The combination of a healthy diet and exercise may not be enough for some people. You see there is a mental aspect to weight loss. If you precondition your mind to succeed, and give it the tools to do so, victory over the scales can be yours.

This is the opposite of will power. Instead of trying to avoid a certain behavior, such as eating cookies and potato chips, you must eliminate the thought before it occurs at all. This is a conscious decision you can make and let your mind help you lose weight more easily. In essence, you put your mind's predetermination to substitute a healthy lifestyle into your daily routine as the most important task for yourself.

Let's explore ways to do this:

1. You can start to control your weight by deciding to substitute healthier snacks into your diet and absolutely refusing snacks that contain sugar.

2. Take a walk. Get active. As the old saying goes, if you don't use it, you will lose it.

Condition your mind to accept that activity is healthy and normal for its peak performance. In the beginning reward yourself with something special besides food. This is guaranteed to lift your spirits. A happy mind helps you become a better person.

3. Make a list of when you are most likely to grab that diet-buster snack. By substituting a low calorie alternative and eliminating the activity that leads to it in the first place, you can condition your mind to simply 'forget' about doing that at all. It takes a little practice, but changing a lifestyle is never easy. The more you practice substituting good weight loss behavior, the easier it will get.

Your mind reponds to exactly what you tell it to do. By telling your mind to act a certain way in a certain circumstance, you are guaranteed success.

Your mind can only do what you have 'preprogrammed' into it. So decide now the actions you want to take that will lead to your success for weight control in your diet. Use your mind to gain a better lifestyle and control your weight for the rest of your life. Be good to yourself. What have you got to lose?