Weight Loss - Attitude Counts

• Jenny Craig - a weight loss guru who founded the Jenny Craig Weight Loss Plan. Members receive one-on-one counseling and purchase and eat prepackaged foods.
• Raw food diet (or living foods diet) - diet consisting of uncooked and unprocessed, and often organic foods.
• Okinawa diet - a weight-loss diet based on the standard diet of the long life expectancy Ryukyu Islanders. This is attributed to the local diet (and other factors) which consists of a relatively low intake of calories, with main staples of fish and other types of marine foods.
• Pritikin Diet - a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet similar to the Atkins diet, based on the theory that we have an instinct to eat fat that was developed in the early days of man. It is alleged that the ready availability of fat now causes us to instinctively overeat it.
• Diets high in saturated fat - high saturated fat consumption correlates in some studies with an increased incidence of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
• Carbohydrate rich foods - include (but are not limited to beans, bread and pasta).

Weight loss specialists will tell you that attitude has a more powerful effect on losing weight than all other factors. The best plan out there won't cut it, if you don't follow it, and that can be a matter of attitude and motivation. Here are some tips to help you change your thinking and acting:

1. Never dwell on "failures." Look at failures honestly, and then tell yourself, "This setback is temporary - here's what I'll do differently next time."

2. Look at setbacks as opportunities. Problems and temporary failures provide a chance to learn how to do it better. Use them as steps towards success.

3. Think in terms of solutions, not problems. "I have such a hard time resisting temptation," becomes, "When have I resisted, and what can I learn from that experience?" Reaching for the convenient junk food isn't a problem, but a lesson: Don't let it be convenient.

4. See success, both your own and other's. Noticing even a little progress reminds you what is possible, and it keeps you motivated. This is a powerful way to stay on track. Little successes give the motivation for bigger ones.

5. Imagine yourself how you want to be. When you see yourself how you want to be repeatedly, this gets your subconscious mind working towards that image. Do this often.

6. Do something now. Action often precedes and stimulates attitude and motivation. Eat some healthy snacks, read a useful article, or get out and take a walk. Do anything, however small, towards your weight loss goals. Momentum is created by taking any step in the right direction.

Steve Gillman writes on many self-improvement topics. You can get more weight loss tips, and subscribe to a free weight loss newsletter at: http://www.99WaysToLoseWeight.com