If you can write yourself a simple action list, it can be as long or as short as you want it to be, it is a great start to your diet and exercise program.

Actions to get you started on your body changing plan:

• Take a 30 minute walk each day before breakfast.
• Only eat fruit for breakfast.
• Eat small portions of food.
• Play sport two – three times a week.
• Only allow yourself desert on Monday night, or after you weekly measure or weigh in.
• No sugary products allowed in the house.
• No takeout (at all!).
• There must be at least two vegetables in each meal (both lunch and dinner).
• Vegetables must be eaten first.
• Write all food and exercise in a food diary.
• Only weigh/measure yourself once a week on a chosen day.
• Must only have controlled snacks.

If you set yourself some rules and stick to them, the diet and changes will just happen on their own. If you don’t set these rules then you have to rely on your mind (conscious) to tell you what you can and can’t do, which, when you face it, hasn’t always worked in the past!

Make a couple of copies, stick them inside your daily planner, on the fridge, anywhere in the kitchen and perhaps on your bathroom mirror. If you don’t want your dietary changes displayed where everyone can see them, make a small copy and put it in your purse where you have quick and easy access.

Read the actions over and over gain to strengthen their meaning in your mind. If you keep a list close by at all times it is great to be able to pull it out and spend 30 seconds reading the way you are changing your patterns.

Times where you have 30 seconds to refresh your memory:

• In your car at the traffic lights.
• When you are on hold on the phone (e.g. to the bank, gas company).
• On the toilet – we all go a couple of times a day! (tape it to the back of the door).
• On the train or bus or waiting for the train or bus.
• Waiting for your kids to get out of school.
• Waiting for someone to pick you up.
• In the ad breaks on TV.