There are habits that will give you more bang for the buck.

For example, I've said many times that training is the anchor to your day.

The anchor keeps you from drifting.

Similarly, establishing a portion-control habit that will automatically keep your calories in check and may translate into more dramatic improvements.

On the other hand, if you've really been struggling and frustrated, pick the easiest thing that you know you can do.

How to Stick to Your Meal Plan

For most people, a standard meal plan will be breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Others may prefer four, five or even six smaller feedings.

Three primary meals and two or three snacks is another popular meal schedule.

If you do snack, build them into your plan and avoid eating snacks at random.

Whether you do four to six smaller meals a day, three traditional meals, or three meals with snacks, guess what?

It doesn't matter that much.

For fat loss, the number of meals and time of eating is less important than other nutrition habits.

Here's what does matter:

One, you should customize your daily meal schedule. Don't follow someone else's.

Two, stick with the eating schedule you choose.

Research shows that you'll be healthier and more likely to improve fat loss if you follow the same schedule every day.

Eat at the same times and it will soon become habitual...

...and the time of day will cue you to eat a healthy meal.

A story I thought I'd share.

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

As the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

The students were happy with themselves and one another.

Here's how many responded:

"I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!'

"I didn't know others liked me so much."

Several years later, one of the students was killed in a military activity and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student.

She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before.

He looked so handsome, so mature.

The ground was packed with his friends.

One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin.

The teacher was the last one to walk past.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.

"Were you Karim's math teacher" he asked.

She nodded, yes.

Then he said: "Karim talked about you a lot."

After the funeral, most of Karim's former classmates went together to a luncheon.

Karim's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

"We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket.

"They found this on Karim when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it."

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times.

The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Karim's classmates had said about him.

"Thank you so much for doing that," Karim's mother said.

"As you can see, Karim treasured it."

All of Karim's former classmates started to gather around.

They said they all have that piece of paper as a memento.

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried.

She cried for Karim and for all his friends who would never see him again.

Life today moves so fast and sometimes it can take us by surprise.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important.

Tell someone something nice today.

Tell them, before it is too late.

To your success,

Coach Joe

Joseph Arangio helps 40+ men and women get leaner, stronger, and happier. He's delivered over 100,000 transformation programs to satisfied clients around the globe. If you want to lose weight from home, with the best online age-management personal trainer, or you want to visit the best longevity personal trainer in the Lehigh Valley, you can take a free 14-day trial.