Think Yourself Slim

1. Define Your Motivation

Weight loss is a three-part process: Exercising and cutting calories are vital, but your mental outlook can mean the difference between success and failure.

"Self-defeating thoughts are often the most overlooked factors when a dieter gets off track," says Jeffrey Wilbert, PhD, author of Fattitudes: Beat Self-Defeat and Win Your War with Weight (St. Martin's Press, 2000). "You feel disappointed when a quick fix turns out to be anything but, or weak if you succumb to an intense craving for ice cream." Without the resolve to overcome such thoughts, sticking with any major lifestyle change can be difficult, if not impossible.

The key is to adopt the right attitude before you start your plan. "If you're really serious about slimming down, you need to think long-term. That's why it helps to ready yourself emotionally to take on the challenge," says Daniel C. Stettner, PhD, a behavioral-medicine specialist at Northpointe Health Center in Berkley, Michigan. These eight strategies will help strengthen your mind-set.

You probably have lots of reasons for wanting to lose weight. Not all, however, may be good ones. "If your decision develops primarily out of pressure from someone else, your conviction to succeed could diminish over time," says Stettner. "To ensure success, you need to develop the will to improve your life, not someone else's vision of it."

Start by listing all the reasons you can think of for slimming down. Highlight any that include other people. Rewrite the list, omitting the highlighted items. Next, inspect each one for phrases like "have to" or "must." Such words imply obligation, not desire; eventually, they'll also invite the instinct to rebel. (Test the theory: Stand in front of a piece of chocolate cake and tell yourself over and over that you must refuse it. You'll instantly want to dig in.) Translate each "have to" into a "want to." If your reasons lose their relevance, pare down the list again, until you find two or three of the most compelling motivations.