Avoiding mistakes is the key to success.

Losing weight is not easy.  For some, the struggle to maintain a healthy weight, and others just give up and wallow in their obesity.  There are lots of mistakes you can make during your endeavor to lose weight.  These traps will lead to you ultimately failing to lose weight or maintain the losses you have achieved.  

Most of us are very busy and do not have time to cook for an hour or exercise for 2 hours.  You need at least 30 minutes of exercise per day.

Mistakes: 

1. Ignoring your cravings:  One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to completely ignore any cravings you may have.  I suggest that you find a way to have a small portion or find a substitute.  I personally love Cold Stone cake batter ice cream.  I find it to have the best flavor, and it reminds me of licking the beaters after my mom made a cake.  It was comfort food for me as a child.  I decided that I could not limit myself with this one, so I found a backup.  I eat cake batter Cookie Thins.  I limit myself to one or two as I need them. 
2. Focusing on what you can’t eat:  If you focus on the things you should not have, it will lead to cravings or overindulgence when you give in to them.  Limit the portion size and have a little, or you will eat 10 serving when you go off the diet.
3. When I lose weight…: You need to focus on a lifestyle change.  If you look toward losing the weight and going back to your old habits, you will gain the weight back and be back here in 6 months.  I am not saying that you can’t have your splurges again, but I am saying they can’t last for weeks or months.  
4. Cutting Out Entire Food Groups: You are destined to fail when you avoid entire food groups.  Low carbohydrate diets are tough to maintain, especially if your entire family is not on the same diet.  It is also not very healthy.  I am not saying you cannot limit starches or sugars, but I am saying moderation is a better method.  
5. Calorie Counting:  Calorie counting is tough to continue.  I recommend that you focus on portion sizes.  Memorize the healthy portion sizes for common foods and how many portions you can have per day.  This generality is easier to maintain.  This is less true with new diet diary software like Lose-it.  If you learn to count portion sizes, keeping your weight off on vacations is easier.  

The bottom line: The smallest mistake can derail your weight loss train. Find your mistakes early and stay on track.

There will be more parts to this.  Part 2 will be available in about a week.