by James Lynne

Created on: September 21, 2008   Last Updated: September 22, 2008

If diets worked, we'd all be skinny. The secret to losing weight is behavior management. The human body is an efficient machine when it is fueled properly. When improperly fueled it stores the excess as fat. The problem isn't how to lose weight. The problem is effective management of the human lifestyle - nutrition, exercise, and stress management. When this is accomplished, weight loss follows.

Excess weight is easy enough to lose. Pick a diet - any diet. They all work if you follow them, but then what? The key to successful weight loss is doing what it takes to keeep the weight off permanently.

The Secrets to Successful Weight loss:

1. Implement a gradual change in eating habits. Merely by eliminating sugar, flour, potato, and rice products (anything white) most people lose weight automatically.

2. Eat small meals several times a day instead of a large noon and/or evening meal. Have a healthy snack in between breafast and lunch, another in between lunch and dinner. That counts as five meals, but make them small. They are not banquets. Avoid seconds of anything. Have your last meal of the day no later than 7:00 p.m. and avoid bedtime or midnight snacks.

3. Inlist support. Just as AA works for Alcholic cravings, having a support person works for those fighting food cravings. It takes a lifetime to develop eating habits. Changing them is a slow process. It works well to have support for those times the cravings seem to be taking over.

4. Keep in mind that it is easier to lose five pounds than it is to lose fifty. Once you are at your desired weight, manage it accordingly. Variation of a pound or two can happen from day to day, but when the scales begin creeping up, take note and change behavior. Lose a little to avoid having to lose a lot.

5. Focus on what you are getting, healthy and fit. Avoid thinking of losing weight as "deprivation." This is defeatest thinking, and it will defeat you. Replace negative self-talk that focuses on what you have to give up with self-talk that promotes what you get.

6. Consider your body management plan to be your lifestyle, your nutrition and fitness plan rather than a diet. This sets a positive mental tone that encourages positive action.

7. Recognize that managing weight is a process, part of your lifestyle, like hygiene. Consider it so. Daily you shower, brush your teeth, and manage the fuel intake and energy consumption of your body. You are the manager of the corporation named, Your Body. Like a well-managed business, a well-managed

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