Have you made it your New Year’s Resolution to lose a few pounds that you may have put on over the holidays? Here are some easy diet tips to help you stay on track!

1. Don’t skip breakfast. Making sure that you eat breakfast is the number one place to start with your diet as it energizes you and will guarantee that you are full enough to make it to lunch without snacking.
2. Eat small portions throughout the day. Eating smaller portions multiple times throughout the day increases the amount of calorie burned, and it also ensures that you remain full between your main meals. Eating healthy snacks throughout the day helps you to resist temptations.
3. Keep the burn going. When you are working out, make sure that you don’t rest for more than thirty seconds between exercises. Keeping the burn going will actually increase the amount that you burn throughout your workout.
4. Avoid late night snacks. Always try to avoid eating three hours before bedtime; your metabolism slows down when you sleep so you shift from fat-burning to fat-storage.
5. Don’t forget the dumbbells. Increase the strength component of your workout; adding lean muscle to your body not only tones, but also increases your metabolism.
6. Don’t give into cravings. Make sure that you ask yourself whether or not you are actually hungry before giving into cravings. There is no point in eating if you aren’t actually hungry; this tends to lead to over-eating because you are eating out of boredom.
7. Get enough sleep. Get six to eight hours of sleep a night; without it, the appetite hormone ghrelin increases, which could result in weight gain.
8. Make your own lunch. Research has found that if you make and bring your own lunch to work, you will look 5 pounds more on average than those who eat out once a week.
9. Start with your greens. One of the very first things you should do when beginning to lose weight is load up on greens. Always begin your meals with your vegetables in order to ensure that you eat the most of them and ultimately eat fewer calories throughout your meal.
10. Use methods that are proven to work. If you stick with diet tips that have been proven to work in the past it will be shown that you are more likely to reach your goals. Looking at statistics from people who have lost 60+ pounds and kept it off it was found that 75% weigh themselves once a week, 78% are breakfast eaters and 62% watch less than 20 hours a week of television.
11. Say hello to H20. Drinking cold water not only increases your metabolism but it also helps to flush your body of toxins. Drink up to eight glasses a day for maximum results.
12. Police your portions. Instead of adding another spoonful here, or one extra piece of meat there, make sure you are sticking to portion guides laid out by Canada’s Food Guide.
13. Weigh at the same time every day. Given that your weight can fluctuate depending on what time of the day you weigh yourself, it’s best to stick to one time, whether you are weighing daily or weekly.

Pick the perfect tunes. Having the perfect playlist can help you enjoy your workout more; so make one with lots of upbeat tempos and catchy lyrics to aid you with your workout goals!