If you want to lose pounds, aiming to lose 2 pounds per week is a realistic goal. Typically, most health and nutrition professionals advise people to try and lose a pound or two per week at the most. It's unsustainable to do it any other way. Making sure you're eating a healthy diet is going to be the most important factor in being successful in your weight loss plan. While exercise is an important component as well, what you eat will ultimately control whether or not you see results. Here are some diet tips to help you lose 2 pounds per week.

Tip One: Aim to Eat Enough Healthy Foods, Not to Avoid the Unhealthy Ones

A good rule for any diet is to focus on what you should be eating instead of what you shouldn't be eating. If you make goals like "I'm going to eat three pieces of fruit each day" instead of "I'm going to avoid desserts every day" you'll shift your focus onto making sure you're getting enough of the good foods you need, which will in turn make you too full to consume the junk foods you crave.

Tip Two: Eat Your Three to Five Servings of Fruits and Veggies Daily

Now that you're focused on eating healthy foods, strive to get your daily recommended three to five servings of fruits and vegetables. Both are full of nutrients and low in calories, so they make healthy snacks or side dishes throughout the day. Try to fill your fruit quota mid afternoon instead of opting for a cookie.

Tip Three: Eat Breakfast

Conventional advice and wisdom is true: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It sets the pace for how you're going to eat the remainder of the day. Skip it and you'll be more likely to snack on everything in sight. It's a good idea to start the day with a complex carbohydrate and a protein. A perfect example is a whole wheat English muffin with some peanut butter and a scrambled egg. If you're on the go, a glass of skim milk and a banana makes a good breakfast. A good calorie range for breakfast is between 300 and 400 calories. However, if you indulge in a plate of pancakes and bacon, you're still better off eating that early than a huge dinner later on. Breakfast will keep you full throughout the morning.

Tip Four: Indulge In Small Treats

Cutting out your favorite junk foods completely is a recipe for disaster. Instead, you need to enjoy your favorite foods in moderation. Rather than eating an entire snack size bag of chips every day, have a small handful instead or wait to enjoy that snack size bag in its entirety on the weekend. If you love chocolate, have a fun size bar every day instead of an entire candy bar. You'll easily cut at least 100 calories from your diet this way--most likely more.