One guaranteed way to fail is to look for a "short cut" weight loss method or diet. You know what I mean: the type of program that promises "a fast effortless way to reduce weight". In my experience, none of these diets or pills actually work, and the medical evidence is quite clear: the maximum rate of sustainable fat loss is between 1 and 2 pounds per week, perhaps a little more if you are obese. Besides, if a brilliant scientist did manage to concoct a formula for rapid effortless weight reduction, overnight he would be more famous than Einstein. He certainly wouldn't be peddling his program in 30-second TV infommercials or mail-order advertisements. So for the sake of your sanity as well as your financial health, don't waste time on weight loss methods that make extravagant claims. If you don't believe this, think of any of your overweight friends who favor the short-term "lose 20 pounds in two weeks" type of approach, and ask yourself why they are still overweight.

You can't lose much weight in a week or two. You need about three months to make a significant impact on your body shape. Remember, the human body is interested in survival, not cosmetic appearances, and since rapid weight loss is a prima facie symptom of disease not good health, the only guaranteed way to improve your body shape is to adopt a gradual approach of healthy eating and increased exercise. In three months, you can lose about 26 pounds - more than enough for most overweight people to experience noticeable health improvements as well as a much leaner body. And by reducing your weight gradually in this manner, you have far less chance of weight regain, so if necessary you can continue losing more with less danger of incurring a weight loss plateau or other obstacle.

No one likes to change their habits. So if you want to change your eating and exercise habits, you need a strong motive - something to keep you dieting and exercising when boredom sets in. Whatever motive you choose, it must be something more powerful than the urge to eat tasty high calorie foods in front of the TV!

Anything that commits you in advance to achieving your weight loss goal, makes a great motive. So be bold. Book an expensive beach holiday, or buy some gorgeous clothes to fit the body you want to have at the end of your diet program. Both these actions require you to succeed, and therefore provide constant motivation along the way.

In my experience, both with private clients as well as dieters who belong to my weight loss forum, men and celebrities exhibit the strongest motivation. Men, I suspect, because typically they have a narrower range of daily tasks and responsibilities than women. Celebrities, because typically they have a powerful commercial motivation to maintain their physical appearance. I offer weight loss help to a number of celebrity figures, some of whom are regulars on my forum, and I am always impressed with their ability to make short-term sacrifices to further their longer term goals. I guess that's why they achieve so much.

Whether you're trying to lose weight for the summer, save money or pass exams, an important piece of the motivational jigsaw is your ability to be positive about making short term sacrifices. The choice is fairly simple: you can focus on the "deprivation" involved in giving up certain foods, or you can focus on the benefits you will get by not eating these foods. Sadly, many dieters focus on feeling deprived. After a while they see their diet as a burden, a bore, an evil necessity. This is why so many of them quit. They can't "see" the benefits that weight loss will bring them. If you want to improve your body shape for the summer, you must avoid this trap and appreciate the longer term benefits you will receive by making short-term adjustments to your lifestyle.

Many of our tastes, food cravings, and general attitudes to food are strongly influenced by what we eat and drink. I know countless mothers with families who have reported astonishing changes in their personal and family eating habits after less than three weeks of improved eating. Point is, the average modern diet is loaded with sugar, fat and sodium, all of which condition us to want more of these items. But if you can break out of this dependence on junk-ingredients for even 2-3 weeks, you'll notice a huge difference in your tastes. Which brings me to healthy eating.

In my experience, one of the most effective weight loss strategies is to focus on healthy eating. I'm not saying you shouldn't stand on your weighing scales, just don't measure progress exclusively by what the scales say. Be aware that it's just as important to enjoy your food and feel good about your change of eating habits. And any diet you hate is guaranteed to fail, no matter how much weight you lose, because as soon as you achieve your goal, you will revert to your old eating habits and regain every pound lost.

