After a while, however, it can be difficult to maintain the same high level of motivation you need to keep going. When the motivation of an upcoming vacation or looking your best in a swimsuit is no longer in front of you, you can easily get discouraged and fall back into old habits.

Instead of giving up, choose success.

Stick to your weight loss and fitness goals even after the swimsuit season with these tips and tricks:

1. Take baby steps. After you’ve been on a diet for a long time, you might feel like giving up if your ideal weight still seems far off. Instead, break your large goal up into tiny pieces. Seek to attain small objectives every few weeks or so. This way, you can reward yourself along the way and stay on track.

2. Work on maintaining weight. Instead of thinking in terms of dieting and weight loss, seek to maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you’ve been dieting for a long time, give yourself a break and try to focus on nutritional changes that you can maintain for the rest of your life.

• Weight maintenance is an excellent alternative to “giving up” because you maintain the progress you’ve already made instead of yo-yo dieting. You’ll still feel like a success every day when you look at yourself in the mirror.

3. Splurge. Even when you’re on a strict diet, allow yourself to indulge in a moderate amount of your favorite foods every now and then. You’ll experience fewer cravings and stay on track that way.

4. Control your portions. You can eat healthy, but if you’re eating too much you can sabotage your chances of losing weight. Just watch the amounts you’re eating. If you’re still hungry after a small portion, wait 15 minutes and see if you’re still hungry afterward. Often, you’ll feel full after that time has passed.

See: Is this F-Word Good or Bad for Cutting Calories?

5. Watch what you drink. Pay attention to how many calories are in the drinks that you consume. If you’re drinking lots of soda, coffee, or other sugary drinks, these calories can add up quickly. If you drink lots of water, you’ll be less hungry and have more energy. You’ll also avoid the crash that comes from those sugary drinks.

See: How Liquid Calories May Be Making You Fat!

Weekly Weigh In

If you’ve become accustomed to weighing yourself every day, consider stepping on the scale less often. When you shift your focus from the number on the scale to your level of physical fitness, you’ll make wise decisions without the added stress that the scale provides.

Remember that if you’re working out, muscle weighs more than fat (by volume). The scale is only one indicator of how you’re progressing on your fitness journey. Do your clothes fit better? Do you have more energy? Are you receiving compliments about your appearance? Focus on those things and weigh yourself less often.

See: Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage

Above all, be kind to yourself. Set yourself up for success by focusing on the reasons why a fit body brings you joy. A compelling reason will drive you forward, and small steps will keep you moving forward. Small steps and healthy decisions will help you to maintain or regain the motivation you had at the beginning of summer.

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If you think your diet needs improvement, you’re not alone. It’s true that “you are what you eat,” and your food choices determine how you feel every day. The proper choices enable your body to fight stress and disease and keep you in tip-top shape so that you look and feel good.

You can feel the benefits from proper nutrition almost immediately. With a few healthy changes to your diet, you can be feeling great in no time.

Try making the following changes to your diet:

1. Eat whole grains. Given the choice between whole grains and refined grains, go with whole grain. You might just make a simple change like using wheat bread instead of white bread. The whole grain foods have naturally nutritious benefits. They’re also loaded with more fiber, which is great for your digestive tract and can help you to feel full longer.

2. Avoid carbonated beverages. Even the zero calorie alternatives can be addictive and bad for you. Regular colas and sodas contain a large amount of empty calories. Diet sodas trick your body into thinking that it’s tasting sugar, leading to cravings for even more sweets.

See: Calories in carbonated beverages

3. Eat more fruits and veggies. It’s helpful to get plenty of fruits and veggies in your diet each day. Try eating more salads that are rich in vegetables. You can also start the day with a fruit plate or eat fruit as a tasty snack in between meals.

4. Reduce or avoid coffee, alcohol, and sweets. These are all items to be enjoyed only in moderation.

• You may crave coffee every day, but try to keep it to only one cup per day, if that.
• Studies have shown that a glass of wine in the evenings may actually provide health benefits. Other than that, an occasional drink is the recommended limit for alcohol.
• Sweets can pack on the pounds fast if they’re eaten too frequently. They’re best saved for special occasions.

