Fad diets don’t work. The fact is that lifestyle changes are what it takes to change your body for the better. When you want to look good, feel better and be healthy, you have to eat differently. To begin, the below five tips will alter your habits in ways which will leave you feeling amazing. Once you start implementing them into your life, you will never look back.

Eating out can be the hardest time to make the right choices. One simple way to start losing weight is by skipping the french fries and instead eating a salad or vegetables. If you order steamed veg, ask for no butter or sauce. If you get a salad, choose an oil and vinegar dressing, or even bring your own. If they don’t offer any healthy dressing options, just ask for a cruet of oil and a cruet of vinegar and make your own. Once you make this simple change, you can begin to alter your main choices as well.

If you really love sweets, you can still have them; you just need to make them yourself. If you can control the ingredients, you can also control how they affect your body. For example, if you love ice cream, create it out of skim milk, eggs, and honey. You can even skip the milk and use crushed frozen bananas instead. Include vanilla, cocoa or fruit and you have an amazing treat for a hot day. Prefer cookies and cakes? Bake with whole grain flours and honey instead of sugar to get a healthier option. With banana bread, you can skip the sweetener altogether and use apple sauce instead!

Snacks are a terrible temptation which can set you off track. Instead of potato chips, bake your own vegetable or fruit chips. Slice up an apple and top it with cinnamon and a bit of brown sugar, then bake it to crispness. You can do the same with kale, carrots, beets or sweet potatoes. Recipes are available online for anything and everything you can turn into a crunchy snack.

If you want a quick, warm treat, bake some fruit in the microwave. For example, cut up a banana, top with a bit of maple syrup, and then bake for a minute. When it comes out, mash it up and enjoy! Simple, quick and tasty, and yet a healthier option than jarred apple sauce chock full of high-fructose corn syrup.

To fill yourself up, eat healthy things before you eat the questionable ones. For example, have a big glass of water before you order at a restaurant. If that doesn’t cut it, see if they have a clear broth soup you can enjoy. If the soup has white noodles, it might not be the best option, though. Visit restaurants with salad bars so you can get a big salad before eating anything less healthy.

All it takes is these five tips to change your life. A thinner, healthier you is waiting, you just have to get there. Use this information today to quickly attain your goals.