There’s a bit of math behind weight loss. If you consume a high amount of calories and don’t burn them, then you’ll gain weight. It may seem simple, but things tend to get complicated.

In order to lose weight, stay away from fast food. Fast food often contains large amount of complex carbohydrates that have a much higher chance of turning into fat, rather than energy. Also the fat content, sodium content, and sugar content in a lot of fast food type meals can be incredibly high. If you are in a rush and need to eat, look for any grilled items and stay away from obviously bad items.

A vital step in weight loss success is understanding portion sizes. Get in the habit of reading the nutrition label before you eat or drink anything. Although the carbs and calories may look fine at first glance, you will often be surprised to find that there are two, three or more servings in that one bag or bottle.

Watch what you drink! While a glass of sparkling water with a twist of lime has few calories, just 8 ounces of a fruit juice and alcohol based drink such as a Mai Tai can weigh in at more than 600 calories! The other problem when drinking alcohol is that your judgment may be affected, making it easier to forget all your good intentions and over-indulge.

Watching TV doesn’t need to sabotage your attempts of weight loss. There are plenty of exercising activities or routines that you can do while watching television. Try placing a small step stool in front of the television and take steps on it while watching in order to get a leg work out while enjoying your favorite show.

Cutting carbs out of your diet while eating excess amounts of fat will help weight fall off. You can still eat delicious foods like steak, avocados, cheese, and butter in very large quantities! Plus, once your body has gone into ketosis (the process of burning fat instead of storing it), you can cheat on occasion and eat sweets with artificial sweeteners.

A fantastic way to help you lose weight is to start incorporating blueberries into your diet. Blueberries might just be the healthiest fruit because they’re jam packed with antioxidants. An easy way to eat blueberries is simply to add a handful of them into a blender with some ice and protein powder drink mix and make a delicious, protein shake.

A great way to help you lose weight is to have an energy drink right before you do your workout. It’s not wise to abuse energy drinks, but just one before your workout can produce significant results. You’ll have much more energy and you’ll have a great workout.

Look for a buddy who can be your exercise partner. When you do this, exercise becomes fun than a chance to socialize! Your exercise buddy will encourage you. You’ll be having such a good time while exercising that you will feel motivated to lose more weight.

One way to help with weight loss is to brush your teeth right after eating dinner. This tells your body you are done with food for the night. The minty clean feeling discourages snacking or drinking high calorie liquids. A minty mouth and greasy potato chips, for example, do not go well together.

When you are looking to diet, aim to set goals that are achievable. Unrealistic goals are bad for everything in life, but especially in weight loss. They make the chances of achieving those goals very unlikely. If you also try to drop a large amount of weight in an unrealistically short period of time, you are going to fail. Try to set a new, realistic goal each week, instead. Stop focusing on the big picture. Think about your weekly weight loss instead.

Replace your typical movie theater popcorn with low sodium air-popped popcorn to improve your nutrition. Popcorn sold at movie theaters is filled with unnecessary fats, due to the oil its cooked in. Air-popped corn kernels have much less fat, and are a great source of fiber. Get healthy with air-popped popcorn today!

Before you attempt to take any weight-loss pills or supplements, you should always read the ingredients list and check them online to see if they’re dangerous or not. A product that says it boosts your metabolism might sound good, but this product might also be dangerous if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure.

One secret food to losing weight is avocados. They are packed full with fiber, which helps you feel full faster, and stay full for a longer period of time, They also are high in healthy fats. Eating avocados will help you to find a great alternative to meat, and you can experiment with many different recipes.

If you are craving ice cream, there is a simple and healthier solution. Keep a container of lite whipped topping in your freezer. This is healthier than ice cream and when frozen, is very similar to ice cream. You can also add some sugar-free chocolate syrup and a cherry for the added effect.

If you are a big fan of having a bagel with cream cheese in the mornings you do have to change that as long as you follow a couple of rules. Eat a whole wheat bagel instead of one made with white flour and eat it with fat-free cream cheese or sugar-free peanut butter, which would save a lot of calories and/or fat.

There are some foods that make it easier to gain weight and some that don’t contribute to weight gain at all. The glycemic index may help with maintaining weight loss. You can get some great information from this guide.