It is often said the most successful weight loss programs are the ones where you ‘finish the way you start’ but doing this can be quite a challenge. We always start new health programs on a ‘high’ with great intentions and plenty of enthusiasm but as we continue our goals for weight loss week in week out can seem more difficult to achieve and the effort this requires, more demanding. We know however that despite this predictable drop in commitment and drive, there are reliable ways to keep focused and continue to reach our goals.

Find an unflattering photo, showing you the way you were at your worst and fix it your refrigerator. It needs to be the worst picture you have of yourself, there for you to see whenever you head for the fridge to find something to eat. Each time you are about to swing the door open your heavy self will be there saying ‘Close the door and go grab an apple’ or ‘The ice-cream in the freezer will keep you looking like ME’!

Chart your success plan by including rewards when your weight loss calls for this. Work towards goals detailed clearly like ‘When I have lost my first 10 pounds I will pamper myself with a day spa treatment’. When I wear the swimsuit on sale in the store, I’ll take a week off from work for an island vacation or even ‘When I lose 25 pounds and my face looks healthier, I will buy those diamond earrings I’ve been hankering after for years.

Begin your weight loss and enjoy the outcome of this across shorter timeframes as well as across the longer haul. Keep records of your diet progress and refer to these to enjoy the benefits of all your efforts and notice your increasing weight loss and your changing body shape week by week and over the longer time frame.

Start a blog, name it My Weight Loss Week, and get a little digital support. Starting a blog will help you stay motivated to keep going because now you are accountable to your readers to stay on your diet and keep losing weight. Having a blog will also get you a lot of support from your readers in the form of helpful comments and emails to keep you motivated to stay on track.

We live in world where the visual image is a powerful motivator, so find some photos or pictures of what you want to look like and will look like when you reach your target weight. Display them at home, in your office, even on your screen saver so that these positive images will begin to imprint at a deep level and motivate your weight loss week in week out. In the end you may even look better than your healthy body motivating image!

Seek out all the information available to you about other weight loss experiences on line or in books or other health publications. Many people have managed to lose weight and maintain a healthy body shape indefinitely, so be inspired by their weight loss success stories. When you reach your final gaol, you will be in a position to encourage others too!

Take steps to embrace life and all its opportunities while you are following your healthy eating and exercise plan. This is should see you doing different things especially in the outdoors like hiking on the weekend or biking after work. Join groups where physical activity is a feature and enroll in a Salsa class or even learn Hip Hop so that your weight loss week by week if the result of having plenty of fun!

Stay away from people who do not support your weight loss or even worse undermine this. ‘Friends’ who encourage you to eat the very foods that you know cause you to stay fat are not your friends at all and should be avoided as you continue to make progress with your weight loss week after week. Never allow invitations to fast food restaurants or suggestions of a second serve or even a first serve of high calorie meals sway you from your goal to continue losing weight and be the healthy, happy person you are inside!