We asked you "What lessons have you learned from failed fad diets" and you told us. Here is a list from people who have been there and done that!

Fad Diet Lessons

I hope you find these lessons learned shared by men and women just like you helpful as you reach for your weight loss goals!

Set proper expectations

• "I thought I would NOT be able to eat on a 'diet'."
• "Give yourself permission to make mistakes as you undertake and learn a new lifestyle. It won’t happen overnight."
• "Weight loss, like weight gain doesn’t happen instantly."
• "Don't stress out over the numbers on the scale. Weight loss can be gauged in all sorts of ways."
• "Don't weigh yourself every day. A lot of things can affect the numbers and there is no need to feel bad because of some water retention. Once or twice weekly is enough."

Start off right

• "Don't wait until Monday to start new eating habits, do it today."
• "Portion control is what has helped me the most."
• "Realize at the end of the day, there is one simple formula that has worked for me as a busy man: eat less than 2,000-calories each day and I will lose weight."
• "Food plans and diets missing one food group or more are difficult to follow long term. They are also not healthy and often missing vital nutrients."
• "Without a doubt, portion control is key to weight loss. Resetting perceptions as to what an actual portion is so important. It is shocking to see what an actual portion looks like."
• "Don't believe everything you read."

Enjoy your food

• "Just eat real food in normal amounts. Moderation is best."
• "Crazy eating patterns and habits must be curtailed in order to have a healthy outlook on food."
• "When we tell ourselves, 'You are NEVER going to eat X food again and you will be thin and life will be perfect.' If we tell ourselves we can never have our favorite foods, life is not as much fun and we end up ‘cheating’ and the diet fails."
• "We need to practice enjoying our food. Did you ever notice how yummy the first few bites of your favorite foods are and then we shift into autopilot and become an eating machine?"

Stay on track

• "Diet is what you eat and drink, not about taking something away."
• "Diets are not temporary solutions to lose weight."
• "Don't eat like a maniac all weekend so that you can 'be perfect' on Monday morning, because odds are that something will happen so that goes out the window until the next week and so and so forth with a vicious cycle."
• "Never throw away all of your 'bad foods' and invest in a bunch of crazy stuff that the latest fad diet would have you believe that this is the 'be all and end all' solution to your weight 'problem'.
• "Pills are not the best way to go. Side effects and safety issues are always a concern both short and long term."
• "There are really no ‘bad foods’ per se, however there are foods that you should consume rarely or on a special occasion in moderation."
• "Forget celebrity diets and the hottest Hollywood fad diet, they are fad diets not a healthy lifestyle. And, who knows if that celebrity is even on that diet!"

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Slow, steady and safe weight loss is best for long-term success.