Your diet is the number one factor that contributes to your weight. Of course, genetic factors do have a role, as well as stress and metabolism rates, but what you consume has a huge say in the end results. So, if you want to be healthy and you want to lose weight, you must first target the issues that are in your diet, which may be the causing factors of your increased weight amount. Sometimes people try crazy diets or crash fasting type methods to lose weight instantly, and though you will see some instant results, they will be temporary results that don't do anything but wear on your body and cause you to lose energy and really harm yourself in the long term. Most likely, the weight will come sweeping back the instant the diet is over and you will feel as though it was all in vain.

So, the way to really focus on your diet is to change your eating lifestyle altogether. That doesn't mean starve yourself for a while, it means look at what you are eating and see where the problem areas are. Do you indulge in too much junk food? Chips, cake, ice cream, cookies and an assortment of other sweets can really be a detrimental factor when you are trying to lose extra pounds and become healthier. These fatty foods can be addictive but avoiding them is the only way to ensure that you stay healthy no matter what. Also, you want to avoid greasy, fatty foods, like burgers and fries and all the other delicious things offered up by fast food chains and restaurants that seem efficient and ready to go but are actually ten thousand times more harmful to your body, especially if consumed regularly. These foods are loaded with fats and cholesterol as well as tons of preservatives that will linger in your body and add padding to your fat.

So, changing your entire diet begins with eliminating those foods that only do harm, the foods that cause woe, and replacing them with the foods that make you have energy. Eat light meals of chicken and fish, not fried, but baked or grilled and have servings of vegetables. For dessert opt out of cake or ice cream and have a fruit medley without sugar and enjoy things like pita chips that have no fat at all for a snack instead of greasy potato chips and other fatty and unhealthy snacks.

To lose weight is mostly about eating right, but it is also about ensuring that your lifestyle makes room for exercising so that you know you are staying in shape. Run a mile every morning or do work out videos, always be doing something that will keep your body fit and moving. Hit the gym every so often and make it a point to keep your body healthy by what you do with it and what you put into it, realizing that the combination of the two is really essential for ensuring that you stay healthy and fit for a long time.