See: Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth While On a Diet

5. Balance your diet. To maintain your health for the long run, your best bet is to find a healthy balance of all the necessary food groups. You may be tempted to try a certain diet that excludes food groups, but that’s not something you can or should stick to in the long run.

• Make a list of foods that you like in each food group and include something from each group in your meal plans.

See: How to Put Together A Meal Plan

6. Give yourself a break. Remember that you’re trying to become healthier and happier. You don’t want to become so obsessed with being healthy or thin that you become unhappy in the process. A diet that’s too strict will also be harder to follow.

See: You Should Never Start a Diet When …

• If you have a weight loss goal, ensure that your goal is within the healthy range for your height. If you’re tempted to try to be thinner than you really should be, this just leads to unhealthy behaviors.

See: How to Set a Weight Loss Goal

7. Drink plenty of water. Water is the most important substance in your diet. Every cell in your body needs water in order to function properly. It also contains zero calories, so you never have to worry about it having an impact on your daily calorie intake.

See: Water – The Drink of Choice for Any Diet

It can be a challenge to change your diet. The easiest and most effective way to do it is to make one small change at a time. Get used to that change before you incorporate another one. Before you know it, you’ll be making wise food choices by habit and enjoying optimal health.

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The truth is that with a little research and smart thinking, you can enjoy most restaurants from fast food joints up to four-star establishments and still maintain a balanced diet.

Here are some important tips to keep in mind as you continue to enjoy eating out:

1. Look for the light menu. Every restaurant won’t have a light menu, but a growing number of chain restaurants are promoting light alternatives without much searching. You may even find light menus up on the fast food board. You’ll soon find that light doesn’t always mean you’ll be giving up flavor.

2. Take half your dinner home. Dinner is served in larger and larger portions all the time. Sometimes your meal won’t be unhealthy, but your portion size will be. To avoid overeating, you can simply ask your waiter to serve you half the meal and box up the other half for you to eat for lunch tomorrow.

3. Go grilled. One way to eat smart is to opt for grilled instead of fried items. Fried foods have gobs of additional calories and fat. Grilled chicken or fish make great choices because they’re lean proteins as well.

4. Avoid drinking extra calories. If you’re watching those calories, don’t forget to count the calories that you drink. Drinking soda products or alcoholic beverages while you’re out can add calories quite quickly.

See: Are Liquid Calories Making You Gain Weight?

• Choose water as an alternative and then you’ll only need to worry about the calorie content of your meal.

5. Be salad smart. You can choose a salad as your main dish as a way to eat smart. You’ll probably find that there are bigger salads on the menu beyond the house or side salad. Many of them contain a bigger vegetable variety or meat such as chicken.

• Ask them to serve your salad dressing on the side rather than on the salad. Then the amount of dressing you put on the salad is up to you. When it comes to dressing, a little bit can go a long way. Here’s a tip: avoid the creamy dressings. That’s the fatty stuff!

6. Appetizers can make the meal. If the restaurant serves tasty appetizers, you can order an appetizer as your main dish. If that’s not enough food, you might want to order two appetizers. Many times two appetizers will still be less food than a main course selection.

7. Choose healthy sauce. Be aware of how the sauce is made in the dish of your choosing. If you’re eating Italian, for example, choose an option with a tomato-based sauce. This will provide you with a bigger benefit than a cream based alternative. This is also the case when it comes to choosing your soups; avoid the cream based ones if possible.

8. Include fruits and veggies. You know that fruits and veggies are an important part of your diet at home, so you should continue to seek them out when you’re making your selections at a restaurant. Steamed vegetables can be a great side dish, and fruits can likely be ordered in place of a dessert item.

Keep in the mind the same healthy information you use when building your home meals while you’re out. Don’t be afraid to indulge yourself from time to time, but maintain an awareness of your eating habits and portions and you can’t go wrong.

