Being overweight can lead to an array of health problems. Even worse, it can make you lose your self-confidence.

But there are plenty of ways in which you can do to get to a healthy weight, if you just put forth the effort. The key to living a healthy life is eating a balanced diet. Just keep in mind that there are a lot of fad diets out there and none of them really work.

Ameriden International, your source for women’s health supplements, offers tips for losing weight.

Colorful Foods

The foods you choose to eat should be colorful and varied. You might love corn, but you should mix in other vegetables as well. When you think about what you get at fast food joints, you will notice that the food is neither colorful or healthy. In fact, it looks pretty drab.

On the other hand, fruits and vegetables are very bright and colorful and full of nutrients. Your dinner plate should be full of fruits and vegetables every night, it’s a good way to start losing weight.

Keep a Diary

It is important that you keep a diary of sorts while you are losing weight. You can use a paper diary or find an app. Record your diet and study it from week to week. You will notice that over time, you will get better with your food choices.

Stop Sitting Around

If you haven't heard the news: Sitting will kill you. Regular exercise is vital for good health and weight control. Increasing the amount of time you exercise is a huge step in losing weight. You should be doing at least one hour of moderate to intense exercise each day on average.

That is not to say you have to take your body to the limit to lose weight, that simply isn’t necessary. A brisk walk is all you need to do to burn calories and lose weight.

Watch the Liquid Calories

You should not be getting calories from the beverages you drink if you really want to lose weight.

The first thing you want to do is cut soda from your diet completely. You should then cut out other sugary drinks you are consuming including fruit juices and alcohol. Tea and coffee are fine as long as you don’t add sugar.

Unless you are drinking a smoothie to replace a meal, you should be sticking to water.

Portion Control

In no way should you ever open a bag of chips and down the entire bag. You might tell yourself you will only eat a few, but you know how that goes.

Whatever food you are eating, portion it out. If you want to have popcorn while watching a movie, that is fine, just make sure you put the popcorn in a small bowl to control the amount you eat.

Social Support

You will want close friends or family members with you on your journey to weight loss. It is hard to do this all on your own. You also might want to consider having a friend or family member partner with you and lose weight together. Support is needed when trying to reach weight goals.

Plan Ahead

Start your weight loss journey by eliminating all of the unhealthy foods in your kitchen and replacing them with fruits and vegetables. So toss those Twinkies, Cocoa Krispies and Snicker's Bars and replace them with apples, oranges and green beans. The cookies in the cookie jar need to go as well. So does your stash of candy.

There are also Ameriden products that will help you reach weight goals. Shop now.