Exercise Three: Keep a Journal of Your Daily Successes

Keep a record of all positive changes in thoughts you have about yourself. We all have triumphs and ‘failures’. You must record and remind yourself of positive changes because our human nature will replay negatives - sometimes blowing them out of proportion. It’s important to nurture and celebrate small steps you make every day.

Exercise Four: Go Easy On Yourself – You Are Beautiful Work In Progress

Don’t listen to criticism…not your own nor that of others! Remember you are designer of your self-esteem, do not hand this over to other people. You are way too important to give this away. Protect your role as creator of your own self-image and do not, take on board negative criticisms. We all make mistakes, and mistakes can be used to help us learn. Do not criticise yourself for being human and making a mistake. The only last mistake in one from which we never learn to grow.

Exercise Five: Forget About The Past

The only moment you can live is current one. You can’t live in future and you most certainly shouldn’t live in past….the challenge is to take charge of our thinking so that we think in same time zone in which we live!

For example we may be tempted to think about yesterday’s failures…”If only I hadn’t eaten second helpings”, “If only I didn’t reach for chocolate cookies”. If we concentrate on mistakes of yesterday this will our brains to replay our failures and reinforce them to us.

Yesterday is over, today is where you live….make sure that today you do NOT replay yesterday’s failures and make your resolve to change TODAY.

Exercise Six: Resolve to Change Today

Just as you shouldn’t live in past, you can’t live in future. You can only live or change today. The oldest cliché in world is perhaps one of greatest truisms of all…’tomorrow NEVER comes!’

There is no better time than now. So, no matter what excuses you may have to wait to take those healthy steps you know you should take, none of them are valid. Do it now, do it today. Resolve to make a different in your own life before you go to sleep tonight.

Exercise Seven: Write a Plan For your Life

This is your success plan. If you have not already done so it is time for you to create direction and purpose in your plans for yourself. Review your list of potentials and record next to each potential when you want to achieve this by.

Exercise Eight: Carry Affirmation Cards About Yourself

This is one of fastest tools for your success. You are what you think. Strengthen your self-image every day by reviewing your thoughts. One of easiest ways to do this is to carry affirmation cards in your wallet and review regularly. Affirmation cards are short bursts of words in business card that prompt and remind your self-image of your intentions. An example might be: I can achieve anything that I put my mind to. I will be satisfied with single helpings.

Try it, you have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Exercise Nine: Change Your Eating Habits

Now that you have set groundwork in place, you are now ready to change your physical habits. You are ready to add a balanced nutritious diet, healthy eating habits, regular exercise and relaxation.

By using these nine exercises daily to change your thinking habits, you will be strengthening your self esteem and unlocking your internal power to make a change in your life. Before you can change lifelong eating habits, you must first change life long thinking habits. We are what we think. We can’t be something other than what we believe we can be!

So, do yourself a favour, liberate your self-image and then, see how much more effective your healthy living plan becomes!

3. We are consuming about half amount of fiber recommended by American Dietetic association. If you are filling yourself with processed food, you are not getting needed fiber in your diet.

Problem #2 - Exercise:

To complicate issue further, 30 years ago people were getting exercise just in their daily routines. Today, technology has made our lives easier, but it's also made us lazier. Practically every American household has washers, dryers, TV’s with remotes, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, and cars. To put it simply, more technology you have to make your life easier, less exercise you are going to get. Getting proper amount of exercise now costs us money and time that we feel we don't have.

How can we each do our part to combat obesity?

1. Examine your diet. Are there ways you can eat healthier? Use your NutriCounter to help you determine eating patterns.

2. Choose unprocessed foods, lean meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, eggs, whole grains.

3. If you must buy processed foods, learn to read backs of packages and food labels. Sometimes, if a package says “low-fat” that doesn’t necessarily mean healthy. Know what you are putting into your body by educating yourself.

4. Get exercise every day. Examine your schedule and make time for it.

Come and visit NutriCounter web site at http://www.nutricounter.com/news.htm for an extensive selection of articles on health, nutrition and exercise.