What is the secret to effective dieting? This is not an insignificant question. Many diet, few succeed. Many lose weight, but few achieve their ultimate weight loss goals and of those that do many gain it all right back. With that in mind here are some tips for dieting that are pain free and will produce lasting results.

First tip: You shouldn't be putting yourself on a diet! "What?," I hear you ask incredulously. The fact is that for many people a diet means restriction, and while it is a noble goal to want positive change in your life, it is unrealistic to expect that change to come from a temporary stop gap measure. If you are serious about losing those excess pounds you need to consider a lifestyle change rather than a diet.

What I mean is that we desire a long term permanent solution. Limiting yourself to vegies and yogurt for 2 weeks so you can impress at the family reunion may be a goal that is achievable, but it will not solve long term issues.

Tip 2: Massive deprivation, such as fasting, is not a safe or effective way to achieve lasting weight loss. Of all the tips for dieting that I could offer this one is crucial. It will not succeed and it is not safe.

Since you did not get into this condition overnight you cannot hope to solve it overnight either. Effective weight loss is a gradual process, and crash dieting is not a solution.

Think about the word "crash." If you were late for a weight watcher's meeting would crash driving get you there any faster? Not likely. If you lost your job and put off finding a new one until you were penniless would crash interviewing rescue you? Lots of luck with that one. "Crash" carries the connotation of a wreak. Don't wreak your health in an attempt to overcome years of dietary abuse overnight.

Tip 3: Third in our tips for dieting recommendations has to do with that naughty word "temptation." If there is one place where deprivation may be in order it is here. I'm referring to sensory deprivation.

To see a cookie is to eat it. That's because cookies have that uncanny ability to whisper little sweet nothings into our ears that lure us from our commitment.

Okay so maybe for you it's not cookies, but whatever your weakness is, run from it! If it is cookies then don't have them in the house. Don't look at them, don't smell them, touch them or taste them.

Tip 4: Aren't tips for dieting fun! Well here's one that is a stumbling block for many. Exercise is a one of the best tips on losing weight that I can offer. We all know it burns calories and adds lean muscle. The problem is that it's just so. . .hard!

Well here's a tip within a tip. Do exercise, by all means. But don't make it hard. That's right, exercise is hard because we tend to make it hard. That may work for one workout, but what about the next one. Do you feel so wonderful because of those 50 crunches you just did? That's great, but what about the next time when you must convince your brain and your body that you have to do it all over again?

That's why I always suggest moderate, doable and repeatable exercise that you can live with forever.

Try walking. This is one of the most enjoyable and relaxing pastimes you can engage in. So much so that we don't even think of it as exercise. It can be done successfully by almost anyone regardless of conditioning level. Best of all, it works.

I hope these tips for dieting have been helpful. They are no more than common sense. Remember, if it's excessive, unsafe or rationally indefensible it's probably wrong. It's the same kind of thinking that got you overweight in the first place.