by Heather Russell

Created on: February 04, 2008   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

Losing weight and staying healthy doesn't have to involve a painful, strict diet. Making healthful lifestyle changes, like these key diet tips, will prove more effective in the long run than obsessive calorie-counting. Follow this easy three-week plan to kick-start a healthier you!

Tip #1: Add, don't subtract.

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a diet is usually "deprivation." However, a much easier and healthy way to diet success is to begin your diet by adding healthier foods to your normal routine. This lets you make healthy changes without feeling deprived or worrying that you're setting yourself up for failure.

Week 1: Start with something easy; add a few glasses of water a day.

Week 2: Move on to adding fruits to your snacking routine; if you often reach for unhealthy snacks, promise yourself that you'll eat an apple or a bag of baby carrots first. Tell yourself that once you've had the healthy portion of your snack, you can have the treat.

Week 3: Work your way up to adding vegetables to every lunch or dinner; you'll find that you're not only adding valuable fiber and nutrients to your diet, but that you're reducing your calorie intake.

Tip #2: Make reasonable substitutions before overhauling your whole diet.

The next thing to work on is substituting lower-cal, higher-nutrition versions of your daily foods, drinks, and snacks so that your eventual transition to "diet" eating is less painful.

Week 1: Drink healthier. Beverages often provide a frightful amount of calories; figure out where you cut the sugar and fat. Substitute the milk in your coffee or latte for a lower-fat version, switch out your soda for a diet version or water, and watch out for hidden calories in juices and sports drinks.

Week 2: Go "lite." Find places in your diet where you can easily make healthy substitutions or eliminate unnecessary fat and calories. Switch your salad dressing for a low-cal or fat-free version, order your omelette egg-white only, and try whole-grain pastas and breads. You'll soon find that many of your unhealthy choices were simply the result of habit and that you don't miss the calories.

Week 3: Overhaul your meal choices. By now you've probably lost a couple of pounds and are feeling motivated to be healthier. You're already eating healthier meals because you're adding vegetables, so it's time to reduce the calories and fat even further. Take a realistic look at your meal choices; can you eliminate or reduce cheese, replace butter with oil, or cut down your red meat?

These tips are great to try if you find yourself being less healthy than you want to be, and will help you maintain a consistent, healthy weight. Remember that a diet shouldn't be a limited endeavor, but a long-term lifestyle change.

Learn more about this author, Heather Russell.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.