Has everyone been telling you that you have to forego everything you love in order to lose weight? Forget it! You can subsist on a soup-salad diet for a month, or a couple of months if you are too focussed, but hey, you can't live on it for life. If you are prone to gaining weight, will you avoid puris, jalebis, gulab jamuns, ice cream, tikkis and parathas for the rest of your life? Even if you love soups and salads, you cannot completely steer clear of the other stuff you love. If you try, you will end up cheating and binging sooner than you think!

If you don't want your weight loss attempts to go for a toss, you have to learn to accept this simple fact. You cannot deprive yourself of yummy foods forever. Not only is it expecting too much of yourself, it is also damaging to your emotional, psychological and physical health. So the question now is, how to eat the food  items you love, without gaining the kilos.

- Eat your parathas and puris in the morning. There's a reason why our forefathers ate parathas and puris for breakfast. All such heavy foods get easily digested and burnt off in the mornings coz your metabolism is at its best in the morning. Follow a heavy breakfast with a lighter lunch and an even lighter dinner.

- You can enjoy pizza without feeling guilty! The key is to limit the portion size. Instead of gobbling up a whole pizza like there's no tomorrow, share the pizza with others and limit yourself to 2 slices. Portion size control is the best tip for anyone wanting to lose weight.

- Don't just think of food, eat it. As you cut the portion size, you can allow yourself a bigger number of meals. The key is to have 6 - 8 smaller meals in your day instead of having 3 full meals. Try it yourself to see how well it works.

- Grab some dark chocolate to lose weight! Surprised? Chocolate is known to raise your metabolic rate. But you must make sure that you only eat the dark and fine chocolate instead of eating milk chocolate which can make you fatter. And don't forget portion control!