I know there have been many times in the past when you've done your best to eat sensibly, but no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't stick with it. And you probably thought that in some way it was your fault - if only you had more willpower, you wouldn't be overweight.

Based on the latest scientific data, I can address that issue once and for all:

Rubbish!

The truth is that it's nearly impossible to break a habit with willpower alone - you have to reprogram your mind. With the right programs in place, doing the right thing is easy; with the wrong programs running your mind, it's virtually impossible. 

Over the years, I have helped people change life-long compulsions in a matter of minutes and proved that even the most die-hard addiction will succumb to effective reprogramming. Yet until you've experienced it for yourself, this may seem a bit different. After all, if lasting changes can happen this quickly and easily, why haven't you been able to do it in the past?

It all boils down to a simple psychological rule:

Your imagination is far more powerful than your will

To give yourself a quick experience of this, imagine a piece of chocolate cake (or your favorite food) in front of your. Next tell yourself with all your willpower that you are not going to eat it.Then imagine the taste if that chocolatey icing as it melts on your tongue. Can you feel your will weakening yet?

Next, once again imagine that piece of chocolate cake (or your favorite food) in front of you. Now imagine the cake is covered in maggots- slimy, wriggling, maggots. Notice the foul smell emanating from the maggots (or is it the cake?) Has the cake lost some of its appeal?

That's the power of your imagination in action. In fact, it's through your imagination that you actually make all your best decisions about what you are going to eat. 

The Focus Factor

Take a moment now to ask yourself:

What do I want in relation to my body?

If you're like most people, you answered something like, "to lose weight" or "to get rid of my love handles" or "to not be so fat."

One of the most basic psychological rules in life is this: "You always get more of what you focus on." Yet in each one of the examples above, your mind has to focus on what you don't want in order to make sense of it- the weight you want to lose, the "love handles" that you secretly hate, or the fat you want to leave behind. This not only reinforces the image people have of themselves as fat, it tends to leave them feeling helpless, hopeless, and unmotivated.

When you redirect your focus exclusively onto what you want - a slim, fit, healthy body - you are sending a message to your unconscious mind to find and explore every possible opportunity to move towards your goal. By clarifying and vividly imagining exactly what it is you want for yourself, you are beginning the process of training your mind and body to give it to you. The more specific you are, the better this works. If you just say, I'd like to be thinner, your mind might interpret that as meaning you want to lose one pound. So describe exactly what it is you want...

For example:

I want to lose 50 pounds in the next four months

Or:

I want to feel comfortable in a size 8 dress

Or my personal favorite:

I want to look great naked!

Nearly every overweight person has a self-image that says they will always be fat. While they may say they would prefer to be thin, they often think that thin people are somehow different from them, and the goal seems almost unattainable.

How do you change the pattern? By getting into the habit of focusing your attention on what you DO want. Like it or not, you're going to need to get used to thinking of yourself with an attractive body!

See Yourself Slim

Recent scientific research has conclusively shown that visualization techniques dramatically enhance your ability to lose weight. As you vividly imagine yourself slim and rehearse your path to your ideal weight, you send a message to your brain that affects your energy levels, your motivation, and your metabolism. Those changes cause physical sensations, which in turn affect your thoughts and emotions, which in turn reinforce the programming you are giving your brain. It's a positive feedback system, and every element of the system gets to feel good as you lose weight.

Your Perfect Body

Here's a simple but powerful exercise that will train your unconscious mind to help you lose weight and keep it off. Before you do this exercise, read through all the steps first.

1. Stop for a moment and imagine you are watching a movie of a thin, happy, confident you.

2. Watch that thinner you doing the things you do in your daily life and accomplishing them with ease. Imagine this new you eating just the right amount, moving their body regularly, and handling their emotional needs quickly and easily.

• How does that other you talk to themselves?
• What tone of voice do they use?
• How do they carry themselves?
• How do they move?

3. If the movie is not yet exactly how you want things to be, make the adjustments that make you feel great. Allow your intuition to be your guide.

4. When you are satisfied with the other you, step into it. Take the new perspective and behaviors into you.

5. Now run the movie and imagine being in all of your daily situations and view them from your new perspective. Think through what it's like to have this new perspective and what it will help you to achieve. How are things going to be so much better now?