Are you trying to lose weight? If you are on a diet, you may be doing more harm than good. Read on to find out how to shed those extra pounds for good.

Consider Amy's situation: She is a young woman who has always felt that she needed to lose 5-10 pounds to look her best. So, throughout the years, she tried the Zone, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and just plain starving herself. Nothing seemed to keep the weight off permanently, and now Amy is extremely disappointed in herself and is ready to give up. She says that while the diets worked while she was on them, once she got off them, she gained the weight back, and more. So, why didn't she just stay on the diets forever? This is an interesting question. And the answer is simple: No one can stay on a diet forever.

So, now that we know we cannot stay on a diet forever, are we doomed? Not at all. What we need to do is get away from the idea of a diet, and move on to the idea of a healthy way of living. You do not need a diet to succeed. You need a plan for life. And, in this plan for life, anything goes, but moderation is the key.

There are five basic components of the plan for healthy living:

1. THE FOOD PLAN
   One important idea we need to understand about food is that all foods are good in moderation. This means you can eat anything you want, but you need to limit the amount that you have to a reasonable portion. Yes, some foods are better choices than others, but no food should ever be forbidden, unless you have a specific medical condition. Foods that are very unhealthy, however, should be limited in frequency. So, for example, if you usually eat 2 cookies for dessert after dinner each night, try cutting down to 1 cookie three times a week. What is important here is for you to take charge of your food intake and be your own critic. Did you pig out last night on the leftover cake when no one was looking? Well, that's okay, but next time try to take control of the situation. Are you really hungry, or are you just bored? If you are bored, go do something else for a while, and see if the craving goes away on its own. If, after a while you still have that craving, go ahead and have a small piece of cake. Remember: portion control.

2. CARDIO EXERCISE
   Any activity that makes you sweat. You want to lose fat, and cardio exercise will help you do this by using your stored body fat — the flabby stuff you want to get rid of — as energy while you are exercising. You do want to be sure to exercise within your target heart rate range because this is the range in which you will burn fat. If you are above or below it, you will not burn nearly as much fat. Ask a nutritionist or fitness professional to help you determine your target heart rate.

3. RESISTANCE TRAINING
   This type of exercise offers you one of the only natural ways to boost your metabolism safely and effectively. The muscle in your body uses fat for energy. So, the more muscles you build, the more fat you will burn (and the slimmer you will look). And, there is another benefit to building muscle- it gives you that toned, lean look that we all want.

4. SUPPLEMENTATION
   Certain vitamins and minerals are essential for burning fat efficiently, and you want to make sure that you have them all. Also, there are many herbal supplements out there that can be very helpful as dietary aides, from curbing your sugar cravings to helping you digest foods better. Be careful, though. Some herbs can be dangerous, so only use products that have been recommended by your physician or licensed nutritionist.

5. ATTAINING PEACE OF MIND
   This is a broad topic which encompasses the body, mind and soul connection. For many people this is key to success. We all have issues which can affect the way we eat, whether it is stress, anger, sadness, or happiness, and finding peace with your body, mind, and soul through meditation, yoga, or other self-awareness techniques can be very useful. Getting in touch with the problems that cause us to overeat can help us to overcome food addictions.

Starting Your Plan For Healthy Living You can incorporate any and all of the components mentioned above into your lifestyle. The best thing about these 5 components is that you can ease them into you lifestyle at any level you want. Start with one and build up to all five. The most important thing is that you work on a level that you feel comfortable with.

Nutitionist Bonnie Nasar, RD, graduated from New York University with a Bachelors of Science in Nutrition and Food Studies. She completed her dietetic internship at Harlem Hospital in NYC. In addition to a private practice, Bonnie also works as a consultant to a nursing home in Red Bank, New Jersey. Ms Nasar has also worked at American Health Magazine.