Every day we are surround with people and food temptations that will try sabotage your effort to lose weight. This is why losing weight is so difficult and depressing. There are so many diets and exercise programs out there; however, none of them will ever work for you not mentally ready to change your life.

If you have been unable to lose weight, chances are, you were not mentally tough enough. Why believe me? Because, I am a Doctor and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist? That is one good reason. But more importantly, I have been there. I struggled with more own weight issues for years. However, in 2002 I personal lost over 60 pounds and I have been able to keep weight of for over three years now. Tony Robbins said,”If you want to succeed in any aspect of life, find someone who has already succeeded in that area, and do what they did to get there.” Here are some mental techniques I used which ultimately helped me to finally lose weight and keep it office. I am confident that is you apply they techniques, you to will succeed in your quest to lose weight.

Write down your goals.

I know you have heard this over and over, and over. But did you every actually do it? If you want to really change your life and lose weight, this time, write down your goals. In fact, lets take it a litter further. I am sure this is not your first attempt to lose weigh. I am sure you tried some other program or “diet” before and for some reason it did not work. The first thing I want to say is, “good job”. Not good job for failing in past, good job for trying again. This is a little off subject, and we will get into this more late. However, anyone who has successful lost weight and kept it off failed on some other program. The difference is, they never gave up. So, good job on continuing your quest to lose weight. I know you can do it.

Now back to your goals. I want you to write down why you failed in your past attempts to lose weight. Did you lack time, motivation, direction, what was it? Now write down all negative things about your life, which are related to your weight. What will your life be like if you do not lose weight and keep living way you are living. Are you missing out truly enjoying life because of your weight? My kids wanted me to play with them in pool at their year-end little league pool parties. Do you think I wanted all those parents to see big old gut? No way! I let my kids down. They did not care that I was fat. They just wanted to play with their dad in pool. I let my kids down and missed out on enjoying my kids. What about you? If you keeping living way you are living, what will you miss out on?

Write down all bad things that are associated with your weight. Are you missing out on relationships? Are you worried about your health? Are you worried about dying early? Do you want to see your children get married? To be perfectly honest, obesity is currently second leading cause of preventable death in United States, just behind smoking. If you are overweight, you have a very good chance of dying earlier than you should. Write this stuff down. The goal here is to make your self feel bad, real bad.

Do you remember when you were a school kid and teacher gave you a homework assignment that was due n a week? How many of you ran home and finished assignment on first day? Ok, a few of you probably did. However, if you were like me, I waited until last minute to do assignment. Why? Why did wait until last minute? Because I associated more “pain” with process of doing assignment than “pleasure” I would get from knowing I had finished it. That is, until night (or morning) before it is due. Now, assignment is due in a few hours and all I can think about is “pains” that will come if I do not get it done. I will fail, my parents will get mad at me, I will get grounded and not be able to play with my friends. So what do we do? We do damn homework, every though it causes us pain.

This might sound a little harsh, but only reason you have not lost weight is because you associate more “pain” with process of losing weight than “pleasure” you will get with losing weight. When you eat that dounut you are thing about how good it pleasures your taste but instead of thinking that you just added another 200 extra calories that you did not need which will cause you to gain more weight, which will make fatter, unattractive, more likely to have a cardiovascular disease, which will cause you to die earlier, missing out on so much. Harsh, but true.

Now write down three month goals, six months goals, and one year goals. Be realistic. Think about losing two pounds a week as a goal. Put these goals somewhere you can read on a daily basis.

Visualize your goals.

Everyday, especially when exercising, visualize body you want and person you want to be. Picture new you in your mind. See your new body. Visualize what that person will be like, how will losing all that weight change your life. How will that person act? Now, be that person. Act as if you had already reached your goals. When a situation comes up that might adversely affect your weight loss program, such as blowing off your exercise routine, or that tempting dounut at work, stop. Visualize person you’re trying to become. Now be that person. What would that person do in this situation, now be that person. “Hold an image of life you want, and that image will become fact.” Come up with a motivation phrase.

This is a continuation of above. In addition to visualizing your goals, come up with a phrase that states what you are striving for, and speak it out loud when doing your exercises. Some of phrases I used when I was losing my weight were, ”Everyday I am getting fitter, healthier, stronger.” If you say this over and over, and you are not what you are speaking, your mind will sense a mismatch and then have to adjust to make connection.

Start morning moving.

You will more benefit from getting up fifteen minutes earlier and going for a brisk walk or light jog then you would get from sleeping an extra fifteen minutes. When you are doing this visualize you goals, and say your motivational phrase out load. This is a fantastic way to start your day. You will be more awake, more energized, and focused for rest of day.

Sign up for an event.

Whether you're eating at home or dining out, same rules for watching your weight apply. You need to eat more vegetables, fruit and whole grains. Choose smaller portions of lean meats, fish and poultry. Eat a variety of foods, and fresh, raw foods are better. Cut back on salt, sugar, saturated fats and alcohol. Drink plenty of water, and include exercise every day as part of your daily lifestyle choice.

So whether you're having lunch with gang, or enjoying a romantic dinner for two, you can enjoy delicious-tasting foods that are low-in calories and good for you, with just a little forethought and planning.

Here are some easy tips to remember when ordering out that will help you to lose weight even when eating at your favorite restaurants:

1. If you know menu from restaurant you're going to, plan what you're going to have ahead of time. This will help save you from making a last minute decision that could result in high-calorie choices.

2. Drink at least one full-glass of water or iced tea before eating your meal. This helps your digestive process, and, because you'll feel full sooner, you will eat less.

3. Don't be afraid to ask for "senior citizen" special or kid's-sized portions. Most restaurants will accommodate you -- and often you'll pay less as well!

4. Order first. That way you're much less likely to be influenced by choices of your companions.

5. If you're not sure how something is prepared, don't be afraid to ask. And if dish is cooked in oil or butter, you can always ask if they have a "fat free" option.

6. If everything on menu is high in fat or calories, ask if chef could prepare a plate of fresh fruit and vegetables. Many restaurants offer a vegetarian selection, so if you don't see it on menu, ask.

7. When ordering meat or fish, ask that it be grilled or broiled, and prepared without oil or butter. (When you eat it, use lemon or herbs and spices to give it flavor rather than heavy sauces).

8. Order an appetizer and a salad as your meal. Or a soup and salad. For dessert, choose fresh fruit.

9. When choosing soup, remember that cream-based soups have many more calories than broth-based ones.

10. If you're having a full meal, split appetizer and desert with your companion.

11. If you decide to order pasta, tomato sauce has fewer calories than cream-based sauces, just like soup.