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Start making good choices today and use the tips here to lose weight.

A good way to lose some weight is to go for an outdoor hike. You can enjoy nature and fresh air while burning calories. The tougher your hike, the greater number of calories you can burn.

A great way to lose weight is to head outdoors and go for a hike. You can enjoy nature and fresh air while burning calories. The tougher the hike, the bigger amounts of calories you will use.

Although it seems everyone loves french fries, it can wreck havoc on your diet. The siren call of french fries has derailed many diets. If you want to eat fries, try baking the fries. Cut your potatoes into half inch pieces, toss with pepper, salt, and about one tablespoon of canola oil; bake in an oven for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Toss with rosemary, if you desire. Loosen using a spatula and then bake for about 10 minutes longer. You will prefer these over the usual deep-fried version because they are scrumptious with ketchup and they have a lot less calories. These "French Bakes" are from Laurel's Kitchen cookbook.

Rewarding yourself for good behavior on a diet is an essential part of a diet being successful. Treat yourself to a new workout outfit, running shoes or a treatment at a nearby spa. Buying new clothes that actually fit will help you feel better about what you are doing, and will reward all of the hard work you have done.

Try eating your largest meal at lunch-time instead of later in the day. If you have a small meal at lunchtime, have a dinner-sized meal instead. Your peak calorie-burning period is during the day when you are active, so it makes sense for your peak eating time to coincide with this.

A pedometer is a great investment when you are planning on walking or running. It tracks the number of steps you take in a day. A pedometer can let you know if you are getting enough walking in your day. Try to take a minimum of 10,000 steps each day. Push for it, if you've found that you aren't reaching that.

Cooking a large amount of food and breaking into meal-size portions is a great way to stay prepared. Frozen healthy foods with little preparation time are an excellent alternative to fast foods. Cooking things in bulk is a money saver because it allows you to buy your ingredients and to use them all. By doing this, you can ensure that these ingredients do not spoil before you have a chance to use them.

Don't drink liquor when you are on a diet. It's full of empty calories plus it wrecks your inhibition. Liquor calories are also empty calories.

Never eat just before going to bed. Try to stop eating, at least, two hours before bedtime. If you must eat something, choose vegetables and water. If you can't live by this two hour rule at all times, then do it as much as possible. When you eat before sleeping, calories are stored and your metabolism doesn't burn them off the same way they are when you are awake and active.

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