By Elena Voropay

When you don't like the number on the scale, you say “diet”. Again. But haven't you been dieting all your life and are still at square one? Maybe diet is not the most effective weight loss solution for you. You've tried the fat-free, sugar-free, low-carb, Macrobiotic, Body Type, food combining, vegetarian, even detox diets. They all promise miraculous results, but you are yet to see these. Is there any other way to get in shape without going on a diet and giving up your favourite foods? You bet. Here are the keys to never say “diet” again.

When trying to choose the perfect diet, most of us try to find a quick and easy fix. Why do you want a quick and easy? Because you don't enjoy it. The word "diet" usually means restriction, deprivation, suppression of body's natural mechanism to get energy and nourishment. This leads to dissatisfaction and unhappiness making your life less enjoyable. Deprive your body and soul of something that you really want, and you set a fertile ground for compulsive overeating of foods that you don't even enjoy. So, you try to compensate for the missing link with some reward, and it usually comes from the same resource - food. Suppressing your natural signals now will make you eat way beyond the point of being stuffed later. This is when the actual weight gain happens - you eat more than your body needs. So, food becomes part of the problem, not part of the solution. In fact, restrictive dieting is the main cause of overeating. You agree to diet in order to lose weight, but you can't endure the deprivation for a long time. If you want to get the best weight loss results with minimum suffering, you need to focus your attention on something other than food.

2. Eat When You Are Hungry

Recognize your body's hunger signals and respond to them accordingly. If you feel hungry, crave a certain food, even if it's chocolate, pizza or ice cream - go for it right that moment. Even though sometimes it may be wiser to wait a few minutes until the craving dissipates, chances are that you will end up having your desired favourites in much larger quantities anyway. Never force yourself to feast on something that you know you should eat but don't like it in reality. By letting yourself to truly enjoy something you want, you minimize restriction and maximize empowerment. Knowing that you have a power to choose what you like can be liberating bringing more satisfaction than any food you ever dreamed of. Forget dieting and start nourishing your body and soul with what they need.

3. Appreciate and Savour Food

Try not to rush when you are eating. Even if you have limited time you can dedicate to eating, such as during a short lunch break, make that time enjoyable and savour every bite. Chewing your food slowly and thoroughly will aid digestion and satisfy you more. It takes about 20 minutes before your brain responds to food. So, the feeling of fullness is not immediate, regardless of how much food you eat or how fast you swallow it. Whenever you can, take time to prepare your meals using the freshest and most flavourful ingredients. By enhancing the taste of food with herbs and spices you fool the brain into believing you've eaten more than you actually did, making you feel full faster. 4. Drink More Water It is truly amazing how much simple water can do for your body. Besides giving you a feeling of fullness, water maintains the balance of minerals in our bodies and aids in all metabolic processes. Water is responsible for the movement of nutrients, digestion, absorption, circulation, and the excretion of wastes. Your colon needs water for elimination. Without water you will end up feeling constipated and bloated, which is not a good thing if you are wanting to have a leaner look and feel healthier. T he more water you drink, the less fat deposits you have. Why? Because without enough water your kidneys are unable to function properly, thus the liver picks up the slack. When this happens, the liver cannot properly metabolize stored fat as energy. The results are a decrease in fat metabolism, leading to more fat stored in the body. The results are a decrease in fat metabolism, leading to more fat stored in the body. Loss of fluid may contribute to a host of metabolic disorders. So rev up your metabolism by getting into the habit of drinking more water, at least eight cups daily, or a glass every hour. If you exercise, your body needs more water. Fluid can be absorbed from the small intestine at a maximum rate of 8-10 ounces (240-300 milliliters) every 20 minutes. Regular, non-carbonated water is the best. Never wait until you are thirsty--that is a sign past dehydration.

5. Reduce Stress.

Most people tend to eat more when stressed. Food becomes not a fuel, but a tranquilizer when you feel anxious, depressed, lonely or sad. This is the time you are most likely to to use food for solace, reaching for 'comfort foods' rich in fat, sugar and calories. Stress hormones spark your appetite, making you likely to overeat. But this is only half of the story. Long-term stress raises levels of the hormone cortisol, which interferes with the hypothalamic regulation of metabolic, growth and sex hormones, like thyroid stimulating hormone, estrogen and testosterone. Declines in these hormones contribute to bone and muscle loss, as well as fat storage in your belly. Causes of stress can be many, and some of them are difficult to avoid. Whether it is your job, relationships, financial problems or overabundance of daily tasks, understanding that these are only common temporary life issues may minimize your response to these stimuli. After all, nothing is worth making you feel too tense and miserable.

6. Sleep More.

Biological clocks control more than just the sleep cycle. Fluid balance, digestion, body temperature, oxygen consumption and even appetite depend on the quality and quantity of sleep you get. Losing sleep can raise levels of hormones linked with appetite and eating behaviour because they are interconnected at the molecular and behavioral levels. Studies have shown that those who don't get enough sleep had higher levels of hunger hormone ghrelin and lower levels of hormone leptin responsible for the feeling of satiety. Sleep deprivation puts your body into a stress mode forcing you to reach for foods rich in sugar to assist the brain function. Another problem is that when you don't get sufficient sleep you have more difficulty processing carbohydrates with majority of these being stored as fat. And if you add the lack of energy to exercise you feel when you don't sleep enough, you set the most fertile ground for weight gain. So, try to make sleep a priority and see the kilos melting away. Reduce exposure to real and potential stressors, try to relax for 2 hours before bed time, eat dinner early and exercise earlier during the day.