In a nutshell, a healthy diet involves (1) More home-cooked food, less eating out. (2) More fresh fruit as snacks. (3) More fresh vegetables as snacks and with meals. (4) More beans as sides or in stews. (5) More dense chewy bread, less refined white breads and bread snacks. (6) More fish, skinless chicken/turkey, less red meat. (7) Smaller servings of red meat, larger servings of vegetables. (8) Eating low fat dairy foods. (9) Adding less fat in the form of butter, mayo, sour cream, to the food on your plate. This is a huge source of excessive calories. (10) Stocking up with healthy snack foods to keep hunger at bay. If you fill up with healthy nutritious calories, you won't want the junk foods that hunger makes you eat. As far as weight management goes, hunger remains Public Enemy Number One.

Exercise does burn extra calories and therefore does help to widen your calorie deficit. But it's direct effect on weight loss is typically quite small. In fact, it's not uncommon to gain weight when you start exercising. The real weight reduction benefits of exercise are indirect ones. It raises our metabolic rate, helping us to burn calories at a slightly faster rate, and improves our mood, which typically reduces our need for comfort-eating. However, don't overdo your exercise workouts. I've lost count of the number of dieters who started exercising too vigorously and burnt out within 3 weeks. Ideally, start with 45 minutes/day of any physical activity you can easily manage, and very gradually increase the duration and intensity. Listen to your body at all times, and be sure to loosen up beforehand and wind down afterwards.

If your goal is a waistline you can proudly display in the sun, then don't wait until it happens to "see" it. Visualize it from the moment you start dieting. Visualize yourself walking along a beach, or lying next to the pool with a perfectly flat stomach. Whatever your ambition for your weight or body, get used to visualizing it in the greatest possible detail. Because "seeing it" is the first step to making it come true. As they say, one picture is worth a thousand words.

If you have a lot of weight to lose (100 pounds+), you may not think that losing 26 pounds in three months is particularly worthwhile. If so, ask yourself this question. What's the alternative? No matter what method you choose, you won't lose weight any faster, so it's only a question of when you start and how long it's going to take. I can answer the last question right now. Losing 100 pounds takes about a year - typically a little longer to allow for disasters along the way. Fifteen months would be a more realistic time span to reduce weight by this amount. This is nothing. Just visualize yourself walking down the street 100 pounds lighter, and tell me that eating healthily for 15 months is too high a price to pay for such a wonderful prospect.

If you really want to lose weight for the summer, your first priority is to find support. Join a diet-group at work, or a fitness class, or go to weight loss meetings. Or join an online forum. Losing weight on your own is perfectly possible, providing things go well and your scales keep saying nice things. But when difficulties arise, as they surely will, having the support of real people can make all the difference between success and failure. If you experience difficulty finding support, try my own weight loss forum. It's great fun and very inspirational.

The problem is that there are many nonconscious issues that often sabotage our best-laid plans. This article will help you understand some of what may be preventing you from making the forward progress that you want.

One of the first things to look at is your need strength profile. This is a self-assessment that determines which of a person’s five basic needs drives the majority of that person’s behavior. All of us have the same five basic needs but freedom may be my highest need, while love & belonging may be yours and survival may be someone else’s. The other two needs are power and fun. These all play a huge role in why we do the things we do in the way we do them.

Next it is important to seriously consider all the things you want in your life, not just your weight loss goals but the whole of everything you want to do, have and experience in your life. Ask yourself the question, "What do I want? If I could have anything, what would it be? What do I really, truly want?"

After that, you want to narrow down what you want to a complete vision of how things will change for you after losing the weight you want to lose. What will you have that you don’t have now? What will you do differently? How will you be different? You must be able to clearly see the finished version of what you are attempting to accomplish with all its accompanying perks. This will become your own personal mental movie or daydream of how you want your life to be after accomplishing your weight loss goals. You will begin to visualize your success at least once a day.

The next step is to record all the things you do that both help or hinder your progress toward your weight loss plan. So, for example, if you were able to resist donuts for breakfast, write that down. If you ordered dessert after a meal at a restaurant, record that as well. In addition to the actual behaviors, you also must write down the thoughts and feelings you experience that either help or hinder your progress, too.

