Dieting can be really daunting sometimes. Participating in dieting, no matter if you're planning to lose fat, gain muscle, cut back on sodium or watch your cholesterol, means that you'll have to change your lifestyle one way or another to see the results you want. I think we can also all agree that there is no specific way to achieve one's dietary goals. Some diets, though, work better than others.

I think we've all scrolled through social media and heard about someone trying a new fad diet that is just "working so well" for them. I swear I've seen everything from a ketosis diet to intermittent fasting among people in my social circle. These diets ask a lot of you sometimes, whether it's dramatically cutting carbs or caloric intake at all for long periods of the day. Some people have a will-power of steel and get through these diets no problem, but I am definitely not one of those people.

So what do people like me do? We tend to fall short of completing the fad diets because we're really stubborn about changing the way we eat. Ask any one of my close friends and they well tell you that I am a vacuum cleaner when it comes to food. I will eat anything, everything and your leftovers if you have any. But what I've found works for establishing a habit is just cutting down on the foods that do us in slowly, one at a time.

Don't cut the ice cream out cold-turkey. Don't stop drinking soda if you have it with every lunch outing. Don't stop snacking on chips and salsa whenever you're binge watching "The Office." Just pick a thing you think is hurting your odds the most, and have less of it. Instead of four scoops of ice cream after dinner this week, have three. Cut it down to two scoops next week or the week after. It's the little things that make the whole process of establishing a diet so much easier for people like me. This is also a strategy that works well when you're trying to eat more of a healthy food. When you're out to eat, try picking the steamed broccoli for one of your two sides instead of the fries.

As a college student, there's no way I can just clean out my fridge and replace its contents with healthier food--especially when I share the fridge with other people who don't have the same goals as I do. The most reasonable things to do is cut down what is comfortable for me and to make better decisions about healthy eating wherever I can. This isn't the greatest method if you're trying to shave off fat as soon as possible before the upcoming beach season, but it may help you change your life for the better in the long-term. Slowly dissolving unhealthy habits and replacing them with beneficial ones will only set you up for better decisions in the future and a healthier life. It's a great place to start.