Tip 5: Lose those pounds (and keep the weight off!)

When I was 16 years old, I was 80 pounds overweight. It was like carrying around 10 newborn babies! Then I lost the weight and kept it off. Here are my top three tips, and none of the three has anything to do with “diets.”

1. Know that your mind is the most important tool you have to lose weight. You mind can also be your worst enemy when you tell yourself you can’t do it, or you’ll have one more piece of cake and wait until tomorrow to start losing weight. The trick is to recognize all those negatives, meditate, gently deny the excuses and negatives, and move along. If you’re determined, the negative thoughts will dissipate with time, and the positive thoughts will guide you.

2. Visualize a new you. I set aside 15 minutes each day. During those 15 minutes, I would ask myself why I wanted to lose weight. For me, I wanted to feel confident around other people. Then I visualized myself already being thin. I visualized myself already being confident. That confidence – which I visualized inside my mind – empowered me to stop over-eating.

3. Do it! Does that sound too simple? It’s really not. You already know what to do: eat less and exercise more. But I think society and other people make such a fuss over losing weight that it makes people feel overwhelmed, thinking that it will just be too difficult. Don’t get “weighed down” by all the talk about how hard it is. Just do it! Lose the weight! I did. I lost the weight, and I kept it off. You can, too!

Linda Joy Allan is the author of “I Quit! Cigarettes, Candy Bars and Booze.”