If you are currently trying to lose body fat and have started "dieting" by cutting calories and incorporating healthier food choices, then here are a few tips to help you stay on track and get results:

1) Watch your portions carefully:
- This can make or break a fat loss plan. Eat too much at one sitting and you send your blood sugar and the hormone insulin skyrocking, which ensures the calories you consume will be stored as fat. You may also suffer from gas, bloating and heart burn to name a few.

2) Be aware and eat in the moment:
- Avoid "zoning out" in front of your computer or TV while eating, especially while consuming a bag of chips or carton of ice cream. These foods are not necessarily taboo, but should be eaten in moderation for best results. If you must eat in front of the TV, allow yourself to enjoy each bite and fix your portions so you don't get lost in your food and end up consuming twice as much as you should. Pay attention.

3) Concentrate on eating more vegetables:
- Veggies are high in important vitamins and minerals and mainly consist of water and fiber. They fill you up, which helps take the edge off of annoying cravings and hunger pangs. Make a large salad that will last you a few days so you don't have to buy lunch everyday. Focus on Spinach, Rommaine lettuce, onions, garlic, tomatoes and anything else you enjoy.

4) Keep an eye on your weight:
- Do not get obsessed with the scale. Have your body composition tested once a month and step on the scale once per week at the most. The scale is a tool, it should never be powerful enough to dictate your mood or outlook, but it can if you allow it. Use it to monitor your progress and don't let it get into your head. If the scale does not budge after at least 2-3 weeks of consistent effort, honestly assess your routine, lifestyle choices and dietary habits to get you back on track.

5) Cut out the Gluten:
- This could be tricky considering it's found in so many of our foods- namely bread. By ridding your diet of wheat and gluten, you may also rid yourself of body fat, thyroid issues, allergies, fatigue, inflammation, malabsorbancy of vitamins and minerals, mood disorders and sugar cravings. This requires you to check labels and more importantly understand what you are reading because some ingredients sound like a foreign language. If you don't know what something is, google it. It's worth the extra effort to know what that weird sounding word on the back of your macaroni and cheese box may do to your body.

6) Drink lots and lots of water:
- Drinking adequate water each day helps promote satiety and takes the edge off hunger so your less apt to overeat if you are hydrated. There are no calories in water, so it's obviously a better choice than soda and it contains important electrolytes that aid in the proper functioning of our bodies. If you are active, you need even more water than the average sedentary person. Men should consume 3 liters of water per day and women should shoot for 2.2 liters.

7) Have a "Cheat Meal":
- Day after day of eating a low calorie diet, your body will get smart and slow your metabolism to match the caloric intake. This means that your fat loss rate will start to slow. Every 7 days increase your intake of calories slightly by including a meal or two of foods you enjoy to get your metabolism revved back up and get over plateaus. Even bodybuilders cheat once in awhile.

8) Plan meals ahead of time:
- Cook a few days worth of food and store it in tupperware containers. This will take the guesswork out of tomorrow's meals and you will never be stuck having to swing by the fast food drive thru because you are starving.

9) Mix things up:
- Include every kind of veggie you can think of in your diet, mix up your protein sources with chicken, fish, tofu, lean cuts of beef, turkey and egg whites. Try a new fruit you've never had, switch to brown rice instead of white and include yams, almond butter and flax seeds to your meals.

10) Do not avoid Fat entirely:
- Too much of any food can cause you to gain body fat if it's not burned off, but our bodies need a small amount of healthy fats such as olive oil, nut butters and flax oil as well as saturated fat in small amounts. Saturated fat is responsible for the integrity of cells and the formation of hormones within our bodies. It also helps with the absorbancy of calcium into our bones, boosts our immune system, is a carrier for fat soluable vitamins and gives us that "full" feeling after a meal.

Fat is often the most misunderstood nutrient and avoiding it altogether is a mistake. Choose the leanest cuts of meat you can find and avoid processed foods that claim to be "fat free." Upon checking labels, you will see that the sugar and carhohydrate content in those foods more than makes up for the lack of fat.