So, you have decided that you are going to try to lose some weight. Who isn't trying to lose weight these days? Everyone is looking for the perfect weight loss diet. Everywhere you look there are books about dieting, television shows about dieting, exercise programs promising to "burn the fat", and more websites than you can count...they are all promising to help you lose weight.

A healthy weight loss rate is a few pounds dropping off each week, and to do this, you need to eat a healthy and balanced diet (trade the McDonald's for a home cooked meal is a good way to start) and you need to exercise regularly. To lose one pound, you need to burn thirty five hundred calories. Weight loss is basic math: if you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight.

Before jumping head first into the latest weight loss diet fad, are you sure that you even need to lose weight? What is the reason for this decision to diet? Just because you weigh more than you might want to, and just because you might be bigger around than the latest stick thin supermodel, does not necessarily mean that you need to lose weight. Make sure to schedule an appointment with your doctor and maybe a nutritionist as well. These two health professionals will be able to help you figure out an ideal (and healthy!) target weight and put you on a weight loss diet plan to help you get there.

Once you have figured out your target weight, the next step is to decide on a regular exercise regime. You don't need to join a fancy gym or work out for hours a day. You simply need to exercise enough to burn some fat and build some muscle. It is amazing how many calories a simple walk around the block can burn.

In the event that you feel like you might need some help with your weight loss diet, there are a number of diet programs out there that have large success rates. Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are the best. Not only do these programs give you the support you need to hit your target weight, they will teach you how to look at food and portion control. You will learn how to eat to get healthy instead of eating to get full. The points system used by Weight Watchers has been especially effective.

What is important is that you are healthy. Being thin should be an afterthought. Of course, if it happens in the course of improving your health then you should be extra happy!