If you’re looking to lose weight, you probably know that there are an abundance of dieting plans out there that promise astounding results, most of which are completely unfounded. Americans spend billions of dollars yearly seeking the latest and greatest way to shed pounds, but the truth of the matter is that in order to lose weight and keep it off (and keeping it off is the hardest part), the best results are achieved by changing the way we eat over the long term.

Finding a long-term dieting plan that makes permanent changes in the way you eat and exercise is the best way to achieve the desired results. Whether you go the way of Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, the Zone, or the myriad of other dieting plans out there, you’ll do best if you stick with one plan that teaches you how to revamp your relationship to food and exercise.

After all, dieting plans aren’t rocket science; losing weight is pretty simple. It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that if you eat less calories and burn more calories, the pounds ‘miraculously’ shave themselves off of your body. But in today’s fast paced world, where calorie-laden fast food is plentiful and the opportunities for getting the proper amount of exercise are few and far between, making the ‘eat less, burn more’ formula work can be extremely difficult.

One way to find the right dieting plan for you is to assess the amount of pounds you have to lose to achieve your optimum weight. Don’t go overboard; most of us aren’t going to ever be skinny – nor should we want to be.

Leave the stick-figure look to the supermodels who get paid millions of dollars to starve themselves. The more realistic you are about your target weight goal, the more likely you are to be successful. Once you’ve figured out your optimum weight, choose dieting plans that set a target loss of no more than two pounds per week. More than that requires a caloric intake that’s too low to maintain realistically and often results in binging – and increased weight gain.

Exercise is the next component in any dieting plan’s success package. You don’t have to join a gym or run a marathon to make your dieting plans work. Walking for a half an hour daily five days a week is enough exercise to help achieve the weight goal of most dieting plans. If you’re athletic, pick an activity like tennis, swimming, jogging or racket ball to burn off the calories while having fun.

By finding long range dieting plans that are realistic to your goals and lifestyle, you can take off the pounds and keep them off once and for all.