1. Go back to your food journal and start a list of improvements you need to make.

Look at the number of fat grams you normally eat in a day. It is most likely higher than it should be. On your list, write “Reduce fat intake to 30 percent.” Find out what are the main sources of fat in your diet and write them down too.

Take note to increase your fiber intake. Also write down where you could increase fiber in your diet. Look at the total number of calories you eat on an average day. It’s enough? (See the food tables to help you determine this.) Are you eating large amounts of sugary foods? If so, write it down.

Check your activity level. Are you doing strength training exercises to preserve your lean muscle mass? If not, write it down. Are you doing some form of aerobic exercise for at least 20 minutes, three times a week? If not, write it down too.

2. Make a realistic plan to gradually implement your list of goals. That is how:

Commit to losing no more than one pound a week. This is believed to be a safe rate for weight loss. Make lifestyle changes slowly. Changes you make gradually are more likely to stick. Start by looking at your list. Break down each needed improvement into small, achievable goals and schedule them for implementation.

For example: one week, decide to replace your usual serving of butter on your toast with only fruit jam. If you normally eat about a half tablespoon of butter every morning, this small change could add up to a savings of 49 grams of fat and 441 calories per week—without baby potatoes! Next week, you can plan to start walking to the corner store instead of driving, or switch from whole milk to skim milk.

Be sure to allow indulgences that you know you can’t realistically give up. If your goal is to cut to 40 grams of fat per day, and you know your morning would feel empty without half and half in your coffee, map that toward your fat allowance. Plan to phase in your changes over a period of six months to a year.

3. Reward your successes.

Promise yourself that for every week you take at least three 30-minute walks, you’ll put $5 in a jar. When you’ve saved enough money, buy yourself something you’ve wanted for a long time, like a massage or tickets to a sporting event.

4. Don’t beat yourself up for failure.

It took you a lifetime to develop your bad habits, and it will take many months to break them. If you accept early on that you can’t execute your new plan perfectly, you’re more likely to jump back on the bandwagon when it falls apart. Remember, the more restrictive you are, the more likely you are to rebel and overeat or underexercise. And all the chocoholics out there? It is unrealistic to give up chocolate forever. If you allow yourself to enjoy once in a while, it may be easier to spend the rest of the time.

5. Never say “diet.”

The word “diet” suggests a temporary eating plan that is followed for weeks or months. However, you are devising a slow, gradual plan to permanently change your behaviors. This is why you can afford to make mistakes. A piece of birthday cake can ruin a diet. However, over the course of a lifetime of healthy eating, it means very little. If you follow your plan 80 percent of the time, you’ll continue to make great strides toward achieving your goals.