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Below are three easy ones to get you started:

#1 – Ditch the Sugar

Refined white sugar creates such a negative chain reaction of events in your body that eliminating it from your diet is one of the most powerful steps you can take to start losing weight. Replace soda with water, and don’t add sugar to coffee and tea. If you want to use a sweetener in place of sugar, opt for a natural one like agave nectar or stevia (still limit those, too). Also, consider eliminating other detrimental white products like white flour, white bread, white rice, white pasta – and replace them with brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain bread.

See: Signs You May Be Addicted to Sugar

#2 – Keep Your Cupboards Clean

Throw away or give away all of the junk food, candy, and sweets that are in your cupboards, and then simply refuse to buy more of them. This may be challenging if you don’t live alone, especially if your kids and spouse eat junk food. If clearing out all of the junk food would cause a riot in your home, instead you can clean out ONE cabinet and designate it for your healthier foods. Fill this cupboard with whole grain crackers and bread, nuts and seeds, natural sweeteners, and other weight loss friendly foods. Then be sure to avoid opening the other cupboards unless you have to.

#3 – Chew Your Food Better

If you tend to barely chew your food before swallowing, taking time to chew your food properly can go a long way in aiding digestion, helping you eat less, and ultimately helping you lose more weight. When you take your time and chew your food completely, it is almost in liquid form by the time it reaches your stomach, which means it will be digested more easily and cause less stomach upset, cramps, bloating and gas. Most importantly, since you will be eating much more slowly, you will easily recognize when you are starting to feel full and stop eating before you pass that point.

See: You Need to Slow Down to Lose Weight

These small changes alone can trigger quite a bit of weight loss, even if you aren’t following an official diet plan.

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While you may have been in bed for five, six or seven hours, you may have only slept an hour or two. If this describes you, you are not alone.

Insomnia is a common issue that millions of people face. Sleep deprivation can affect your health, job performance, and even your relationships with the people you love. Your body and mind need enough rest to recharge your internal batteries.

If you lack the proper amount of rest, your body will become weaker and weaker. You’ll feel more lethargic and think less clearly. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to increase the quality and quantity of sleep you receive at night. A few small changes can make a difference between a life of vitality and one of lethargy.

Try these techniques to get a better night’s rest:

1. Make a schedule and stick to it. The most important strategy for beating insomnia is to maintain as consistent a schedule as possible. If you create a routine and go to bed at roughly the same time each night, your body will likely get used to shutting down for rest at that time.

• However, if you’re sleeping at a different time each night, your body isn’t prepared for sleep and acts accordingly. Estimate how much sleep you need, and determine what time you’ll go to bed each night.
• Also determine what time you’ll wake up each morning. Waking up at the same time each morning is just as important for establishing a rhythm for your body as going to sleep at the same time.

2. Stay away from caffeine. Do you find that you can’t function in the morning without a cup of coffee or two? Do you drink sodas with every meal? Cutting down on the caffeine you drink can have a dramatic effect on your quality of sleep. Caffeine messes with your body’s natural sleep cycle by spiking your blood sugar and then crashing it.

• The crash, however, normally doesn’t contribute to deep, restful sleep. Instead, it makes you feel lethargic and in need of more caffeine. As much as possible, stop the cycle and drink water instead. If your body is well hydrated, you’ll feel better throughout the day and likely sleep better at night.

3. Work out. Working up a sweat is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. It’s also an almost foolproof way to ensure you get a good night’s rest, as long as you avoid heavy exercising right before bed. As an added bonus, working out regularly will increase your energy and stamina throughout the day. Start small, keep it simple, and find something fun.

See: 5 Running Tips for Beginners

4. Relax before bedtime. Another important way to support your body’s effort at attaining the quality sleep you need is to give it a chance to wind down at the end of the day. If you fail to give your body and mind time to wind down, you take the stresses and challenges of your day to bed with you.

• Find something you enjoy that helps you to relax before bedtime. If it’s a favorite TV show, be sure to stay away from violence and dramatic themes that could cause your mind to be stressed while you’re trying to sleep. Try reading a book or listening to relaxing music instead.

FREE Secret Garden Guided Meditation Sample

Insomnia is a condition that can rob you of the life you were born to live. Instead, use these strategies to begin experiencing nights of deep, restful sleep and days that are filled with energy and vitality.

