Here are 5 diet tips to help you succeed no matter which diet you choose. Understand that whichever diet you select, you will see results so long as it is a diet that you can sustain. To preface, I am not telling you which diet to do or not do, nor am I shunning any one diet. Such diets might consist of Keto, Atkins, Paleo, Intermittent Fasting (IF), Calories In Calories Out (CICO), South Beach, Mediterranean, Weight Watchers (WW), Vegan, Vegetarian, Whole30, etc.

By taking part in any of these diets, understand that any of the following could happen:

• You may lose weight.

• You may gain weight.

• You may not lose any weight.

For many, they feel as if they have performed every diet out there and have seen zero success. For those individuals, the reason is that they have never been in a consistent calorie deficit long enough.

If you are tired of doing the same diet over and over again, here are a few things you can try without counting calories and without performing the same diet your bestie did to lose 20 pounds in a month or because it’s the “trendy” thing to do. Unfortunately for most, you will not see the same results your friend, coworker, neighbor, or family saw.

Before you begin, I want you to be honest with yourself and take a close look at the calories you consume. Be sure to count all of those licks, tastes, and bites. This goes for both food and beverage throughout the weekday and weekend. You might very well be surprised as research indicates that we as humans are more likely to under-report how many calories we consume in a day, yet over-report how many calories we burn via physical activity.

5 Tips To Help You Lose Weight No Matter What Diet You Are Doing

1) Reduce Portion Size:

Take what you usually eat and decrease your portion size. One simple way to do this is by using a smaller plate.

2) Reduce Meal Frequency:

You’ve probably heard that you have to eat 3 meals and 2 snacks to “boost your metabolism” — yeah, that’s not the case by any means. Instead, you could try cutting out a meal, a snack or two, or those high-calorie drinks from Starbucks in the morning. If you don’t like to eat breakfast, that’s cool; you don’t have to eat it. The idea is that by removing a meal or snack, you are reducing how many calories you consume on that day. Keep in mind that to lose weight, your objective is to be in a calorie deficit or, in other words, consume fewer calories than you are currently consuming.

3) Reduce Caloric Beverages:

I love the taste of food, but the last thing I want to do is drink my calories. This goes for those high-calorie drinks from any cafe, many alcoholic beverages, electing for high-calorie smoothies just because they are labeled as ”healthy”, etc. You don't have to ”cut” them out, but maybe instead of having 5 a week, you consume 1-2, etc.

4) Create Rules For Yourself:

Having rules for yourself is like having a plan in place to help keep you on track. As Benjamin Franklin once said, ”if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”. One example a client came up with on his own is that he will not eat out unless he is with friends or family. If he is solo, his plan was to eat at home or meal prep his food for work. As a result, this reduced how frequently he ate out compared to his prior drive-through visits of 1-2x daily solo plus with friends or family. For another client, she elected to limit her alcohol consumption by drinking wine only on the weekend with friends and family versus every night of the week.

5) Understand Your Barriers:

Be true to yourself. If you know that when you are home alone and you consume more than you would if someone were there, then figure out a way to overcome this barrier. This might mean that if you work from home, you leave the house to work elsewhere. If you stop at a fast-food restaurant regularly, then don’t go or take a different route so that you are not passing the same drive-through each day before or after work. If you tend to eat a lot of dessert or snack foods in the evening, then try not to buy them, find a way to portion them, create a rule to not eat after a certain time, find a way to stay busy, or wait 10-minutes to see if it's something you genuinely want.

Over many years and even decades, we have each created and have been performing particular habits for some time. These habits were not created overnight and therefore these habits will not die so easily. This is why you need to be true to yourself and ask yourself, ”what can I realistically achieve today, this week, and even this month?”. If you can improve even just 1% each week, think about what you will have achieved in a year, in 5 years, or even in a decade. The key to this journey is patience, sustainability, and remember that as humans, we are not perfect. You will have vulnerable moments, but the goal is to get right back up the very next meal or the very next day to keep fighting for your ultimate goal.