You know the routine. You’re ready to start dieting and get cut down to the size you’ve been envisioning for a long time. No more fooling around, this time you’re serious. You have your diet all planned out and it’s time to start making progress. Now, how do you avoid all these cravings you get each time you start a diet? Here are three tips you can follow to help sidestep those dreaded cravings.

Don’t Buy Anything That’s Not Part Of Your Diet – The easiest way to avoid temptation is not to have it in front of you. If you have foods in your house that aren’t part of your eating strategy, throw them away. Even healthy snacks, like rice cakes, can wreck your diet if you eat too many of them. Maybe you’ll get hungry some night and, before you realize it, every rice cake in the package is gone. Stick with your pre-programmed meals.

Stay On An Eating Schedule – Most diet plans will have you eating every three hours like clockwork. To avoid cravings for other foods, stick to the plan and eat each meal on time. When your metabolism starts to increase, you’ll start to get hungry every few hours. If you go too long between meals, it’ll be tempting to eat anything that’s convenient. Stick to the plan by eating on schedule.

Increase Your Water Intake – If you’ve ever seen a fitness athlete on a diet, they’re often lugging around a gallon of water. The reason for this is that staying hydrated helps to keep you felling full. By drinking plenty of water throughout the day, especially between meals, you’ll avoid the temptation to cheat or eat something sweet. The extra water also helps with digestion and absorption of food as well as a feeling of satiety.