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A negative attitude and pessimistic outlook will discourage you from taking the proper actions to improve your health and shrink your waistline, while a positive, optimistic attitude will keep you feeling motivated and empowered to do what’s best for your body.

There are two main areas to consider when it comes to your attitude:

#1 – Your own thought habits

All of us have habits of thought that we stick to day after day. If you have developed very negative thought habits, it will take a bit of effort to change them to more positive habits, but it can be done if you simply work at it daily. Start by paying attention to any pessimistic, negative thoughts that keep coming up.

For example, feeling discouraged about your workout routine because you aren’t making as much progress as you’d like. Rather than letting this be an excuse for not losing weight, you can talk yourself into a better attitude by reminding yourself that persistence will help you make more progress, that no one gets fit in just a few short days, and so on.

Any repetitive, negative thought patterns will make themselves clear soon enough if you just pay attention. Once you recognize a negative thought habit, start turning it around by replacing the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. It takes time and consistent effort, but you can make great progress this way.

See: Empower Yourself with Positive Self-Talk

#2 – Your environment

If you are constantly surrounded by negative, pessimistic, critical people, it’s a good idea to do what you can to change that. You may need to break off certain relationships that are no longer healthy or productive. You may need to move if your residential environment isn’t healthy. You may even need to change jobs if your work has become very stressful and unpleasant. However, for most people drastic changes like these won’t be necessary.

See: How to Set Personal Boundaries

Instead, do what you can to avoid negativity by refusing to be drawn into arguments. Don’t watch the news on television unless there is something you desperately need to know. Try to avoid watching very violent or depressing television shows and movies.

Gravitate more toward uplifting, empowering programming, and encouraging, positive people.

After a few weeks of these efforts, you should notice something interesting – you are starting to feel better! You may feel more positive and optimistic; you may even feel a bit stronger mentally and emotionally, and most importantly, you should notice that it seems easier to make healthy choices because you’re not overwhelmed by negativity.

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You might think that you’re already in touch with yourself, but ensure that you’re in touch with all of yourself.

Sometimes you might be tempted to live all in the mind and it’s no wonder! There are constant stresses and demands from you every day that sap you of your mental energy. However, it’s critical to listen to your entire body.

If you feel fatigued or frustrated, your body is trying to tell you something valuable. Pay attention and heed the information. Slow down when your body demands rest. If you fail to do so, you risk greater physical harm. Your body will get the rest it needs one way or another, so do it the easy – and healthy – way.

See: 9 Ways to Get More Rest

At the same time, fuel your body with proper nutrition, drink plenty of water, and exercise regularly. Even light exercise gets your heart pumping and increases your energy. Your body will thank you for the effort!

Reducing Stress

If you feel frustrated or aggravated at the circumstances of life, this will affect your body as well as your mind. When your body is stressed, your muscles become tight and you’ll know that something just doesn’t feel right. Therefore, one important step in the process of getting in tune with your body is to reduce your overall stress.

One of the best things you can do is to take a break for yourself during a portion of every day. Even a few short minutes to get your thoughts straight can work wonders for reducing your stress level. Concentrate on your feelings and see if your body is offering you warning signs of trouble.

If you reduce the “mind noise” in your life, you’ll find it easier to listen to your body. When you’re hungry, heed your body’s signal that it needs fuel. Make wise choices to fuel your body for success, and you’ll be rewarded with the vitality and energy to chase after your dreams.

Listening to Cues

Your body is sending you cues all the time. Listen to them. Can your body handle being pushed further at this time, or do you need to take a step back because you’re pushing too much? If you listen to yourself, you’ll know your limits and avoid burnout.

Ways to Stay in Touch with Your Body

Here are three practical steps to listening more effectively to your body:

1. Meditation. Meditation is a productive way to get in touch with your mind and body. Take a few minutes alone each day to focus on your breathing. Learn a meditation technique and commit to a few minutes each day.

FREE Secret Garden Guided Meditation Sample

2. Yoga. Yoga keeps your body in shape while you keep in touch with your mind and spirit. This practice has the power to give you extra awareness about your body that you’ve never had access to before.

