Observing proper diet is a necessary aspect of losing weight. However, most of us can't stick to a particular eating regimen for long because it involves eating foods that we don't really like to eat and/or we need to eat smaller portions of those we do like (or even ban them from our plates entirely).

Nutrition and diet experts and the most successful dieters agree that totally restricting everything from our systems cold turkey is a sure way to quit on our current efforts to diet. Failure is imminent with this mindset, and once we lose on the "eating part" of our fitness program, the rest easily follows and we are back to square one. The answer: Food substitutions or simply replacing certain foods with other healthier choices that still allow you to enjoy what you eat without sacrificing the calorie burn.

To better illustrate the concept of food substitution, let's say you can't live without fried chicken but with all the skin and oil that is used to fry it, you're bound to castigate your midsection for a while with it. By replacing it with baked chicken, you reduce the calorie count by as much as 80 calories, and still get to enjoy the meat. Or take the two slices of pizza you have for mid-afternoon snacks. Reduce the calories you consume by as much as 160 calories by replacing it with a 6-inch sub. Replace soda with water or freshly-squeezed fruit juice, margarine with real butter, mayonnaise dressing for vinaigrette and you'll certainly still keep your diet intact but won't feel deprived. Instead of the double cheeseburger at a popular fast food chain, try making your own at home and add more veggies to it-- it's bound to be more nutritious. Instead of ice cream, go for yogurt or a fruit mix.

If you've already mastered the art of food substitution, you can take it further by substituting such popular snack varieties such as chips with carrot sticks or apples. Where drinks are concerned, you might want to take out all processed fruit juices you have in your ref and replace these with fruit smoothies made from fresh or frozen fruit. It might not be easy at first, but the more you replace these unhealthy snacks with nutritious food options, you'll notice that your cravings for these grow less and less. In fact, a landmark study has shown that those who guzzle up on soda are also heavy fast food consumers whereas those who lessened their intake of it and replaced these with healthier alternatives such as water, tea or fresh fruit juice also had higher intakes of vegetables and had less cravings to eat burgers or other fast food offerings.

Dieting takes discipline especially if you're used to following all your salt and sugar cravings that have led you to the weight you have to deal with today. However, there are ways to be creative about what you eat and how much you eat without necessarily feeling that you've deprived yourself too much. Nature has provided us with so much bounty that it only takes a little bit of patience and some research to be able to find better alternatives to the man-made junk that we choose to eat that have led to our problems with obesity and heart disease. Learn to substitute and make your diets work!