I used to think that the secret to being skinny or achieving skinny was all in the perfect diet such as the ones found on many of the TV infomercials barraging you late at night. Once I figured out that 99% of that stuff was garbage, I then searched elsewhere only to find the next life changing obstacle of weight loss-whether to choose a low carbohydrate diet, low fat diet, low calorie diet, etc. and on and on and on. It is not hard to imagine anymore why people find themselves discouraged and sickened by the concept of attaining the perfect build and either give up or seek extreme body-altering techniques and methods such as liposuction, gastric bypass surgery, prescription drugs, etc that impose a far greater risk than conventional dieting. I am firmly convinced that what is important to me is no longer just the perfect figure, but rather good health first and foremost.
             Consider, for a moment, where you currently are at with your body weight in reflection of where you would realistically like it to be. If you set extreme goals, you will make extreme failures. Also, decide if this is to be a temporary goal or a long term one. Too often we enter a diet with full intentions of making life changes to our eating, exercising, and habits but then beat ourselves down because we set the bar too high or we were not truly ready for a life adjustment of this magnitude. Next, determine what degree of routine you honestly think you could tolerate on a day to day basis if you were to pursue this diet. You can even throttle it by beginning mild and weaning yourself from your more traditional lifestyles and habits. As for me, this is actually the hardest part of a diet-the beginning. Do not rush anything! Whether you are looking for a long term solution or not, I can assure that nothing positive is to be gained from impatience. The last part of your plan should be consideration to portion size, type of diet (carb counting, fat reducti...