So, if you think to yourself, “It’s OK if I have this piece of chocolate. I was really good yesterday”—write that down. Then, if you have the thought, “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels”—write that down too. If you’re feeling bored and you grab a bag of potato chips, record the boredom feeling. If you feel elated when you skip a favorite dessert, write that down also. Keep track of everything you do, think and feel that either helps or impedes your progress toward your weight loss goals.

The next step is to critically evaluate the things you are doing, thinking and feeling and ask yourself the difficult question—“If I keep doing everything the way I’ve been doing it, will I end up with what I REALLY want? Will I accomplish the vision I have of my new life that I created in my mental movie?”

If your answer is yes, then great! You probably don’t even need to continue reading this article. Just keep doing what you are doing and you will get there. However, if your answer is no, then read on.

If your answer is no, then hopefully you have been successful in creating some cognitive dissonance for yourself. This is an uncomfortable feeling that provides you with information that you need to make some changes. Without experiencing this cognitive dissonance, it’s easy to continue with the bad habits we have developed over time. People generally don’t implement changes in their lives unless they are in some serious pain.

If you’re not moving forward toward your goal, the first thing you need to examine is: Do you have a burning desire to accomplish your goal? Whatever your weight and fitness goal is, you must have a burning desire to accomplish it.

Another possibility is that up until now you haven’t had a very good plan about how to go about losing weight. Without a solid plan, there will easily be loopholes allowing you to sabotage your success. Willpower alone only takes us so far when we are fighting our brain’s conditioning.

A third possibility is that you want something else that is competing with your weight loss plan. There are many possibilities to consider but you will find some clues, either hidden or obvious, in the list of your behaviors, thought and emotions that you previously developed. What do you do, think and feel instead of the things that will ensure your success with your weight loss plan? An excellent question to ask yourself is: “What would you have to give up to become successful with your weight loss goals?”

Once you become conscious of the other things you want in addition to losing weight, you have some decisions to make. Is the thing you want something you want more than losing weight? If it is, then you can decide to give up on the idea of losing weight and simply be content doing, having or obtaining the other thing you want. You will then have a new goal toward which to work.

Another option is to consciously decide that you want to lose weight more than anything else. If that occurs, then you must specifically target your personal areas of temptation in your neural reconditioning program, which I will explain later.

Finally, the last option involves figuring out some kind of compromise so that you can have some of each of the things you want. For example, I just read in a magazine of a movie star who restricts her carbohydrate intake six days a week but then she allows herself as much pizza as she wants on Sundays. That’s a workable compromise.

The final question to ask yourself is: “Am I willing to do the necessary work to make my plan come to fruition?”

There are several things to take into account when making a plan. You must consider your most important needs and be sure to build in way to meet those needs while still losing weight. If your biggest need is love & belonging, then you may want a partner to work with you. If survival is your biggest need, then you will need to build in a way for you to feel safe.

If power is your highest need, then what you want to think about is perhaps making your weight loss a competition somehow. If your highest need is freedom, then you must begin to think about things, people, activities or places that allow you to feel free that won’t impede your weight loss progress and add them to your weight loss plan. If your highest need is fun, then you must find a way to make your weight loss fun for you.

The next step is to develop positive affirmations that support your weight loss goals. You must begin to reprogram the negative thoughts that are standing in the way of you accomplishing your goals. Oftentimes, these thoughts are even out of your conscious awareness but they prevent your success nonetheless.

Affirmations are positive, present, time sensitive statements affirming what you want to be true. Research shows that our brains do not know the difference between the truth and a lie. When you affirm a particular thought, value or belief in your mind frequently enough over a long enough period of time, your brain will begin to believe it. Consequently, the brain will mobilize its strong forces to do whatever it takes to manifest the thing you are claiming to be true in your life.

Write out as many affirmations as you want to support your goals. You may have affirmations about food, exercise, thoughts and anything else that will help you move in the direction of accomplishing your goals. There is no limit to how long your list of affirmations can be. You decide how much time you want to spend with them each day, with five minutes twice daily being the minimum. You should recite your affirmations once upon first waking up and then at the end of the day just before going to sleep.

