Being an avid fitness person all of my life and now working closely with FitDeck, I've talked to many people about strategies and tactics for losing weight and getting in shape. Unfortunately many people seem to overlook one key aspect of achieving their fitness goals: diet.

Recently I was speaking with someone at a networking event about fitness apps for iPhone. His app of choice was iFitness. I'll admit that it's a good app for serious weight lifters and gym-goers. He liked the app but mentioned that he still wanted to shed some pounds. When I asked him point blank, "How's your diet and nutrition?", his facial expression turned slightly to guilt as he looked down at the slice of pepperoni pizza in his hand.

The fact of the matter is that, when looking to achieve your fitness goals, the first place to start is your diet. There are many good books and resources out there that can help. However, in the name of keeping it simple, I suggest the following:

1. Limit your calories. This should be a no-brainer. If you are taking in more calories than you are expending you cannot lose weight.
2. Balance your diet. Make sure that you are eating a good balance of carbs, proteins and fats.
3. Eat healthy foods. Stay away from fast food, overly processed foods, trans fats, and extremely salty or sugary foods. Instead focus on home-cooked whole foods: fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, grains and legumes.
4. Eat often to keep your metabolism up. To do this, you can continue to eat three "square" meals a day (while keeping the above suggestions in mind!) and make sure that you eat small snacks (such as nuts or carrots) between meals so that you don't go more than 3 hours without food. Also be sure to eat breakfast when you wake up to kickstart your metabolism!
5. Bonus! For added benefit, start a simple exercise program such as FitDeck Mobile!