• Planning your meals in advance and maintaining your food and exercise diary will keep you accountable of the foods you eat and helps you to stick to your program.
  
  
• Stick to a shopping list to avoid impulse purchases and purchasing foods that are not on the allowable food list.
  
  
• Always shop on a full stomach. It is easier to make the right choices when you are not hungry.
  

• Do not reward weight loss with 'treats'. Rewarding yourself for losing weight by allowing yourself 'treats' will only slow your progress and inevitably lead to frustration.
  
  
• Remove as much food as practical from your home that is not on the allowable food list. Remember: “If it’s in your pantry it will be eaten”. Give food to charity, friends, throw it away, or pack long life foods away out of sight until you have reached your weight loss goal.
  
  
• Ensure you get a good nights sleep. Being well rested will ensure you’re not looking for extra energy from food.
  
  
• Ensure you have a good support network. Tell your friends and family that you are on the program, your reasons and motivations for doing it and how important your goals are to you. Ask them to be supportive and not offer you junk foods etc. as it only makes it harder for you.
  
  
• Keep a chart of your progress of fat/weight/centimetres lost, seeing your results proves that you can do it and will help to motivate you to continue the good work.
  
  
• After cooking, put away all excess food immediately to avoid unnecessary and unaccounted snacking.
  
  
• If making meals in advance split into correct serving sizes and refrigerate or freeze immediately.
  
  
• Have a goal and stick to it. While losing weight it is easy to fall into the 'close enough' thought pattern and let treats and temptation slip through, never reaching your true goal. 'Close enough' will never leave you feeling accomplished as reaching your goal.
  
  
• Realistic expectations. Many fad diets and TV reality programs show people losing a large amount of weight each week. In reality a weight loss of 0.5 to 2kg a week is an achievable and maintainable goal.
  
  
• Avoid emotional eating. Breaking your diet because you are emotional will not only not make you feel better but can lead to feelings of guilt and regret making you feel worse in the end.
  
  
• Drinking a large glass of water before your meal will make you feel full and help to avoid over eating.

"The secret to achieve true success is found in your daily routine."
- Author Unknown