R- Relax: Stress causes aberrations in your sugar and hormone levels. The results? Fat deposited around your hips, butt, and gut. Rest and relaxation are critical for any type of continued success when it comes to losing weight because without them, your body will continue to fight itself. Of course, worst of all is getting stressed about not losing weight! Talk about counterproductive.
I- Intentions: You say you want to lose weight. But it's more likely that you want to have more energy, be able to play with your kids, or just feel sexy...it's okay to admit it! From my experiences, weight loss as a goal lacks any real motivating power. It just doesn't have any juice. Find what means something to you and set that as the intention. Far more likely to get you going and keep you on track towards your goals.
G - Get Moving: Yes you should eat well. But you have got to get your butt moving if you want to rid the extra poundage and keep it off. Walks, yoga, weights, karate, zumba....it doesn't matter what it is. Just do it! (what can I say...Nike nailed it)
H - Heap on Praise: So much of dieting is based on misery. No sweets, denied pleasures, strict plans with little wiggle room for things we enjoy. Flip the script and start patting yourself on the back for the little things you do that are moving you forward. Even a momentary thought of "I feel better" after a drink of water helps. Too much pain = No gain. WTF!?! Did I really just say that? YES!
T - Taste: When my parents were trying to improve their health we replaced real cookies with SnackWells. They were TERRIBLE! Cardboard covered in tempting fake chocolate. It was misery. Today, we focus on how our food tastes. We savor and enjoy it. Know what we've found? Bad food tastes bad. Seriously. McDonald's and Subway are gross. When we started paying attention to the real taste of food we found that what we made at home was not only healthier but often tastes way better. So slow down and enjoy your food. You just might find that vegetables are enjoyable and the cheap stuff that comes from fast food joints tastes....cheap.