All of us who went on a diet at one moment or another in our lives know that there comes a moment - one morning, for example, when we step out of the shower and check our weight before getting dressed - when we look at the scales and experience a feeling of deepest despair. It's already been two weeks since we started that wonderful diet which was going to make us lose a lot of weight and shape up our bikini body, we've stuck to the diet plan taped to the fridge, drastically cut our calorie intake and still there's no noticeable improvement. What are we to do except throw in the towel - literally - and start believing that diets really don't work?

One other thing we could do, though, is to start thinking things through rather than give in to despair and that feeling of uselessness that usually kills off any and all positive weight loss mentality. The fact is, even when we're "on a diet", we may not be fully aware of all the calories that we eat or of just how quickly calories add up. Adding just one extra tablespoon of salad dressing over the fresh tomatoes and lettuce at lunchtime means an extra 100 calories - and most of the times, we're not even aware of doing it. The same is true for having one extra glass of wine with dinner or eating a low-fat muffin, unaware that it can contain as many as 400 calories.

This dilemma can have a very simple answer: once we decide to embark on a weigh-loss eating plan, we have to do our best to think of it as our new, normal, day to day routine and not as something extraordinary. Research has proved that if we constantly think about the fact that we're giving up certain foods or not eating as much of others as we once used to, it can make us feel stressed, obsess about food and can heighten our food cravings. Also, we need to stop skipping meals - especially breakfast - and start enjoying the food that we do eat. It's very important to avoid liquid calories such as alcohol, smoothies, coffee with cream and sugar, sweetened juices, teas and sodas. WebMD offers some useful pieces of advice in this respect and gives us the calorie counts for some of the most common beverages we're likely to be exposed to.

- 12-ounce light beer: 110 calories
- 12-ounce regular beer: 160 calories
- 8-ounce coffee with cream and sugar: 30 calories
- 5 ounces of wine: 120-130 calories
- 6-ounces of wine spritzer: 80 calories
- 16-ounce sweetened tea: 160 calories
- 12-ounce diet soda: 0 calories
- 12-ounce soda: 150 calories
- 20-ounce smoothie: 410 calories

Portion control is also very important. We've gotten used to eating large servings when we go out and we tend to do the same if we cook for ourselves at home. Exercise portion control and be sure to check how much of one type of food you eat periodically by using measuring cups. In dieting, a little caution goes a long way and you're sure to feel the results of these small changes in no time at all. Good luck!