Many people rely on bad information when trying to lose weight. If you ask your co-workers, friends, or family, they will no doubt have opinions on the best weight loss plan for you to follow. The problem is that many ideas are based on wrong information which means they don’t work and could even be dangerous.

If you talk to your banker or accountant you will probably get answers, but the problem is they are likely to be the wrong answers. Even if some weird diet ‘plan’ worked for someone it doesn’t mean it will work for you; it doesn’t mean it’s good for you and it doesn’t mean it will allow you to keep the weight off permanently. A healthy weight loss plan will allow you to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life. The next time you want diet advice, ask a professional.

Here are some facts you need to keep in mind when choosing a good diet plan:

1. The two main purposes of a diet plan are to lose weight until you are at a healthy weight for you, and to maintain that healthy weight. Some plans concentrate on building muscle, but that isn’t the focus here. In order to accomplish your weight loss goals you should focus on eating enough of the right foods and adding some exercise to your daily routine.

2. There are many types of dieting such as low carbohydrates, low calorie, low fat, etc. Some of them will cut your calorie intake drastically to 800-1000 calories per day for fast weight loss. Consult your doctor before starting these kinds of diets.

3. Once you find the right diet plan losing weight won’t be hard as long as you stick to the plan. The thing that seems to trip most people up is keeping the weight off permanently. It is estimated that only 20% of the people who meet their weight loss goals actually keep the weight off for a whole year.

4. Many people think that drastically cutting calories will lead to weight loss. It will, but only for a short time. At some point your body’s defense mechanisms will kick in. Your body will think that it is starving and will work to reserve resources. That means your metabolism will slow way down and any weight loss you might have had will come to a screeching halt. There are diet plans that have specific systems in place to counteract this defense mechanism.

5. If you are under 18 or are suffering from a chronic illness make sure to consult with your doctor before starting any diet plan, especially those that are very restrictive on the foods that they allow. A good diet plan will have the proper nutritional balance of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, dietary minerals, and water.

6. Some extreme diet plans such as the grapefruit diet, or cabbage soup diet, rely solely on what you eat to lose weight. Ideally you should include some form of regular exercise in your diet plan. Not only will exercise keep you healthier than just dieting alone, it will make the dieting process quicker and easier if you keep moving. Just a simple walk everyday can do wonders.

7. If you lose weight, it may be in the form of fat loss, water loss, or muscle loss. You will want to aim for fat loss while maintain your muscle by doing workout. Remember that a person with more muscle will burn more calories even when he’s doing nothing.

8. There are dieting drugs available that will help you suppress your appetite. The problem with these drugs is that they are a quick fix. If you don’t permanently change your lifestyle by making better food choices and adding exercise, you won’t maintain your weight loss. If you are determined to try some sort of diet pills make sure to carefully read and follow label directions.

9. A study shows that dieters who keep food diary lose more weight than those who do not. Apparently write down everything that you eat will encourage the dieters to eat less.

10. Fasting can be an effective tool in weight loss, but it does have its risks if not done correctly. If you are considering trying fasting as a method of weight loss make sure to consult with your doctor first.

Getting dieting advice is easy, everyone has an opinion. Getting good dieting advice is much tougher. In order to get sound and safe, dieting advice turn to a trusted professional. There are a lot of very effective programs available today, find the one that best fits your needs and follow it so you can have the permanent weight loss results you deserve.

Start your dieting journey by gaining basic knowledge by Stefan Vincent on how to identify a healthy diet among thousands other diets. The next step is selecting the one that work best for you; check the tricks to do this in Diets That Work.