Losing weight is no easy task. So when you make a decision to drop a few pounds, what should you consider in order to be successful at not only losing weight but keeping it off ?

Having worked with hundreds of people over the years, losing weight and keeping it off must address these 10 areas:

Components of Weight loss programs

1. Physical examination. Make sure there are no physical issues to stop or cause you to lose/gain weight.
2. Exercise. You need to do this, not to drop pounds, but to stay fit.
3. Nutrition and a sensible eating plan for weight loss. Fad diets cannot be sustained over time.
4. Change the daily patterns of your eating–this is a behavioral change that is needed for success.
5. Change the way you think. Develop a positive relationship with food, food is not your enemy.
6. Change the way you cope–stress and emotional eating is usually what keeps people stuck.
7. Review your self-control strategies. Helps like removing temptation, eating small portions, eating at the table, etc.
8. Deal with the past and hurts. It’s too easy to eat when you are upset so work on triggers like past hurts.
9. Deal with relationship issues. Make sure you are not eating in response to conflict or relationship issues.
10. When you slip up, allow yourself that mistake and get right back on track. When people give in and go off their eating plan, they tend to give up. Just say, ‘No big deal. I can get right back on my plan at the next meal.”

I’ve been a dieter all my life and always have problems with regaining weight. This is not a book for yet another diet but a book to help you understand how to deal with food and its control over your life. Dr. Mintle outlines simple principles to help stop mindless eating and to help change bad eating patterns and help to get to the root of why we eat the way we do. A must read!