It is helpful to look yourself in the eyes while saying your affirmation. You can do this, of course, with the use of a mirror. Look yourself in the eyes, as though daring the person in the mirror to dispute the truth of what you are saying. Repeat your affirmations with passion and conviction twice daily. If you can fit them in a third time around lunch, even better.

Next, you want to spend some time analyzing your food triggers—those things that prompt you to eat the wrong foods and to eat when you are not hungry.

Many people have substituted food to meet their needs in an unhealthy way. We eat when we are depressed, excited, stressed, bored, angry, or scared. Different people for a variety of reasons use emotions as triggers to eat. And it’s not as if we are diving into the refrigerator to pull out an apple or some carrots! No! We are reaching for the chocolate or the potato chips. And no, these are not in the 5th food group!

Emotions are only one thing that we use for a food trigger. Sometimes we eat to be social. Sometimes we eat because the food is free. Sometimes we eat because we are experiencing a particular craving. Sometimes we eat for comfort. Sometimes we eat because the clock tells us it’s time to do so.

Other times, we will eat when we are not hungry because we paid for the meal. We were told we must clean our plate and not waste food. We tell ourselves we don’t like leftovers so we better eat it up or maybe there isn’t enough to save and we don’t want to throw good food away.

In order to be successful with your new weight loss agenda, you must begin to think of food differently. No longer is food your best friend or the thing you reach for to comfort you. Food is simply fuel for your body. The only time to eat is when your body signals you that it is hungry and then you must be conscious of the food for which you reach.

Get conscious about the things you are doing as they pertain to weight loss. Paying attention and noting the events and circumstances that trigger your eating will provide you with a lot of information about what to do to fix things.

After analyzing your food triggers, it is appropriate to again ask the question, “What would you have to give up to accomplish the weight loss goals you’ve set?” You may have uncovered new information to consider.

If you’ve come this far, it’s time to construct your plan. First of all, this plan must be written. You are going to write yourself a contract! The first two items are your plan will include daily visualization of your new life and the recitation of your affirmations.

Include ways to get your primary needs met that won’t sabotage your weight loss efforts. Include elements of past successes that will add to your likelihood of success. Include efforts to do something different when you experience your strong food triggers. Be proactive about what you will do instead. Don’t simply write, “I will not eat when I am depressed.” Write what you will do instead.

When you are satisfied with the potential success of your plan, sign and date it. Then follow the plan you've made with dogged determination.

How serious is obesity in America? According to Kathleen Donnelly for MSN Health & Fitness, statistics show that “…60 percent of adult Americans weigh too much, and 17 percent of American children and teens are overweight.”  

And the problem continues to escalate. In the past thirty years, children in the USA are increasingly tipping the scales. The rise of obesity among children between the ages of 6 and 11 has gone from 4% to 13 % in three decades. Obesity in US children ages 12 to 19 has gone from 5% to 14%. And if a child is obese at the age of 6, it has a 50/50 chance of being obese for life. Obese thirteen year olds have a 75% likelihood of being obese for the rest of their lives. This problem is even more severe among blacks and Hispanics.  

To remedy their plight, 103,000 morbidly obese Americans living in the United States had gastric bypass surgery in 2003. The complication rate was 7%. 

What causes obesity?   

Several causes for obesity have been suggested, including heredity, social-economic conditions, diet, and exercise. Since we can’t control who our parents are, let’s focus on social-economic conditions, diet, and exercise. 

Obesity & Social-economic conditions

Numerous studies have concluded that there is a direct cause and effect relationship between a person’s level of education and their odds of being overweight. The greater their level of learning is, the slimmer their odds of obesity are. 

Of course, two obvious causes of obesity are dysfunctional diets and a lack of proper exercise. Americans are exercising less and less while simultaneously consuming too much junk food. The average US woman is now consuming 335 more calories per day than the average woman in 1971. Calorie intake among men has increased to an additional 168 calories per day. Is it any wonder that America is increasingly becoming an obese nation? 

