1. Burn more calories than you consume. If this makes you go: “D-uuuh!!”, snap out of it and consider that this elementary aspect of dieting excapes countless clueless — and doomed — dieters. Tabloids may claim to have the “miracle foods” that’ll allow you to eat like a pig and have the pounds melt off, but it’s a load.
2. Establish your base metabolism, and set a target calorie goal approx. 500 calories below it. I wrote an article dedicated to establishing your metabolism earlier, so look it up in the article archive if you need a refresher.
3. Keep an honest log. Make estimates of how many calories you stuff yourself with every meal and tally up the total to make sure you stay within your target calorie goal. Convenient “mistakes,” under-estimates and forgetfulness allows you to eat more now, but you’re defeating the whole point of dieting.
4. Actively choose good sources of fat. This may sound like stupid advice — shouldn’t you AVOID fat when dieting? Well, yes and no. You have to keep consuming some fat, just not going overboard. Avoid butter, bacon, whole milk, coconuts and...