Losing weight isn’t easy. Especially when our lives are so hectic, making it difficult to stick to an exercise program or to cook healthy meals. It’s also hard to consistently make smart choices when we’re faced with too many options—and the smartest ones aren’t usually the easiest or most convenient.

The key to weight loss success is creating a regimen. When you build your efforts into your schedule, it’s so much easier to keep up with them. Also, once you establish healthy habits and start thinking of your routine as inflexible, you won’t be faced with nearly as many of those tough decisions that make it so easy to veer of track.

Here are 15 tips for creating an effective weight loss regimen:

1. Write down your plan and keep it where you’ll see it every day
2. Start with small fitness goals, such as exercising for just 5 minutes three times per week
3. Repeat your exercise regimen until it becomes an automatic habit, then increase it a little
4. Plan to vary your exercises so you don’t get bored with them and for more comprehensive workouts
5. Schedule regular grocery shopping trips to buy healthy food; you can’t make smart eating choices if you don’t always have healthy food on hand
6. Establish set meal times and don’t skip them; skipping meals just leads to overeating later, plus it deprives you of energy and makes it hard to focus
7. Get in the habit of only eating sitting down at the table, completely focused on your food (no phone, TV, tablet, book, or other distractions while you eat)
8. Also develop the habit of eating slowly and paying attention to when you’re no longer hungry
9. Build five or six glasses of water into your daily routine to help stay hydrated, prevent hunger, and get other benefits
10. Build two or three glasses of organic fruit and/or vegetable juice into your day as well
11. Also include three healthy snacks in your schedule every day
12. Pre-portion your healthy snacks so they’re always available as an easy option
13. Begin each day by thinking through all your goals and your plan for achieving them, and reaffirming your commitment to your weight loss routine
14. End each day with some stretching before bed to stay limber and reduce your risk of injury while exercising, and to help de-stress and sleep well
15. A healthy lifestyle regimen includes specific times to rest and good sleep hygiene, too