What are your top tips?

Eat less calories than you burn
Stick to it
Eat any foods you like as long as you stick to my first point
If you want to eat out one day just save a few calories during the week to use
Don't complicate things

1. #1 priority is your calorie intake, because that's the only thing that matters for weight loss (hitting your needed calorie deficit)

2. Focus on the long term. Lots of people are really good at losing weight, but very few people can maintain their losses for any amount of time. Start thinking about your maintenance plan while you're still in the weight loss phase

3. Do things that are realistic for you. Don't cut out a bunch of foods that you like because Dr. Oz or Oprah told you that you had to. You can continue eating whatever you want, you just need to learn how to fit it into your calorie goals

4. Diet soda isn't going to kill you. Neither is sugar. Or carbs. But kale is evil

5. Look at your monthly weight loss trends instead of daily or even weekly. Look at where you're at the beginning of the month and then compare that with where you're at, at the end of the month. This will give you a better idea of how you're actually doing

For me, personally:
1. Cut out unplanned snacks. I eat my three meals, have a cup of coffee around 3, and then usually a planned snack before bed.
2. If I want to eat extra, exercise extra. Walking or kettlebells can earn me calories for a treat or a beer.
3. Eat vegetables when I'm hungry (I also have lactofermented pickled vegetables, which are excellent at killing my cravings and snacking because they're such a strong flavour, but still super low calorie.) Eat veggies as my appetizer while cooking dinner.
4. Bike to work. (OK, once the snow melts.)
5. Diet Bet is a really good motivator for me. I won January, but February still requires much work.

Not necessarily for everyone, but this worked for me

1. Become a student of healthy eating. Try and get away from advertising and into the science of things. Study it, learn how things work, adjust your diet accordingly.
2. Eat as many natural, unprocessed foods as possible.
3. Buy a kitchen scale and use it. It's an invaluable resource.
4. Experiment with your favourite foods to see if you can find healthier and/or lower calorie ways to make them. Remember that things don't have to taste exactly the same, they just have to taste good.
5. Don't weigh yourself too often and don't worry about the short term ups and downs. You will bounce around, stick to your plan, trust the method and don't change anything in response to minor fluctuations.

- Log everything, no excuses.
- Avoid large deficits. Slow and steady wins the race.
- Have little treats regularly.
- Don't have "forbidden foods", it only makes me want them more.
- Walk. It's good for you, and those few extra calories can make all the difference.