 

Discomfort about one’s appearance, however, is not the only downside to obesity. There are numerous health risks associated with being overweight. Obese individuals have a higher-than-normal rate of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high lipids, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, strokes, respiratory disease, some types of cancers, heart disease, and other chronic and deadly conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts obesity will soon be America’s number one killer. In 2000, tobacco was linked to 435,000 deaths while obesity was close behind at 400,000 deaths.  

There are primarily three things that most experts recommend to help maintain a healthy weight level: 1) Getting the proper amount of exercise, 2) eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, and 3) supplementing one’s diet with nutritional products. 

The Value of Exercise 

If you’re considering going on a diet to lose weight, remember that the important thing is not just to lose weight, but to keep it off. In order to lose weight and keep it off, there is no substitute for exercise. One study reported by The National Weight Control Registry shows that out of 3,000 individuals who lost a minimum of 30 pounds and kept it off for more than a year, only 9 percent lost weight without exercising.

The proper amount of exercise that an individual should get of course varies from individual to individual. To make certain you are getting the proper amount of exercise, consult your family physician.

Melissa Tennen, HealthAtoZ writer, says: “Get at least 30 minutes of activity on most days. To prevent weight gain, 60 minutes a day may be necessary.” 

The short answer to the question, “What is a healthy diet?” is to eat a well-balanced diet that is as close as possible to the way nature intended. Fast foods and highly-processed foodless foods have been proven to have ill-effects on one’s health. Many are high in calories and low in nutritional value. 

Yet not everyone has the time, the money, or the ability to eat “The Perfect Diet.” So what’s the solution?

No doubt, in a perfect world, we would not need vitamin pills, diet pills, and other nutritional supplements. We’d simply get everything our body needs from our food. But let’s get a reality check: This is not Eden. And getting everything your body needs from your diet alone is almost impossible. Plus, if you are overweight, you need extra help.

What to look for in a Weight-Loss Pill 

If you’re looking for “The Perfect Weight Loss Pill,” there are a number of things to consider. Here are just a few:

Most companies compromise on their nutrients. They use poorly absorbed forms or synthetically derived fractions of nutrients.

For accelerated fat-loss support and increased performance, you need help with reducing hunger, utilizing fat, enhancing metabolism, and increasing true energy levels. Insist on a weight loss product that delivers all natural support for healthy weight loss, without using ephedra stimulants.

Also, avoid dangerous fat blockers. The perfect solution is to find a weight loss pill that works by helping support healthy digestion of stored fat and a healthy metabolism. Lipase is the enzyme responsible for breaking down fat, making it available for utilization as energy. Without lipase, fat is stored as excess body fat.

Research shows Citrin K™ and CLA as two powerful ingredients in helping maintain healthy fat burning. Also important are Guggul lipids and chelated minerals. They help maintain a healthy thyroid and will reduce cravings. Weight loss pills containing these ingredients make for a healthier, safer and more effective body fat reduction formula.

Special types of fiber will expand in your stomach and will reduce your hunger without stimulation and drug-like effects. This, in turn, will help to nutritionally support healthy body fat levels. 

Finally, the most needed factor in losing body fat is keeping your energy levels up so you have the energy burn more fat.

Are there really any nutrients available today that help promote healthy and safe fat reduction? YES! Although there are many supplements today containing herbs like Guarana, MaHuang and Ephedra that can have potentially harmful side effects, there are still many that safely help the body reduce its fat stores.

Here are just a few of the most powerful nutrients which have been well-documented:

A study published in The Journal of Nutrition (December 2000, V12) established that the natural dietary supplement conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) reduces body fat. Jan Wadstein, MD, PhD, associate professor at Lund University in Sweden states, "CLA may be a valuable weight management supplement to any diet regimen. Keeping lean body mass and speeding up fat loss are the keys to a successful weight program." 

