Every legitimate weight loss diet, technique, book, or article includes one unavoidable piece of advice: eat less and exercise more if you want to lose weight.

I would add a few more thoughts. It is also important to eat correctly, in the right quantities, at the right times, to understand your emotional triggers and to keep up your motivation. But eating less and exercising more is certainly a good start.

It is true there are hereditary factors that effect weight. There may also be differences in the way bodies process fats. But the bottom line is this: Eat more calories than you burn and you will have a surplus. Your body must store some of this surplus as fat. To lose weight and keep it off, you must reduce your caloric intake and increase exercise.

Weight control theory is very simple. Losing weight is not.

And our biggest enemy is our mind. We use rationalizing self-talk to minimize the true importance of proper diet and exercise. We give ourselves permission to let it slide with thoughts like "I deserve a little snack" or "I will start being good tomorrow" or "one little piece more can’t hurt." By giving in, we gain immediate pleasure and anxiety relief but effectively kill our motivation. Drifting into a habit of overeating and indulging in tasty, fattening foods is such a gradual process that most people never realize that they have made a critical health choice.

And it is understandable. After all, eating is pleasurable. Eating food like sugars, carbohydrates and food filled with oils and fats is even more enjoyable. Food offers instant relief from psychological problems such as low self-esteem, loneliness, anger and boredom. We can use it as our comforter, friend or even lover.

Gradually, we come to believe that changing our unhealthy lifestyle is beyond our control.

But the truth is that anyone can take control of their eating and exercise habits once he or she really makes up their mind that they will. Overeating follows the same principle that allows any alcoholic to stop drinking. Once he or she decides that they have hit bottom and is willing to do make a change, then change is possible. Mind and spirit reclaim their ascendancy over the addiction.

Still think that it is impossible for you to stick to an exercise and nutrition program? Okay, then ask yourself this question.

If you knew that you would win a hundred million dollars guaranteed or save your child’s life by following a rigorous diet and exercise program, could you comply?

I bet you would do just fine.

You would be highly motivated. You would want to keep on your program every hour of every day. Nothing could move your resolve. That’s because big incentives equal powerful and omnipresent motivation. But without a big threat or big reward at the top of our mind, it is easy to ignore, deny, minimize or postpone unpleasant realities. One of these is that our eating and exercise habits are robbing us of energy, causing disease and eventually killing or disabling us.

We drift into "I’ll do something about that tomorrow" thinking. And, as we all know, years can pass before tomorrow comes.

Now, unfortunately no one is going to give you a hundred million dollars if you change your eating and exercise habits. But you might get something worth even more to you: your health and your life itself.

Consider the sad irony that many people are successful at weight loss only AFTER a life threatening heart attack, not before. Until the big scare they think that they "can’t" lose weight. The prospect of immediate death changes all that in a heartbeat.

Why wait till you have a major health problem to start eating and exercising healthily? Why not start now when making a change can make a difference.

Use your imagination to Increase motivation and decrease temptation?
It may sound too simple. Use your imagination to increase your motivation and decrease temptation and you’ll achieve your goals? But think about the alternative.

To be successful in staying motivated, you must make your mind work for you instead of against you. You must find a way to make the threat and the reward real, significant and immediate. Once we establish this orientation irrevocably, success is a natural result.

Start by giving yourself advance warning about health risks. Learn about the consequences of overeating, the dangers of sugar and excess fats. Dramatize it. Personalize it. Visualize how you would like to look and feel. Convince yourself that it really is important that you attain and maintain an acceptable weight and healthy lifestyle. Stop making excuses and ignoring information that is uncomfortable.

And, also convince yourself that you deserve to look and feel fit. Low self-esteem frequently accompanies obesity. Use your imagination to build yourself up with positive images instead of tearing yourself down by focusing on your flaws and failures. This transformation may require psychological help. If you realize that you need it, by all means get it.

Once you have learned to use your mind to build your motivation, you are ready for the next step: using imagination to minimize temptation.

The word temptation is not very popular today. But it has also never been more relevant or prevalent.

Just look at the glorious array of inviting packages in your local supermarket or in your own refrigerator and cupboards. It is as though there is a 24-hour a day, seven-day a week feast going on and you and I are the guest of honor (as well as the main course). Everywhere we look there are advertisements for "foods" filled with sugar or fats. These foods are actually addictive. The manufacturers offer us these products because they know we will buy them. They make money. We satisfy our taste for sweets, carbohydrates and salts. It is not anyone’s fault. It is just the way it is. And it is killing us and robbing our vitality.

This is where thinking yourself thin can become a lot of fun. To reduce the temptation of this endless feast, you will need to develop something of a counterculture mentality when it comes to food. Your challenge is to neutralize the billions of dollars spent on advertising, packaging and product design. Fortunately, you have a big advantage. It is after all your mind. Your weapons are your imagination and freedom of choice

Get in the habit of doing what the advertisers do but in reverse. Accentuate the positive advantages of weight loss and control. Pretend you enjoy the delicious natural foods you know you should be eating. Run little commercials through your mind showing how unappetizing the foods are that you no longer want to be part of your life. Build aversions for your special downfall foods. Make a game of it. Tell yourself that what once tasted delicious is now really a poison for you. Also, spend time thinking about how delicious fresh vegetables and fruits are. Start telling yourself that you love eating healthy foods. Pretty soon you will notice your attitudes and habits really have changed.

You are also going to need to set up some rules of your own. Think of them as guiding principles that you follow. It is easier to train yourself to follow a simple, effective plan that reflects your lifestyle than it is to follow a complex restrictive diet. Your program might be as simple as cutting out added sugars, fried and heavily sweetened foods, and eating after 7 PM at night. Or you might like the programmed simplicity of Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.

Just build a program that gives you proper nutrition and exercise and use your mind to make it as natural as breathing for you to follow it. Convince yourself that any deviation from it is unacceptable. Use visualization, join support groups and read literature. Do whatever it takes. But make sure YOU are the one in control.

Just imagine how good you will feel and great you will look and before too long you will.

How hypnosis can help

Hypnosis can help you lose weight according to your schedule and plans. Fast. Or gradual. I recommend gradual weight loss and lifestyle change but the choice is yours.

Hypnosis can help you create a burning desire to change, keep your motivation high and create a slim, energetic body image. It can also help you deal with specific issues such as cravings, problem foods, night-time eating, restaurants, family gatherings and holidays.

Each week I see people losing pounds and gaining confidence through hypnosis. Why not you?

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