You’re financially stable, emotionally secure, fun-loving and bright.

So why can’t you get your diet in check?

You diet, then you diet more, a little more, and still more after that.

But the weight comes back, along with the lethargy and discouragement. What’s the catch?

Don’t feel bad. The simple fact is that dieting doesn’t work. Like a Band-Aid on a broken leg, it’s an ineffectual fix for, even a back-step from, getting the larger issue—lack of healthy foods in your diet— in line.

Various non-gimmicky weight-loss plans such as The Diet Solution reviews provide a great deal of insight into the fact that eating well isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Training your mind and body to adhere to a healthy diet for your whole life requires vigilance, education and determination.

It doesn’t matter if you’re eighteen or eighty, diabetic, a dancer, or downright out of shape— there are a few ingredients to well-balanced, life-long eating habits that anyone can benefit from.

Cut the crud

If you eat well ninety percent of the time, it doesn’t mean your eating habits are ninety percent healthy; It actually means your eating habits zero percent healthy.

The math might not seem to add up, but trust me, it does.

Broiled fish and kale are wonderful for your body, but indulging in a Big Mac once a month is enough of a back-step to offset two weeks’ of diligent dieting. By no means should you cut the pleasure out of your eating habits; you just need to find ways to slice the nasty stuff out and replace it with just-as-tasty, ten-times-healthier alternatives.

Homemade vinaigrette dressing on a bun-less turkey burger with cheese will satiate your burger craving just as well as a Big Mac without packing preservatives, unhealthy chemicals and more sodium than you need in half a year into a single, wax-paper-wrapped serving.

Eat less, eat often

Your metabolism is the metronome determines the rate at which energy is fed to your body, using the stores of nutrients from the foods you ingest and releasing them into your cells at a rate it deems appropriate based on your average output.

The more efficient your metabolism, the less you need to eat to keep yourself energized. However in order to get your metabolism in the best shape of its life, you’ll need to eat more frequently, and you’ll need to eat better.

Feeding yourself small portions four-to-six times a day actually helps curb over-eating, dial back on calorie intake, and weed junk food cravings out of your life.

Foods high in healthy fiber like veggies and dip, or a store of fresh fruits and veggies, or nuts are excellent fillers between slightly larger meals, and limiting breakfast, lunch and dinner to small portions of nutrient-rich foods—like a cut of salmon or a fresh salad—well help to keep your energy up throughout the day.

Make it a group effort

It’s never too early or too late to start taking your health into your own hands. It’s also not easy to completely upturn your eating habits and make a commitment to sticking it out for the rest of your life is a formidable commitment.

Going it alone is never a good idea when you’re getting your diet into shape. Friends, family, or your significant other need to be in for the long haul with you.

That’s why it needs to be a commitment made by more than just you. Instead, you need a support system.

Do more than promising to eat better; make a plan and enforce it. Have weekly family meetings where you hash our meal plans for the week and share ideas for healthy, yummy snacks. Or, start a food blogging community with your closest friends and share success stories, great recipes and motivation through the airwaves.

However you go about it, go at it with a solid foundation of support. If you or anyone close to you has ever quit smoking, it’s the same principle; you’re infinitely less likely to lapse back into your unhealthy ways if there’re hands behind you to catch you when you fall.

About the author: Dr. Mike Tremba, once very overweight, stressed, and unhealthy, has learned uncommon tips to help him get over his obstacles to good health.  He loves sharing with others, small, common-sense ways to live healthy for a lifetime.  His commentary in The Truth About Abs Review is one way he gets to share his passion.  Dr. Mike lives in southern Alabama with his beautiful wife, Shari.