Everyone who decides to lose weight will feel the need to cheat from time to time. Losing weight can be tough, but there are ways to make it easier.

We often stack the deck against ourselves and don’t even realize it. Since sticking to a healthy eating program can be so challenging, it only makes sense to give yourself every possible advantage by removing, or planning for, the most likely obstacles.

Use these tips to stick to your program and experience success:

1. Keep foods out of the house that don’t fit your eating plans. You can’t eat it if it’s not in your house. Get it out before it creates a challenge. Go through your refrigerator and pantry and identify all the foods you shouldn’t eat. Get rid of all of it.
2. Drink lots of water. We often eat because we’re thirsty, so try water first, which your body needs anyway. Water is also filling if you drink enough of it. A tall, cool, glass of water every couple of hours is healthy and filling.
3. Stall. When you have the urge to eat something you know you shouldn’t, don’t give in right away. Just sit and relax. Give it a few minutes. You’ll often find that the urge goes away.
4. Focus on your health. Eating something that’s unhealthy feels great in the short-term. One way to give yourself a long-term focus is to make your health a priority. You’ll be less likely to sabotage yourself if you’re thinking long-term.
5. Avoid cutting back too far. Those unwanted pounds probably took years to accumulate. Give yourself some time to get rid of them. There’s a lot of evidence that losing weight quickly is a poor long-term strategy. Cutting your calories too much will also make you much more likely to sabotage your weight loss.
6. Weigh or measure food. A serving of pasta is less than you think. Food scales are inexpensive. So are measuring cups and spoons. Make sure that you know how much you’re actually eating. You might be surprised by how far off you are.
7. Avoid overdramatizing mistakes. Your weight loss program doesn’t have to be perfect to be effective. A mistake is just a temporary setback. Shake it off and accept that mistakes happen from time to time.
8. Make fiber your friend. Fiber is healthy and filling. Most people don’t get enough fiber. You can make it a point to eat foods high in fiber or take a fiber supplement. A high-fiber meal is very satiating, and the feeling lasts for quite a while.
9. Avoid eating out. Many fast food restaurants don’t have a good selection of healthy options. Restaurants can be a healthy dining option, but it’s very easy to make a significant mistake.
10. Get exercise. Exercise is useful in so many ways. It decreases your appetite. It helps to burn calories. And it makes it easier to stick to your eating program — knowing that you worked hard to burn 300 calories on the exercise bike will make you less likely to undo all that hard work by eating poorly.

Stop sabotaging yourself! You really are your own worst enemy. Losing weight can be challenging endeavor, but we often make it much harder than it needs to be. Use these tips to stack the odds in your favor. You can do this!