By Celeste Naude; Photography by Freepik

So you’ve tried every diet in the book but you just haven’t been able to follow through.

To change your eating habits you need to be mentally ready to start making the necessary, sustainable changes that will get you to where you want to be, which if you are not is why a ‘diet’ will fail.

Ask yourself: How important are these changes to me and am I confident that I can make them now? If you’re serious about change and confident you can implement the changes you need to, that’s your first step. Then follow these three rules…

1. Don’t Go Too Low

If you eat too few kilojoules and are constantly hungry, chances are very high that you will end up giving up. Successful diets have enough kilojoules so you never feel prolonged deep hunger, but low enough for a moderate rate of weight loss.  Consuming less than 5000 kilojoules per day for an extended period of time is not good idea because it isn’t enough to give your body the nutrients it needs to keep you healthy.

READ MORE: Which Is Actually Better For Weight Loss: Diet Or Exercise?

2. Don’t Ban Or Go To Extremes

Diets that avoid entire food groups (such as carbohydrates), are extreme and don’t include enough variety are difficult to follow over the long term, and will likely lead to you falling off the boat. Ask yourself, “Can I eat like this forever? A successful diet is one you can follow for a long time and should allow choices from all food groups in moderation.

READ MORE: 9 Really Small Diet Changes That Lead To Major Weight Loss

3. Don’t Do Diet Only

If you start changing your diet, but have no plans to move more, your weight loss will most likely hit a frustrating plateau. Being active has a feel-good factor and helps shave off the centimetres, so adding exercise can keep you motivated to stick to your diet. Multiple research studies have consistently shown that the most successful weight-loss diets include a combination of diet and exercise.

Looking for more tips? This is the best diet for losing fat and building muscle, according to experts.