Act as if you're already fit and athletic

One of the most important changes you can make in your quest to lose weight and get fit is a major mental shift. I've already written about how, when I was in my weight-loss phase, I stopped thinking of food as something that tasted good and instead started viewing it as fuel to get me to my goal weight. That's the kind of shift that's necessary if you're going to lose the weight and keep it off.

Start asking yourself what thin, fit people do and don't do. You might notice the following points. Successfully thin people do NOT:

* whine about the food they "must" eat and long for foods that aren't on their "diet"
* complain that they don't know how to cook and use that as an excuse to eat poorly
* blame other people for their inability to eat the way they know they should
* starve themselves all week and then gorge themselves on unhealthful foods on the weekend
* get anxious around food
* give up and feel they've "blown it all" after they digress from healthful eating
* look for excuses not to go back to eating healthfully.

Think, too, about what athletes do and don't do. Athletes do NOT:
* make a fuss about "having to" go out for a run, do strength training or go for a bike ride
* worry more about how they look in their workout gear than about how they're going to perform when they do work out.
* use every excuse in the book not to exercise
* get anxious when thinking and talking about exercise
* give up when they miss a few workouts

When you start behaving like a thin, athletic person, your whole attitude about weight, eating healthfully and exercising will change. It will no longer be a "chore," but a way of life and something you believe in. It will make the difference between success and failure.