The battle for weight loss is one of the toughest people have overcoming. When you decide to lose weight you might manage to shed off a few pounds here and there, but keeping it off is hard. You can literally diet for weeks and then easily fall back into bad habits during a weekend and a lot of your efforts will be for nothing. You have to build a strong mentality and commit to a regular workout regime as well as diet to see a real change.In order to lose weight you have to first write down your target weight goal. For instance, if you weigh 200 pounds and want to lose 50 pounds then you want to write that down. Have a physical copy of your goal so that it is visible in front of you to see every day. After you write down your goal put it somewhere like your desk at work, car, fridge door, or calendar so that you are constantly reminded of your goal.Once you have your goal written down devise a plan to reach that goal. Make this plan reasonable so that you can meet your goal within that timeframe. Losing 50 pounds in one month does not seem like a realistic goal. Yet losing 50 pounds over the course of six months is a little more reasonable. When your long-term goal is determined the next step is to devise short-term goals to help you along the way towards reaching your goal. Write your weekly goal to lose a certain amount of pounds each week. While you write this down figure out how you are going to accomplish your goals.For weight loss you have to workout. In the past if you have not had any luck losing weight by dieting then you need to add exercise into your daily routine. Think about the things that you like to do and perform those types of exercises. Try your best to complete cardio workouts every day of the week. If you want to build a little muscle and tone up then workout about four or five days a week. Let your body rest on weekends. It really doesn't matter what type of workouts you complete. What matters the most is that you sweat a lot during workouts. If you sweat then that means you are losing weight and sweating it out.Dieting is the most essential part of losing weight. Weight loss is almost impossible if there is no change in your eating habits. Eliminate fast food, foods rich with carbs, and other fattening food choices. All of these contribute towards weight gain. Fill your diet with a lot of protein, water, fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods. You have to be serious about committing to your diet this time.Think about your goals and then work towards reaching them every single day. Put your daily and weekly goals on your phone calendar. The next time you feel like slipping from your diet or skipping a workout take out your phone and look at it. Think about all of the efforts you have made and where you will be in a week to motivate yourself. Weight loss can be tough to achieve, but if you commit to following your goals then you can achieve your ideal weight.