Another supplement essential for weight loss is natural organic acid extract from the rind of the Malabar tamarind called Garcinia Cambogia. This compound has been associated with gradual decrease in body fat, nutritionally supporting healthy cholesterol levels, and suppressing hunger cravings frequently. A study performed by Katts, et al, concluded the administration of Garcinia Cambogia reduced deposition of body fat and promoted increased weight loss in human subjects. Citrin K is a proprietary formula proven to suppress appetite. The best and most researched form of Garcinia Cambogia can be found in our proprietary blend called Citrin K. Citrin K also supplies potassium, which plays a major role in maintaining the body's fluid balance. There are other forms of Garcinia Cambogia on the market, but they don't have the potency guarantee that Citrin K does. 

Other micronutrients needed to support body fat metabolism include vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C and Zinc and Chromium. Look for a weight-loss supplement that will supply you with the highest quality of whole food vitamins and amino acid chelated minerals. This will help to nutritionally support a healthy metabolism, further enhancing your results. 

Theobromine is an extraordinary nutrient found in chocolate. It helps maintain healthy levels of stress, giving you a confident and powerful feeling of health. This is a vital component to look for in a weight control product because it nutritiously supports the body in appetite suppression and provides an energetic, euphoric effect. This is very important, as many people scrap weight loss programs because of irritability and their inability to curb cravings.

So if you want to lose weight and keep it off, get the proper amount of exercise, eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, and supplement your diet with a weigh loss pill that meets the aforementioned criteria. The final word on diet pills is this: “The Perfect Weight Loss Pill” should contain the most powerful and safest nutrients available to help you nutritionally support healthy fat burning metabolism without harmful stimulants.  

1. OBESITY in America. http://health.msn.com/reports/obesity/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100133520 .  

  

2. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1999.

  

3. Moran R. Evaluation and treatment of childhood obesity. Am Fam Physician. 1999;59:758, 761-762.

  

4. Hedley AA, Ogden CL, Johnson CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, Flegal KF. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among US children, adolescents, and adults, 1999-2002. JAMA. 2004;291:2847-2850.

  

5. Newman C. Why Are We So Fat? National Geographic. August 2004.

  

6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General's call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity: what you can do; 2001.

  

7. Newman C. Why Are We So Fat? National Geographic. August 2004.

  

8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General's call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity: what you can do; 2001.

  

9. Obesity Swallowing America http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/dc/caz/nutr/obes/alert08032004.jsp 

  

10. The Journal of Nutrition. Vol 130, No 12, Dec 2000.

  

11. Kaats GR. Reduction of body fat as a function of taking a dietary supplement containing garcinia cambogia extract, chromium picolinate and L-carnitine: A randomized double blind placebo controlled study. 3rd International Conference on Anti-aging Medicine and Bio-medical Technology. Las Vegas, NV., Dec. 7-11, 1995.

We decide to lose weight because of any number of reasons: we don’t like the way we look, our clothes don’t fit, our health is in danger, our significant other is wandering, our job is at risk, or our kids are embarrassed. We tend to think of weight loss as something that involves only our body; surely no one ever decided to lose weight because of a fat brain or a bloated mind.

Yet “we decide” is a mental function. When and why we make such a decision depends on our mind, not our body. We may make the decision when we are five pounds heavier than we would like, or after passing the two hundred pound mark and entering true medical obesity. The actual size of the body does not trigger the decision to lose weight, such a choice in made in the brain.

Since the start (and the continuation) of a diet program is a mental process, it would seem to be worthwhile to explore what factors might trigger such a decision.

Each of us has a dual image: the face we turn to the world and our internal idea of how we appear. Although we dress and groom ourselves in an effort to be seen as attractive by others, we are far less influenced by others than by our satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, with ourselves. 

Explore this concept by observing yourself and others over the course of the next week. You will notice that you often receive compliments on clothes you wear that, to you, don’t feel “quite right.” Wear a favorite outfit that fits perfectly, that you think looks outstanding, and that makes you feel especially dashing – and no one notices! The same phenomenon occurs with a hairstyle. One morning, rushed for time, you can’t get your hair to do anything so you angrily pull it back with clips and hope that no one important sees you looking so awful. Voila! Three people comment that they like what you’ve done with your hair.

