can eat in generous amounts.

As far as alcohol is concerned, keep it to a minimum. Write down when it’s not allowed, and when and how much it is allowed. Cans of soft drinks containing sugar are out. Next comes physical exercise, and whether it’s a walk in the park, or visits to the gym – write it down.

Get on the scales just before you’re about to start your program. Then repeat the process each week. If necessary, modify parts of the plan for better results. Don’t be tempted to weigh yourself too often – once every week at the same time is sufficient.

A plan such as this will allow you to manage your weight loss programme and adjust it to suit yourself. Make comments as you go – keep the diary as a working document. Also enter the exercise you’re doing, to make sure this isn’t getting left out. A diary is a very simple way to monitor your progress – and a remarkable tool for staying with the program!

Do keep your expectations reasonable though. At first, it seems to be all effort and no reward! Patience and perseverance are everything. Keeping up your motivation is sometimes tough, so try to dwell on the end result and the joy it will bring!

If you lose your way for a short while, try to get back on track quickly. It could be that you should look at altering your diet. There are some relatively easy ways to introduce more exercise. A thirty minute routine three times a week is a good habit to get into.

Feel good about every pound you lose. Quantifying the results you achieve makes dieting a great deal easier to maintain long-term. You may not want to splash out on clothes until all the weight has come off. But you could spoil yourself with a pamper session when you reach a mini-goal.

(C) Scott Edwards. Pop over to WeightLossDietWar.com for great diet tips on diet food and quick weight loss diet.