5 Weight Loss Tips That Never Go Out Of Fashion

1. Write down everything you eat, at least for a few days, whether you do it on a notebook you carry with you, an iPhone, or an online web or computer journal.  No matter how times I start a new diet or try a new way of managing my weight, I go through periods where I have "selective memory" about snacks I eat during the day.  The best way to understand and manage this pattern is to keep a journal.  It serves two purposes: 1) the journal speaks the truth and keeps me honest, 2) it serves as a buffer between me and the snack.  As it happens, I frequently, decide to fore go the snack if I have to dig out my notebook and write it down.  I mentioned this to a friend who is using fitbit.  Fitbit is system that can track physical activity, steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and your overall sleep quality calories. Besides using fitbit as a pedometer, my friend uses the online journal feature, where he logs what he eats. He says this action makes him snack less, though for a different reason than I mentioned. Before he eats the snack, frequently he'll check the calorie content of what he is about to eat, and almost as frequently this information will inspire him *not* to eat said snack (112 calories for 30 M&Ms).  
2. Buy a good scale that gives you the information you want. They are inexpensive and easy to come by these days. A few years ago, I was curious about my weight fluctuations.  The scale I owned at the time had 1 lb. increments.  I found a scale that measured to the 2/10s of a pound. I was also curious about hydration levels; particularly a few years ago when everyone was carrying bottles of water everywhere, and saying you had to drink at least 8 glasses of water of a day for good health (totally debunked). They have scales that can measure hydration level, muscle mass, calories needed to maintain current weight, and other things. Regarding scales, accuracy is less important than relative weight over time. My Tanita scale measures muscle and fat percentage. I care less about the accuracy of the measure than how I fare over time, and what seemed to impact the measures. Get a scale you trust and like any tool in your bag of tricks, use it to understand how what you do and what you eat affects your weight over the long term. 
3. Find a passion; obsess about it! Data shows that people with a passion have an easier time losing weight and maintaining weight loss. It makes sense right? A lot of times people eat out of habit, because food is there, or because they are bored. If you are really busy, you will be less likely to snack out of boredom or habit. So to help you think of an “obsession”, I've prepared a list of things I've considered obsessing about this year: 1) read 12 books this year to help with my career, 2) research opportunities to find a new career, or a second job, 3) get a better understanding of politics, 4) things in the cooking category include: a) learn how to bake, b) learn how to cook roasts, steaks and hamburgers, c) learn how to make biscuits, d) learn how to make cheese and cream sauces, 6) start a little garden in my house or on my porch so I can grow tropical plants in North Carolina, 7) visit friends I have not seen in a while, 8) learn how to use Twitter, 9) try harder to acquire some followers for my blog, 10) decide where to hang some pictures I've been meaning to frame and hang, and in general focus on decorating my house, 11) learn more about religion, 12) learn more about fashion, 13) figure out how I am going to raise mastiffs in the future.  All are things I could easily obsess about.
4. When you “fall off the diet wagon” use it as a learning tool. Figure out what triggered it. Use the falls as an opportunity to learn and adjust your current plan. The key to long term weight loss is not to figure out how to lose the weight but how to keep it off. 
5. Share! Talk about what you are learning to your friends or even to people you know casually. You'll be amazed how many people think about the same things you are thinking about. You'll be amazed at the questions they ask, that force you to think about what you are doing in order to answer the question. You may be impressed at how well you can answer those questions. You'll be happy about how many tips you can get from likeminded folks.