There is the same disconnect when it comes to our weight. If we look good in our mind’s eye, we don’t feel fat, even if friends and coworkers are whispering about our steady weight gain. However, if we see ourselves as overweight, no amount of reassurance from those around us is going to make us feel less fat. Carried to the extreme, this mental picture of our body size can lead to the eating disorder anorexia nervosa in which painfully thin individuals continue to dangerously restrict their caloric intake because they consistently see themselves as too heavy.

We decide to go on a diet, therefore, in response to our internal self-image. Some of the benefits we envision that go along with being slim and fit do take others into account: I will be more attractive to the opposite sex; I’ll be noticed at work when it’s time for a promotion; my family and friends will be jealous and will have to re-evaluate me as a stronger person than they had thought. But the real payoff for getting in shape is what it does for us personally. It is the desire to feel great about ourselves that carries us through the pain and monotony of diet and exercise. It is the future vision of ourselves in our mind that spurs us toward our goal. Losing that vision, or concluding that we won’t feel that much better about ourselves, are the reasons we give up and fall back into the relative comfort of settling for just “okay.”

We all wage a lifelong internal battle between our body and our mind. Each is dominant at different stages of development. As infants, we are little more than a collection of sensations. We explore the exciting new world around us through touching everything within reach, tasting everything we can put into our mouths, watching the movements of everything around us, and listening to all the sounds we hear until we eventually learn to imitate them.

As we move into our early school years, we start to concentrate on our minds. We voraciously devour immense amounts of information. We learn to read and our world expands its boundaries by a thousand percent. We learn to use the Internet and a limitless universe is at our fingertips.

Then we move into puberty and, overnight, our appearance becomes the dominating factor in our everyday lives. We navigate the pitfalls and pleasures of adolescence where popularity and being cool are so much more vital than mere learning or mental development. We spend an inordinate amount of time on our bodies. We try new clothes, new hairstyles, and new makeup. We have body parts pierced and undergo the pain of a tattoo because it will make us stand out. We primp, and groom, and force ourselves into the styles our peers have judged as “in.”

As we mature, we seek to balance our mental and physical selves. While our bodies reign supreme in the attract-a-mate environment, we need to exercise our minds to advance our careers and to develop deep relationships that move far beyond mere physical attraction.

It is when we settle down, and start to build the good life we want, that our efforts and energies turn towards things outside ourselves: children, significant others, friends, family, and work pursuits. We have so much happening around us and so much to do that we lose touch with both our bodies and our minds. We slip into our own comfort zone where so many of our needs are fulfilled by food. It eases our anxiety, relieves our frequent frustrations, and makes periodic bouts of the blues bearable. It oils our social interactions. It becomes a vital cog in how we demonstrate affection for those we love. We continue to see ourselves as we have always been and ignore the love handles and pockets of fat that attach themselves to parts of our body we resolutely ignore. Our bodies, and our internal image of our bodies, become more and more discordant.

Self-efficacy is a term used in psychology to describe an individual’s belief that any action they take will have an effect on the outcome. It is not self-confidence, nor a belief that one is competent to do something, although it may involve both. It reflects our inner expectation that what we do will effect the results we want.

If I lack this belief, then I fear that whatever I do will not bring about my desired goal. Bordering on helplessness, it leads to self-defeating thoughts:

“No matter how carefully I diet, I don’t lose weight . . .” “I could work out every day but I’ll never get rid of these thunder thighs . . .” “I try to eat healthier foods but my hips just keep on spreading . . .” “No matter what techniques I try, nothing is going to keep the wrinkles away . . .”

If I have a strong sense of self-efficacy, my belief system and thought patterns will sound like:

“All I have to do is get motivated and I can whip my body into shape in a few weeks . . .” “I just need to pick a date to start my diet and I’ll be on my way . . .” “I may have neglected myself for a while but some hard work will bring me back . . .”