See: Basic Yoga Exercises

3. Start an exercise routine. Even a light exercise routine can work wonders for your body. If you get and stay in shape, you’ll be able to push yourself harder when you need to do so. You’ll also be able to recognize your limits in most situations.

Remember that your body will tell you what you need. Instead of over-thinking things, simply commit to attentively listening to your body. Choose one or more of the methods above, put a few minutes on your schedule for today, and keep your appointment with yourself. You’ll be glad you did!

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If you have done this too and you worry that you might have a sugar addiction, take a look at the following common signs and symptoms:

Sugar cravings at consistent times

Do you always get cravings for sugar around the same time each day? For example, in mid-afternoon, or in the evening a couple of hours after dinner? It’s possible that you have come to depend on sugar to help boost your energy or soothe emotional slumps at those specific times of day.

Sugar cravings all day long

Maybe your sugar cravings are even stronger and you spend a large portion of your day thinking about sugar and craving it. Do you ever get a spontaneous, intense urge to eat something sweet? Do you insist on drinking your coffee or tea very sweet? Do you drink a lot of soda or fruit juice all day long? If any of these describe your daily habits, it’s very likely that you have a dependence on sugar.

Persistent sweet tooth

When you are at a party or other social event, do you usually gravitate toward the sweet foods more than healthier choices? Do you have trouble resisting dessert after dinner? This is different than simply liking sweet treats; most of us do like sweets. But if you have trouble turning them down, that usually means an addiction is present.

See: 7 Healthy Snacks to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Discomfort when cutting back

Finally, one of the clearest signs of sugar addiction is that you feel incredibly uncomfortable when you try to cut back your sugar intake. You may experience uncomfortable sensations like nausea, fatigue, headaches, irritability, anxiety, and moodiness – these are all withdrawal symptoms, which simply means that your body is craving a substance it is used to having.

The good news is, once you get off the “sugar roller coaster” these symptoms begin to fade and it gets easier each day to remain sugar free.

In fact, it’s important to remember that giving in and eating sugar to soothe unpleasant withdrawal symptoms will only create stronger cravings later! The more sugar you eat, the more sugar you will want to eat. That alone is a good enough reason to push through the discomfort, and you’ll enjoy fewer cravings as time goes on.

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Here are a few you may want to consider. You should never start a diet when…

… you are very stressed.

When you’re stressed by a hectic work schedule, your daughter is getting married in a few weeks, or you’re packing up an entire household to move, sticking to a new eating or fitness plan will be almost impossible. A new lifestyle change like a diet or workout regime requires concentration, focus and commitment, which you may have a hard time summoning when your mind is distracted by other important tasks. (Exercise is good for stress, so a long walk or regular exercise can help with stress. I’m talking about trying something new and different.)

… you are sick.

Dieting shouldn’t cause any major problems if you have a simple head or chest cold, but when you’re not feeling well you may not be as motivated to count calories or stick to a strict eating plan. Besides, feeling a bit under the weather triggers all kinds of cravings for “comfort foods” and you’ll be fighting an inner battle with them when you should be focusing your energy on getting better.

… you have a big event planned.

Maybe you were hoping to drop a few pounds before the family reunion you are hosting this weekend, but trying to stick to a diet when you’ve got a zillion other things to do is asking too much of yourself. Instead, you could try to better balance your eating without actually following an official diet plan. For example, you could increase your water intake or reduce your sugar and salt intake. Those small changes alone are probably not enough to stress you out, but they can easily help you shed a couple of pounds quickly.

… you are going on vacation.

Sometimes people start a diet right before they leave for vacation in the hopes that they will avoid gaining weight, but this plan usually backfires. Either you’ll stick to the diet during the vacation and be uncomfortable because everyone else is enjoying delicious foods, or you’ll simply give in and ditch the diet anyway.

The best time to start a diet is: When your life is relatively calm; you have a little free time to prepare healthier meals; you are healthy with no obvious signs of illness; and when your routine is unlikely to change much in the coming few months.

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