There's no doubt about it, food and exercise are two key ingredients in losing weight. Eat better, move more and you should lose weight in a snap, right? But it's not always that easy. You can know a lot about losing weight, but if you're not motivated to do it, nothing's going to happen. You'll be stuck losing the same pounds over and over again. Your mind plays an important role in your weight loss battle -- it's as important as food and nutrition. Some would even argue that it's the first step in losing weight and getting fit, ahead of eating right and exercising. Get your mindset right, and everything else will fall into place.

I'm sure you've heard it before: get regular exercise; exercise 60 minutes a day, exercise 30 minutes a day, exercise every day, move, move, move. And, yup, you see people exercising their hearts out while you sit there because you're too darned tired to get moving. You might think, "What's the use? I can't do that much exercise. And a little bit of exercise won't help me at all." Well, you'd be wrong! A new study by researchers at the University of Georgia found something very interesting: people who don't exercise regularly can increase their energy and reduce their level of fatigue with low intensity exercise.

This time you will lose the weight you want and keep it off. How? By planning ahead. Any weight loss program is a change in your lifestyle. Most people are resistant to change and prefer the status quo. It doesn't matter whether you're going low carb, South Beach, or just cutting your calories, make sure you have the tools you need. Number one priority is a reliable scale. A digital readout is best, as you can see it clearly from a standing position. And you don't have to guess whether you weigh 130 pounds, 129 pounds or 131, the readout will tell you.

Chemicals, preservatives, toxins, artificial sweeteners and food coloring, even pesticide residues are consumed every day by the average person. The more processed food consumed, the more fast food consumed, the higher the level of these irritants. Unfortunately, the human body becomes overloaded and can't remove these substances effectively and they start to build up. When that happens it's difficult to lose weight because the metabolism slows down.

So, what can you do? Eat clean and lose weight!

All we ever seem to do is rush, rush, rush. When it comes to food, one of the worse things you can do is rush things. Here are 11 great tips to helps slow you down and enjoy food again.

You don't need to feel deprived when you're trying to lose weight. Here are 6 super tips to keep hunger at bay and liven up your meals.

Toss Out Temptation – Before you start your diet program, go through your pantry, fridge, and freezer and toss out the forbidden foods. If it's not staring you in the face, the odds are you won't want it. If you have family members that will throw a fit if you throw out their favorite snack food, make them keep that food in their room if it's nonperishable. If it is perishable, buy the smallest quantity available, one serving portions if possible. Put their name on it with a magic marker and put it on the bottom shelf of the fridge where you won't see it.

A calorie is a calorie is a calorie, right? Not really. What you eat is just as important as how much you eat. A calorie is a unit of energy, scientifically defined as how much heat is required to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius. So you'd think that as long as you cut your calorie consumption below what your body requires you'd lose weigh. For every 3500 calories you cut you should lose one pound of fat. It shouldn't matter what you eat. That's not how it works.

Trans fat is an artificially manufactured fat used in food processing because it's cheaper and significantly prolongs the shelf life of foods. It is also used in restaurants, mass produced bakery items, and fast food restaurants because of its longer shelf life. If you're familiar with margarine then you're familiar with trans fat. Trans fat has been clinically proven to cause weight gain, even when the participants were consuming a diet that didn't include enough calories to maintain their weight. Trans fat not only triggers weight gain but it causes fat stored throughout the body to be transferred to the abdominal region.

Do you have headaches, dizziness or mood swings? Have you experienced nausea, diarrhea or abdominal pain? Did you know that all of these symptoms and more have been associated with the consumption of aspartame?