Whether or not we start a diet, decide to get in shape, or start taking better care of ourselves is, ultimately, a personal decision which may, or may not, be made as we have planned. The difference lies in the expectation of success and it is always easier to set out on a journey we anticipate will be successful than it is to drag ourselves toward a goal where failure is the most likely outcome.

How can we combine these concepts to work for us in our desire to become slim, fit, and attractive?

We begin by examining our self-image and how we appear to others. Merely asking others “Do you think I’m getting too heavy?” doesn’t work unless you have a brutally honest friend or you ask someone who dislikes you. Most of us are culturally trained to spare others’ feelings so responses to such a question are more likely to be polite than true.

Concentrating on specifics can produce better feedback. Tell everyone that you’re completing a survey for a class you’re taking. Hand out a brief one page questionnaire requiring that each friend or coworker list three adjectives to describe different aspects of your physical appearance. Complete one of the sheets yourself. Make sure that the answers are anonymous by requesting that no names be used and having someone else collect the completed sheets.

Once you have the responses back, compare them to your own answers and see where the descriptions diverge. You may find yourself becoming a little defensive: “My hips aren’t that big . . . my clothes do too make me look slim.” This isn’t an exercise to make you feel bad about yourself nor for you to gloat over the unexpected complimentary remarks you received. It is an organized effort to help you identify where your self-image and your image-in-the-world move apart. Those areas of divergence are a place to start in the effort to make the two images overlap.

Once the areas where work is needed have been identified, it is time to call on the immeasurable strength of our wonderful mind to start imposing the structure and organization we are going to need to effect the desired changes. Our mind can only get us where we want to go if it is supported by a belief in our ability to bring about a successful conclusion. Now is the time to dismiss any expectations of failure. There may have been many unsuccessful dieting and fitness attempts in the past. Leave them in the past. We are not somehow doomed to continue unproductive behaviors forever. We possess that jewel of evolution, the human mind, which is capable of just about anything. If we set our mind to any task, it will accomplish it, if our doubts and misgivings don’t get in its way.

We build up our positive expectations by exploring our memories to pile up a long list of prior successes. There may be major benchmarks such as bringing about a promotion we wanted, orchestrating a fantastic event, or working ourselves into an intensely satisfying relationship. However, the small personal triumphs count the most but are usually quickly forgotten or discounted as unimportant. 

Studying hard and obtaining a good grade in a difficult class clearly demonstrates your ability to bring about the results you want. Go for quantity: the day you smiled at someone across a smoky room and ended up with a brief but lovely affair; the report you brought in on time which no one expected; the night you mastered a spin on ice skates. Keep going: making the drill team, shooting a stolen basket, making your own prom dress, dying your hair a wonderful color in your own bathroom, catching a fly ball, figuring out new software on your computer, burning your first CD. The list can be endless and will be, as you keep remembering snippets of the past that you had long buried under more important things.

Keep this list close by and read it regularly. It is your personal self-efficacy pep squad.

You now know the areas you are going to work on and are developing a belief in the effectiveness of your own efforts. Now you need to identify the internal rewards that successful weight loss will bring. Feeling good about yourself, enjoying stepping on a scale, and easily zipping up your clothes are easy starters. Unselfconsciously walking to the pool in a brief suit is a reinforcement to dream about. Making a sales presentation with the confidence that you are looking your absolute best is an image to relish as you fall asleep. Seeing someone you love watch you admiringly, or seeing your competitive coworker jealous, underscores your resolve and keeps you going through the discomfort of dieting and the demands of boring exercise routines.

You know where you’re going, you know what it’s going to take, and you know you’re going to be successful. Your mind is fully prepared, simply awaiting your day of decision. You’ll make that decision whenever you choose because you are now in control.

A ketogenic diet is simply defined as a low carb, moderate protein, and high-fat diet that places the human body into a metabolic state known as ketosis. 

This diet has been tested by several studies and researchers and is proven to help in weight loss and also helps reduce risk factors for diabetes, hearth disease, stroke, Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and more. 

Although, one of the most popular benefits of a low carb diet is that it helps lose weight effortlessly and effectively.