My mind is keenly alert and aware, while my body relaxes, perfectly.....

I am taking a very deep breath now.....

As I inhale I notice how my chest expands to take in each cleansing breath.

As I exhale, I notice how all of tension leaves my lungs..... I feel good, I feel fine, I feel perfectly and completely, relaxed..... Nothing will disturb me.

Each and every breath that I take is assisting me in relaxing deeply, soundly and perfectly.

I am thinking about a place that is very relaxing..... As I firmly picture that place in my mind, my body relaxes perfectly.

All of my cares are just drifting away.

I may feel myself relaxing in this very calm and peaceful place. I feel and see and hear and smell this scene of deep, relaxation. All of my cares are drifting away. I know I can always bring them back when I want to, but I prefer to let them drift away..... As my cares are drifting away..... My body relaxes deeply, soundly and perfectly.....

When I go to bed tonight, I will sleep soundly as well. I will let all tension of day drift off into space. Now I am ready to emerge from this wonderful state of mind. Whatever was bothering me before this session will cease to bother me at all.

Whenever I use this exercise, I will find myself relaxing very quickly and very deeply.

At count of three, I will emerge from this condition. One..... Two.....Three..... I am wide awake..... alert..... and feeling good in every way!

How are you feeling? I hope you are feeling great. This exercise may take you three to five minutes initially. Read this script into a tape recorder or other recording device. Use it any time you desire. The best time to beat stress is before it has a chance to take hold. Use this exercise before entering those stressful periods of day. This will make it harder for stress to take hold. Then, use it while going through periods of stress. Finally, use it just after a stressful period.

Once you practice this exercise, you will be able to relax in just about a minute. Five or ten strategically placed "mental vacations," will vastly improve your life.

2. Add yogurt, whey, or dietary supplement Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) to your daily intake.

3. Drink water--lots of water!

4. Exercise--start walking and using that ab-doer you have stashed away in closet. Do any exercise you want. The important point here is to start moving.

5. Limit your calories at snack time to no more than 200-250.

6. Don’t eat for four hours prior to going to bed. If you go to bed at midnight, then don’t eat after 8pm. Never go to bed feeling full!

7. Keep a journal. This isn’t "write-down-everything-you-eat-journal." It should be a journal where you write your thoughts and feelings, successes and failures, weights and measurements. It’s your "everything-journal." You can record foods you eat if you want, but that is not sole purpose of this journal.

Look for future articles where there will be more detail about aforementioned subjects. Salt intake, yogurt, water, calories, and journaling will be topics of discussion.