All the determination in the world to lose weight won’t make a bit of difference if you’re hanging onto an unhealthy set of dietary commandments that drive you unconsciously to eat at the wrong times or for the wrong reasons.

If you are on a diet, no doubt you are ready to get all the tips possible that have to do with weight loss. losing weight is not always easy, and from time to time it is easy to get into a slump.

Here are eight simple tips on how you actually can get closer to your ideal weight:

1. Eating won’t make you fat after 7 p.m.

It’s not because calories consumed after a certain hour stay with you longer. The real problem with most people is, when they eat late at night, they’re typically skipping meals during the day, said Annie Neuendorf, a dietician at Northwestern Memorial’s Wellness Institute. That puts the body into deprivation mode, slowing your metabolism and making you more inclined to overeat later on. Better to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

2. Eating out?

Restaurant portions tend to be enormous, and if it’s on the plate, we tend to eat it. If it’s possible, order from the kid?s menu, where portions are more reasonably sized.

3. You can treat yourself once a week:

You can’t be good all the time, notwithstanding how devoted you are to sticking to a healthy diet. Allowing yourself to have something decadent every now and then is not only OK, it’s encouraged. However, if you’re the kind of person that can eat 10,000 calories in one day, it’s not a good idea to do that.

4. Is it best to work out early in the morning?

This is one of the most- unrelenting myths about weight loss. Exercising earlier in the day doesn’t burn more calories. But the number of calories you burn relies on your metabolism, food intake and body composition — things that aren’t dependent on when you choose to exercise. Get your activity whenever it matches into your schedule, even if it’s just 10 minutes at a time.

5. Eating is better than Drinking

Eating the fruit would be better than fruit juice that might seem a healthy choice, since liquids leave you feeling less full than solid foods. Likewise, drinking pop on a regular basis can add unnecessary calories. Consider: A 12-ounce can of regular pop has 9 teaspoons of sugar and about 100 calories. “If you do that three times a day, that’s almost a pound a week of calories,” said Celia Pappas, a dietician at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Water and low-fat milk are brilliant options.

6. Drink water

When you’re dieting, you should drink even more than usual. Even the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) recommends at least 8 full 8 ounce glasses of water a day to keep your body working right. It’s not just that full feeling – water helps your body digest foods properly and cleans out your system.

7. Not to eat standing up.

One of the easiest ways to disrupt your diet is to ‘eat without thinking’. Treat eating with the respect that it deserves. Fix yourself a plate. Sit down and eat appropriately. You will be less likely to just pop food into your mouth without paying attention.

8. Purchase a vegetable steamer.

Steaming is one of the healthiest ways to cook vegetables. The food keeps nearly all of its natural nutrients instead of discharging it out into the cooking water. Even better, it makes your veggies taste great – which means you’ll be more likely to eat them instead of filling up on fatty foods that pack on weight.