Step one in your weight loss journey is THE MOST IMPORTANT step of all. This is the step that many weight-loss hopefuls don't even consider: Decide that you are ready to lose weight, you want to put in the time and effort, and that you deserve it. No matter what you try, or what program you follow, you will not be succesful without this important step. You may be thinking, "well that's obvious, of course I'm ready to lose weight!" But it isn't that simple. You have to be willing to work hard. Weightloss isn't easy, and it never happens as fast as we'd like. You have to be ready for that.

Ok, so you're ready. Step two is about getting real with yourself. You have to accept your body and your metabolism. Maybe some people can eat fast food everyday and not gain weight, but YOU AREN'T ONE OF THEM. Plus, that stuff isn't good for you anyway. You need an eating plan. This can be a program like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, or you could simply count calories. Whatever your plan, you need to keep a written record of what you eat every day. No matter how great your memory, you must write everything down. That includes the one bite of your boyfriend's pizza and three Hershey's kisses. When you write everything down, you have the ability to assess just how much you're eating. Add up the calories, fat grams, or Weight Watchers points, and make sure you stay on target. In order to lose weight, you MUST consume less calories than you burn. Plain and simple.

I know (from experience) that this is much harder than it sounds. You know what will help? Step three! Step three is my personal worst nightmare: exercise. Please don't immeditely discount the idea, no matter how out-of-shape you may be. You don't HAVE to join a gym or do anything you hate. Start small. Maybe you can take a walk every evening after dinner or during your lunch break; take the stairs instead of the escalator; or park your car further away at stores. Then perhaps you can buy a bike, or roller blades, or join a walking club, tennis team, etc. Pick something you find interesting that you will enjoy, or at least not loathe. In my case, I sign a year's contract with the gym. I'm locked in so I know I have to keep going.

Once you're committed to yourself and losing weight, you're watching what you eat, and making attempts at exercising, you need step four. DO NOT beat yourself up for making mistakes. In your quest to lose weight, you will mess up. You will have a day when you eat too much, or a few days you don't feel like exercising. The trick is to recover from those times quickly. When you get depressed that you ate too much the day before, you are likely to continue in a downward spiral, saying "well I've ruined it now." When you haven't! Tomorrow is always a new day and the perfect time to get right back on the weight-loss horse.

Keeping a positive attitude and setting realistic, healthy goals are key to weight-loss. Having a support system in place is also quite helpful. Weight watchers provides a great community for its members, but you can also gather a couple friends or family members to be on your weight-loss "team" as well.

Finally, in order to keep this weight off for good. You need to accept that your new eating plan is permanent. You cannot go back to eating an entire bag of potato chips in one sitting. You will have to pay strict attention to portion sizes and fat grams forever. If this gets you down, it may help to think of orphans in third-world countries. The hardest thing you have to deal with is watching what you eat? Everyone should be so lucky.

Good luck, be strong, and feel good about what you're doing for yourself.