Yes it is possible!! You don’t have to go on a drastic diet or buy expensive weight loss pills to lose weight. And keep it off! In fact it can be easier than you think. Even a fairly small reduction of 5 – 10% of your total weight can be beneficial to your looks and health.

So how do you achieve this? There are two simple steps:

1. Eat balanced meals and stop eating the foods that are bad for you

2. Start an exercise program and maintain it

Lets look at each one of these in turn,

Eat balanced meals and stop eating the foods that are bad for you.

Many diets are not good for you in the long run because they usually involve a reduction in one or more of the basic nutrient categories – carbohydrates, protein and fat. A balanced meal will have 40 – 60% calories from carbohydrates, 20 – 30% from protein and 20 – 30% from (mostly unsaturated) fats. You should try to include each of these in every meal, and even in snacks where possible.

Cutting out the bad foods will reduce the calories you consume. Even if you did little else this will help reduce weight. So what are things to avoid? Some of the worst offenders are simple carbohydrates and sugars. These cause the insulin level in your body to spike and can lead to diabetes. Things to avoid at all costs are donuts for breakfast, sugar, calorie-rich desserts like cheese pie and cream filled pastries. Simply replacing these with things like wheat toast and fresh fruit with plain yogurt dessert will make a huge difference. Other foods to stay away from are:

• White bread and pastries

• Sweets and milk chocolate

• Alcohol in excess

• Fast foods like hamburgers

• Foods high in saturated fats (sausage, bacon, fatty meats…)

You’re probably saying, 'These are all the things I like'! But your body is actually tricking you into making you think you need these kinds of food. We all have sweet cravings from time to time. The trick is to find a healthy substitute you can enjoy as much. After a while you’ll not miss these bad foods. In fact, you’ll wonder why you ever ate them in the first place.

Start to read the labels on food packages, and stay away from things that have higher sugar or fat content. You can usually find a lower sugar/fat content alternative.Introduce more fresh fruit and vegetables into your diet. Try things like a banana or orange with breakfast and an extra serving of lightly steamed broccoli with dinner. Look for healthy dinner recipes you can enjoy both cooking and eating.

Finally, you need to drink more water! You’ve probably heard the advice about drinking 8 cups of water a day. Water is a diuretic and appetite suppressant and helps to purify your system. Studies have shown that drinking water does help you lose weight.

Start an exercise program and maintain it

If you consume more calories than you burn then it doesn’t matter what diet you follow – you will not lose weight. Now by following the guidelines in step 1 you have already reduced your intake of calories. If you complement this with a regular exercise program you will be burning even more calories. When you exercise, the body takes energy first of all from stored carbohydrates, and then from fat. So you are going from weight maintenance to weight reduction. Regular exercise is the best way to lose weight and maintain it.

A good way to start exercising is with a walking program, but you should walk briskly and swing your arms. This helps blood flow, heart circulation as well as just burning calories. And you’ll feel great afterwards. There are many other types of aerobic exercise you can try such as aerobics, jogging, cycling and so on. However, if you have not exercised recently you should consult a physician before embarking on a rigorous exercise program. Another key exercise you can do is weight lifting. This will keep your muscles strong, and helps the body to burn fat and lose weight.

Try out these guidelines and you’ll be surprised at the result. You don’t need to eat less or cut out important food groups to succeed. Don’t weigh yourself every day! Put away the weight machine and then try it 14 days later, after you’ve changed your eating habits and have been doing some exercise. If you follow these guidelines you've just found the most natural and best diet for life.