Before you begin any weight loss efforts, you should make certain that you have all the knowledge that you need. Planning is the key to your best efforts in everything that you do, whether it is learning to speak Russian, preparing a good spaghetti carbonara, or removing extra weight. The more you know, the much easier your efforts will be. For example, if you are learning to speak Russian (and why would you!) you would almost certainly decide whether you want to use books, audio tapes or check out courses to learn the language first hand.