Many of us would like to shed some weight- from the odd holiday pound to a lifelong health concern. However, the many fads and chemical diet aids available today can be confusing, overwhelming, and downright harmful. Here are 10 secrets to losing weight naturally- and keeping it off.

1. Lose gradually. No one actually loses five pounds of fat per week- if you do lose that weight, it's not fat that you lost. In a lot of cases, it's water or muscle, both of which you want to keep, or even increase, as you diet. It'll come right back as soon as you start eating normally again. A pound a week is about the most you want to lose.

2. Eat when you're hungry. Putting off eating anything until you're ravenous will cause you to eat too much, and make it a lot harder to choose healthier foods. A hundred calories of semi-nutritious snacking will make the 200 calories of chocolate a lot less tempting.

3. Plan ahead. Always have something relatively healthy- that you LIKE to eat- with you. It's far better to eat when you're hungry and be a little over your ideal intake for the day, than to set yourself up for failure by not having food with you and eating fast food or candy when you get too hungry.

4. Eat breakfast. Even if it's just a granola bar and half a cup of tea, eating a little bit of fiber and protein in the morning will make you less likely to eat unhealthy food for the rest of the day.

5. Count calories. It doesn't even matter at first if you try to cut back; being aware of how much you're eating makes a huge difference. You may start losing weight without even trying, once you realize which of your foods are more calories than they're worth. After a while, you can start cutting back on the things you don't love too much, or substituting lower calorie foods.

6. Drink lots of water- it helps you burn more fat, and will make you feel healthy and virtuous. An additional benefit is that sometimes, you feel hungry when you're actually thirsty- before snacking, drink a glass of water and wait a minute or two, to see if you're really hungry.

7. Eat low calorie, high vitamin foods first- and THEN eat the foods you love. If you want to have linguini in cream sauce for dinner, go right ahead. Just eat a nice spinach salad with your favorite low calorie dressing first, and wait a few minutes before you dig in. This will make a healthy portion plenty, and you can eat whatever you like, since you won't want as much.

8. When you head for the fridge, ask yourself if you're really hungry. If you actually want food, eat! If you're bored, go for a walk or read a book or call a friend. If you're sad or upset, go talk to someone or write in a journal. Then, if you really are hungry, eat. Don't let yourself get caught in the "Poor me, I can't have food" mentality- eat when you need to. Even thinking before you do eat is going to make a difference.

9. Keep yummy snacks around! Low fat yogurt is really healthy, and you can eat an entire bowl for the same calories as a serving of ice cream. Spinach and baby carrots are full of vitamins and give you a lot of fiber, making you feel fuller and healthier. Dark chocolate has lots of antioxidants, and a few squares won't kill your calorie budget. Neither, surprisingly, will marshmallows, if you really want something sweet. Look around, reevaluate serving sizes, and find something you love. I regard anything under 100 calories a good snack- especially if it has fiber or vitamins in it.

10. Love your beverages!Coffee and tea are wonderful snack replacements. If you just want something tasty, or something to do with your hands, try a nice cup of tea. Experiment, try some different flavors- ruibos tea has sweet flavors, black tea has a nice caffeine buzz, white tea is a delicate flavor, green is full of antioxidants, and the different herbal teas all have different benefits and flavors.