7. Celebrate Life.

Switching your attention from 'what to eat' and 'how to lose weight' can be liberating and life changing experience. Concentrate on other great things in life and you will transform your body and soul into a new happy state. Take a walk in the fresh air, go swimming or biking, swing into dancing, plant a tree in your yard or make a nice pot of mixed herbs on your kitchen counter. Be creative, remember a forgotten hobby or find a new one - do you like drawing, sewing, playing chess, making origami, writing or reading are all wonderful activities that will keep you occupied in the most enjoyable and satisfying way. It’s finding the time to enjoy some pleasures in life, like the people you want to spend more time with, new places you want to see, or the activities you always wanted to do. Switching the energy, desire and ability to follow through to a fuller, richer life will keep you away from the kitchen and ultimately from food.

8. Exercise

It is a well-known fact that exercise is one sure way to make you fit, help lose unwanted kilos, and prevent numerous diseases. Besides burning calories, physical movement will boost your mood and curb appetite. Don't be discouraged by lack of time or energy - any bit of exercise counts. It doesn't have to be strenuous hear-pumping and sweat-dripping exercise class with your gym instructor. In fact, moderate intensity activities, such as walking, are the best predictors of consistency. Shift from the 'all or none' principle, where you think that it's either going high-intensity or do nothing at all. Focus on how good exercise makes you feel rather than how much energy you burn or how you would like to look.

9. Build muscle

As you get older, your resting metabolic rate drops because you naturally lose muscle mass. Muscle is the most active metabolic tissue in your body. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even when you are not exercising. Your body has to work hard to maintain your muscle tissue, that is why it needs more energy to supply blood, oxygen and nutrients to every muscle cell. Boosting muscle tone will strengthen your body and your mind, improve your self esteem and confidence. The easiest way to tone up your muscles is to train against resistance, namely with free weights or weight training machines. Resistance training leads to increased calorie burning for up to two hours after the workout is over. Strength training for 30 minutes three times a week over a period of 12 weeks increases the number of burned calories by 15 percent. That means that on average you could burn additional 200-300 calories per day while resting, sleeping or watching TV. Besides, training with weights helps you to lose soggy and flabby fat while gaining firmer and denser muscle.

10. Fidget and Move Around More

It may sound a little radical, but moving around and fidgeting more can help you lose weight without even knowing it. Mindless acts such as crossing and uncrossing legs, keeping back straight to maintain posture, stretching and standing up or hiding your remote control and getting up to change TV channels may greatly contribute to the number of calories you burn during the day. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota classified these activities as Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) and found their subjects to burn 33 percent more calories than more sedentary people. This translates into burning additional 330 calories per day for every 1000 calories consumed. So, simply move more like a child, make your body and mind active. It may take a while to make it a habit, but the benefits of feeling and projecting energy will speak for themselves. Other easy moving solutions to incorporate into your daily life may be least demanding but most beneficial. Park your car further away from your destination and walk the rest of the distance. Forget that lifts and escalators even exist and take the stairs. Give your upper body a workout by carrying your own shopping bags instead of rolling trolleys or carts that usually don't function properly. Walk twice around the block during your lunch break, before grocery shopping, and after dining out. Instead of eating that extra snack take a brisk stroll and you will feel refreshed. Another great suggestion is to use a pedometer for counting steps throughout the day. Set a goal for yourself, like walking 5000 steps a day, and aim at constant progression.

11. Do Your Cardio

Since your ultimate goal is to lose fat, you need to burn it for energy. Fat, or adipose tissue, from the body can only burn in the fire of oxygen - this means that the cottage cheese on your hips and thighs must be supplied with a lot of O2 in order to be used as fuel. The only way to do it is through aerobic work. And if you are inspired and determined to get in shape for summer, simple walking is not going to cut it. Do cardio at least three times a week using intervals where you mix up the intensities from very high to low. Several studies have shown that women lose the most fat and burn more calories with cycling through intensities. Running, cycling, rowing or stepping are all excellent forms of cardio. Push yourself to go as fast as you can for one minute, then gradually slow down for two minutes. Repeat as many times as you wish. Interval training will surely get your heart pumping getting the most oxygen to your fat stores.

12. Eat All Day

Many current and former dieters admit to consistently skipping meals in order to cut calories. They also admit that most times they eat more during the meal following the missed one. The most popular meal to miss is breakfast reported due to poor appetite in the morning. If you wake up not being hungry, you probably had a large dinner. Because your metabolism and all digestive processes slow down at night, it takes longer to digest the same amount of food if eaten during the day. Besides, you use up the energy while you are awake so less calories are deposited as fat. However, when you are asleep, most food is deposited in the form of glycogen and fat in your body. The larger the dinner - the more of it is converted to fat. Changing your eating patterns you can rev up metabolism and energy levels, give you the opportunity to enjoy delicious meals all day long and lose weight at the same time. Starting with breakfast, eat every four hours. Researchers demonstrated that skipping breakfast slows your metabolism for the entire day increasing cravings for fat and sugar later on. Unsweetened whole grain cereals with whole milk are best in the morning as they regulate blood sugar and maintain stable energy levels. Eat more protein and wet carbs from vegetables and fruit throughout the day. Every time you eat, your metabolism goes up because digesting food requires energy with vegetables and lean meats needing most as they are harder to digest and absorb than fat or sugar. Constant supply of nutrients is invigorating for your body and mind so you can think sharper and move faster. If you can manage to eat five meals before dinner, you won't be as hungry for the evening meal and have already burned the calories consumed.