Do You Really Want to Keep on a Diet?

So You made up your mind to keep on a diet. There are some things you should do first...

• Analyze your current situation, recognize obstacles (both real and in your thoughts), find positive solutions, and work toward modifying your lifestyle to make effective changes.
• Think about something that represents inner strength to you. Use this image to boost your resolve whenever you need help in seeing your way through successful weight loss.
• Close your eyes and picture how you want to look when you’ve reached your target weight. When you hit a hurdle, focus on this image and the feelings it evokes.
  
• Be aware of your self-talk and listen critically to what it is saying. Rephrase negative self-talk with a positive message.
  
• Set reasonable, realistic, and measurable short- and long-term weight-loss goals.
  
• Write your goals in a weight-loss diary to make them real.
  
• Reassess your progress every six weeks and make changes accordingly.
  
• Anticipate situations, such as office birthday parties or dinner at a neighbor’s house, that can present bumps on the road to successful weight control. Plan how you want to react in these situations so you’ll be prepared.
  
• Be persistent and practice new behaviors until they become habit.
  
• Take action to cure procrastination. Don’t let fear of failure keep you from starting toward your weight-loss goals.

This material is adapted from American Heart Association No-Fad Diet: A Personal Plan for Healthy Weight Loss, Copyright © 2005 by the American Heart Association. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc.

You can find more information on

http://www.americanheart.org