* Eat Smaller Meals:

The basic principle of losing weight is to eat less, move more and burn more calories than you take in. Here are a few tips that will help before you join a fat camp.

* Maintain a Food Diary:

You may think that you barely eat, but the scale says different things. You can find out how much you are eating by keeping a food diary or journal. Most of the veteran dieters recommend food journals of what you eat, when and where you ate. You don抰 need a fancy book, a plain old notebook will do. Record the date and each meal or item of food consumed. This will help in finding how much you eat in a day and how much less you should eat.

* Drink water:

Drink to your health! One of the best weight loss tips is to drink water. You should drink a minimum of eight ounces a day. Drinking water can help your diet because it:

i) Helps reduce fat deposits in your body
ii) Flushes out waste products as your fat cells are shrinking
iii) Helps your metabolism run at its optimal rate

* Exercise:

Be physically active for 30 to 60 minutes a day. You can break this to 15 minute blocks if you need to. You should do some fat burning exercises also. Walking, aerobics, bike riding, jogging, walking up stairs are some form of exercises.

* Avoid Diet Drinks:

There抯 lot of controversy between diet soft drinks and artificial sweeteners. Regardless of whether you think artificial sweeteners are safe or not, there are many alternatives. Try sweeteners such as stevia, an herbal extract, or a low-glycemic sweetener such as agave. Ditch sweet drinks and sweeteners and enjoy water.

* Eat veggies:

Fruits and vegetables are highly recommended to help you lose weight. They have vitamins, antioxidants, fiber and minerals. They will not only fill up your stomach and make you feel full, they are low in calories.

* Eat Smaller Meals:

If you want to lose weight it is important that you cut back on calories. One way is by eating smaller portions. Another way is to avoid snacking or change what you nibble on.

* Plan:

Planning your meals is critical to healthy, balanced eating. By knowing ahead of time what you will eat, you will not be at the beck and call of fast food restaurants or the wending machines with their primarily high calorie, unhealthy selections.
Before joining a weight loss program, it would be better if you follow these tips. You don抰 have to struggle much when you join the camp.