Quick -- grab a pen and paper if you want to lose weight and keep it off. It worked for dieters in one of the largest and longest weight-loss maintenance trials ever conducted. The more food journals dieters kept, the more weight they lost.

Dieters followed the DASH diet -- it's low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat; emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods; includes whole-grain products, fish, poultry, and nuts; encourages fewer servings of red meat, sweets, and sugar-containing beverages; and is rich in magnesium, potassium, calcium, protein, and fiber. These folks also attended weekly group sessions and exercised for at least 30 minutes per day. And some jotted down everything they ate -- these are the lucky ones who after six months lost twice as much weight as those who did not journal what and how much they'd eaten.

Simple stuff. Eat. Write it down. Eat. Write it down. It's one way for your to take a critical look at your eating habits. Here's exactly how you do it.

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Be honest: Do you ever take a moment to think about what your food packaging does to the environment? I do, and I cringe a bit when I head to my favourite salad bar, where the only takeout option is a non-reusable plastic container. Hey -- at least it's not Styrofoam. But if you don't think about how much waste that lunch of your is producing, you should. By now, I don't think any of us can feign ignorance towards the fact that we're destroying our earth piece by piece.

CHOW recently rated popular brands of take-out containers by their eco-friendly factor. Not surprisingly, Styrofoam came out on the bottom of the list, meaning it's the worst thing you can take your food home in. Not only is it bad for the earth -- it's bad for your health too. In fact, many cities are trying to pass laws to outlaw Styrofoam. Maybe it's time you considered banning it from your own home or workplace.

Want to know where other containers ranked? Click here for the whole story.

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Today, I made the change. I said "no, thanks" to my grocery store bagger when he offered me paper or plastic and instead allowed my new green totes to shimmy up to my cashier where she promptly handed them over to Mr. Bagger -- who then shared with me a few facts about my eco-bags.

Bagger Boy told me the tote trend makes life a bit hard for baggers because they hold so much darn food. Typically, like foods are stashed together and with plastic, this works well. The bags are small and it's not a big deal to use a pretty good stack of them if necessary (well, it is a big deal, environmentally speaking). But the roomier alternatives often lead to food cramming. Un-like foods sometimes end up together -- think bread with eggs with cereal boxes -- and this is well, problematic, said the guy strategically placing my kids' popsicles with my few crates of strawberries.

Bagger Boy also told me these planet-safe bags aren't doing customers any favors. With the high cost of everything nowadays, people like to believe they're getting a lot for their money. You get a lot with plastic. Not so much with totes -- I have six, for example, and will rarely use that many -- so buyers feel they're getting less for more.

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Think you're making a pretty good attempt at going green? You might want to think again. Sunday's Parade Magazine tells readers that just because something is marketed as green doesn't mean it actually is. Take paper shopping bags. Pick them over plastic and you're doing a great thing, right? Not exactly. They are biodegradable but it still takes four times more energy to manufacture paper than plastic, leading to even more air and water pollution. Oops. Opt for sturdy, reusable totes and you'll be doing the planet a favor.

Have you been picking up organic processed snacks at the store lately? If so, then stop. These processed treats require hugs amounts of energy to produce, pack, and ship. Snacking on whole foods that are locally or organically grown is so much better.

Are you a fan of recycling your plastic water bottles. Good for you, if you are. But even better than using these bottles in the first place is to sip tap water from a safe reusable metal bottle. Why? Because we dispose of about 70 million plastic bottles every day. Fewer than 15 percent are recycled.

Surprising stuff? There's more right here -- like how to redecorate your house in the greenest way possible, how to buy the best green car, and what eco-friendly duds to wear.

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Yeah, I know -- recycling may not appear to be related to the topic of fitness. But in reality, it is! Maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle not only includes the physical being, but the emotional and mental one as well. Doing small parts to help the planet definitely falls into this venue.

Where I live, some of the smaller communities have no curbside recycling. In an age of many adults being overworked and having less time that ever before, trying to mount a recycling project that requires effort by those needing to recycle can fall flat on its face.

Enter a hybrid trash collection/recycling program. Talk to your local wasts disposal authorities and find out if adding a separate recycling program onto trash trucks would make sense. Then, the only effort to get consumers to recycle is to have a bin where plastic, paper and glass products can be collected. Encourage this and get involved with the city council if necessary. One by one and little by little, the difference can be made.

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If you're a parent at home trying to entertain your kids while giving them the opportunity to get fit and burn off some steam, here are some simple, fun and inexpensive ideas to help.

Paper plate hop scotch: Take five to ten paper plates and print large numbers on them. Place them on carpeted floor or grass in a straight line, or scatter them out in random order. Have kids jump from plate to plate in numeric order. If your child can not count yet, forget the numbers and simply have them jump from plate to plate

Plastic cup relay races: Place five cups at the edge of your largest room several inches apart from each other. Start your child at the opposite side of the room. Have her race to get each cup individually and place them on her starting side of the room. For a greater workout, use more cups!

Have you recently been through a serious break up? Are you still mourning the break up? A clue to tell if you have really gone on with your life is to look around the house. Do you still have old pictures of the two of you out and do you still have souvenirs that you collected together on trips. Have you kept an old phone message that occasionally you listen to or is there a piece of clothing still hanging in your closet from your ex that you haven't returned or thrown in the trash? It is a good chance that you are still lingering in the relationship. It's time to clear the clutter in your house and in your mind and take that first step into the freedom of happy thoughts again.

It's time to get back out and start laughing with friends again. Quit feeling guilty or pointing blame and accept what is done and walk away. Get to know yourself again and what you value most in life and what makes you happy. Spend some time pampering yourself because you deserve it. Take time to honestly reflect on the things, habits, morals, judgments of your past relationships and know what does not work with your needs. Recognizing those things will save yourself some future pain and heartache by getting into the same patterns over and over. Standing on your own two feet will make you stronger and you will realize that you don't just have to accept the first person that comes along if they do not have the qualities that you desire. The sooner you can be truly happy with yourself the sooner you will clear the way for the love you really want in your life.