Don’t Stop Eating! - Don’t diet by “starving” yourself. You will go into what’s known as “fat storage mode” or “starvation mode.” The name doesn’t really matter, but the fact that you will hurting your weight loss does. Your body attempts to conserve energy by slowing down your metabolism and it stores more fat for energy. If you can’t resist not eating, always try to stay at a 1200 calorie minimum. 1500-2000 calories per day is ideal!

Plus you need energy from food not only to function throughout the day, but to get the exercise you need to accelerate your weight loss.

Really, Don’t Stop Eating! - We eat food for energy, but we also need food to get the required vitamins and nutrients we need to survive. Vitamin pills are no replacement for the natural vitamins found in food. Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals can lead to all sorts of health problems, depending on what you’re lacking.

When you are eating the right amount of calories per day, and the food you are eating is healthy, then your vitamin and mineral intake will be sufficient. Most people eating healthy diets do not need additional vitamin supplements.

Do the Math - Losing weight is a simple equation. The amount of calories you consume must be less than the amount of calories you use per day. If the amount you eat is more than the amount you expend, then you will gain weight.

Track your calorie intake with a website like Fitday.com. Then you can track the amount of calories you burn when you exercise. You can do that in Fitday.com too, or use this calorie tool to estimate how much you burn with exercise and daily living. Keep in mind, that being relatively close is fine, and you should not worry about your day-to-day changes. Just look at your progress week to week and month to month.

Chew More - This is a simple trick you can do. Slow down the speed at which you chew (for example, count 20 chews before swallowing). This not only helps with your digestion (digestion starts in the mouth where the saliva begins to break down food) but also tricks your brain into thinking you are eating more than you usually do.