Never Fudge on Your Own Diet Plan

In our eat-and-run world with huge-portion sizes, maintaining a healthy weight can be tough. Unfortunately, losing weight and keeping it off can be even tougher. Every "body" responds differently, so no single diet works for everyone. Everybody has to develop their own healthy relationship with food to curb emotional triggers and avoid overeating. Losing weight is a challenge that millions of Americans struggle with every year.

Without a healthy mental attitude, their success rate of weight loss will be quite low. Setting the wrong goals at the beginning can set you up for failure. The same is true for adopting a goal that is too vague, so set smart goals that are attainable and meaningful to you. Using your willpower to overcome cravings and develop a better mental attitude about food can help you improve the way you eat and how you think about health and wellness.

• Create a Meal Plan for You - Although seeing the numbers drop on your bathroom scale is important, daily weight fluctuations have little to do with actually achieving your long-term weight loss goals. Instead, pay attention to how much better you feel.
• Chant Your Mantra - Low self-esteem can be debilitating for people who struggle with his or her body image. Honing your motivation requires replacing negative thinking with positive thoughts.
• Stay in the Moment When Eating - Getting enough sleep is almost like having a magic wand. When you are sleep deprived, it is difficult to pass on junk food or make yourself go to the gym. Everything you do feels more difficult when you feel tired, so get plenty of rest and you'll have the energy you need to make better choices.
• Just Say No - Listen to your body and only feed it when you are actually hungry and not just bored or thirsty. Conversely, it is equally as important to stop eating once you feel full.
• Be Accountable - Being accurate about your food consumption and detailing your serving sizes is the best way to stay on track by analyzing how you're doing and making changes for better progress.

Researchers believe the relationship between better self-esteem and weight loss seems to be more or less linear and the more you lose the more improvement. This is especially true for those who lost weight due to a lifestyle change, as opposed to bariatric surgery or diet pills. Successful weight loss is all about how you feel. Feeling healthy, alert, energetic, confident and proud comes from getting your mind right, which is a proven key to long-term weight loss success.

You do not have to be a slave to food addictions or the stress that drives compulsive eating. Once you convince yourself that you do not need them, it is much easier to resist foods with too much salt, sugar or fat. You brain also takes charge when it comes to how much body fat you are toting. The brain can release leptin hormone to decrease your hunger or ghrelin hormone to produce feelings of satiety.